The shed is the architectural solution to refurbishing an existing migrant workers dormitory building into a country loft. The shed is a twenty-five by eighty foot concrete block shed with nothing to recommend it except for the volume of space it encloses and its location; in a river valley next to an apple orchard in Upstate New York.
The concept of the building was to create a simple cage over the existing structure to create an alternative living skin, helping to cool the structure in the summer and warm it in winter. The grid of the stainless steel skin provides a frame for vegetation to climb over the building and moving panels provide access. A series of photovoltaic panels on the roof will generate electrical power, with excess returning to the power grid.The program for the building accommodations are relatively simple; a workshop, a studio/living space, a bedroom/ library and shower. The existing windows will be enlarged allow views through the veil of stainless steel and foliage into the orchard and countryside beyond.
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