BARN HOUSE
RALEIGH NC
SINGLE FAMILY
2023
In the outskirts of Raleigh, perched over a creek, sits a house in the woods designed for a family who likes to live and entertain seamlessly between the indoors and outdoors.
Seeking a simple, pastoral form, the house is designed akin to a 19th-century bank barn. Like the large sliding barn doors designed for carts and cattle to pass through, the two sliding doors are aligned at the middle of the house, allowing the outdoors to become a seamless part of the living space.
While barns are utilitarian structures, they also often serve an important function as the gathering & socializing place for the community, owing to their scale. Similarly, the open plan of the living area extends vertically to a double-height volume punctuated by a skylight, resulting in a bright & expansive space fit for comfortable gatherings of many.
On the second floor, two living wings flank a bridge that overlooks the living area below. The more domestically scaled living wings are intertwined with narrow halls and accentuated with punched windows that act as portals of light, creating both a sense of inifinity and intimacy as you move through the house.