Bank Barn
Vermont
Architecture | Birdseye |
|---|---|
Building | Birdseye |
Woodwork | Birdseye |
Sitework | Birdseye |
Landscape | Wagner Hodgson |
Environmental Design | Atelier Ten |
Photography | Jim Westphalen |
Completed | 2019 |
Site Strategy
Set into a sloping meadow, the building uses the natural grade to its advantage: concrete retaining walls are embedded into the hillside to conceal garage and service areas, while creating a strong, elevated platform for the main living spaces above.
Notable Detail
At the core of the structure, a freestanding steel stair was engineered as both a sculptural centerpiece and a critical connector between the open-plan lower level and private bedrooms above.
Bank Barn is a modern build rooted in traditional hillside barn construction, where structures were embedded into terrain for both access and climate control.
Located in a meadow in Vermont, the house adapts this legacy with a clean, gabled cedar form perched atop two 160-foot-long, cast-in-place concrete retaining walls. These heavy walls anchor the building directly into the landscape, stabilize the grade, and efficiently conceal below-grade garage and mechanical spaces.
Above, the main floor is assembled as a light-framed pavilion offering panoramic views through floor-to-ceiling curtain walls. An exposed steel frame, polished concrete floors, and minimalist millwork create a durable, straightforward material palette. Outdoor living areas—including cantilevered decks, a green roof, a recessed hot tub, and a fire pit—are seamlessly integrated into the building’s footprint.
Central to the structure, a custom-fabricated steel stair was installed as a freestanding element, providing both vertical circulation and sculptural impact without structural dependency on adjacent walls.
High energy performance was a project priority from the outset. Early construction modeling drove decisions around insulation, glazing, and mechanical integration. The building envelope features thermally broken R-40 walls and an R-60 roof, achieved with closed-cell polyurethane insulation. A triple-glazed curtain wall system with a 0.15 U-value maximizes thermal performance. Systems include a ground-source geothermal loop tied to water-to-water and water-to-air heating and cooling, and a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) to optimize indoor air quality. Infrastructure for an 18kW solar array positions the home for future net-zero energy operation.
