Located within the apple and pear orchards of the Hood River Valley, the project consists of an 820 square foot structure used to house tractors and farm equipment with an associated parking area ringed by landscaped walls and pathways. It is oriented North-South, in harmony with the site’s aggressive slope and the traffic patterns of the working farm.
The architectural language is straightforward, grounded firmly in northwest rural vernacular. Farm buildings of the Pacific Northwest have a rich history at once proud and familiar. They are common sights in rural Oregon, often clearly hand-built by landowners from material nearby, and crafted with the tools available with an austere efficiency. Details are not ornamental, but are in service to performance- honest expressions of function and protection.
This project employs that value system as a basis from which to progress. The building’s sheet metal exterior skin wraps seamlessly from roof to wall to minimize potential weather intrusions, expansive openings are collected (on module with standardized siding panels) at the middle of the building to maximize light, utility, cross ventilation and economy of space. The wide span of the hand-build slatted cedar sliding doors is governed by the buildings primary function, circulation of the farm’s workhorse tractor. These doors are detailed to invite natural light deep into the building while employing an obscured polycarbonate panel protecting from wind and weather.
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