{"id":2086,"date":"2013-07-30T06:30:44","date_gmt":"2013-07-30T13:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/compositesandarchitecture.com\/?p=2086"},"modified":"2013-07-29T23:18:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-30T06:18:15","slug":"unexpected-partners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kreysler.zaab.org\/?p=2086","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Willoughby Design Barn in Weston, Missouri, designed by el dorado inc., is an interesting example of a partnership between materials that are often thought of as belonging to different realms.\u00a0 FRP has often been employed architecturally to create a look that may unapologetically be called \u201cfuturistic.\u201d\u00a0 Natural wood would seem the conceptual opposite, especially if it has the rough look of recycled structural framing.\u00a0 Yet in the Willoughby Design, these two opposites achieve a healthy synergy because of something the share in common.<\/p>\n

The multi-purpose building is a functioning agricultural barn on the lower level, and an event space for a graphic designer \/ business identity consultant above.\u00a0 It also includes a sleeping loft.<\/p>\n

It was designed to be filled with natural light, so significant areas of the walls and roof were clad with translucent FRP panels, with the framing left exposed on the interior. (The exterior areas that are not FRP are clad in 16 ounce corrugated copper, untreated, which will patina over time.) A high proportion of recycled \u2013 salvaged \u2013 wood was used, including the barn frame from another barn being demolished nearby, and flooring from a school gymnasium.\u00a0 The floor has been peeled away from the wall in many places to allow light to penetrate from the top to the bottom of the building.<\/p>\n

Light is what the wood and FRP have in common.\u00a0 The translucent FRP panels admit generous light.\u00a0 The wood, too, is translucent, though only to a shallow depth, but it is enough to hold the light and create a glow that seems to dwell just below the surface.\u00a0 This is the magic warmth of wood that is so often the reason for its selection as a finish material.\u00a0 The FRP, bathing it in gently diffused sunshine, is the ideal complement.<\/p>\n

Images via Archdaily.com, copyright Mike Sinclair.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t