A neighbor approached us with the thought of building a barn to rent during the Florida horse season. Wellington has a horse shows during basically three months (Dec-Feb) annually. World renown riders from different disciplines came to this town to compete and train. She wanted a barn with 24 stalls for horses with the ability to very flexible. The horses need a very practical way of circulation (considering their size), very well-ventilated space and a lot of light to provide stability and health for them to achieve their work, at whatever level, when required.

            The main goal was to deliver a barn with the design elements to provide an efficient working space for humans and animals. The design should actively deter some common equine problems to the benefit of the animal’s physical and mental well-being and then increase enjoyment by the owner. In this case the barn is to be rented by more than one tenant. This tends to cause problems. This was a specific point to be addressed to avoid problems for the owner.

            We separate the building into two complete barns, this will diminish the disturbance amongst tenants. Each barn can function separately. Each barn will have his own tack room, feed room and grooms’ quarters. Containing 12 stalls and their own farriers’ space and wash stalls. The delivery of feed and shavings will also separate in two, for convenience.  In this way the barn was created to be more efficient from the drawing board. Regardless, the two barns are internally connected so the owner may use the whole facility as one. The line of the roof was created to reinforce the location of the barn on the site. The tilted roof provides a good opening to the north, and good amount of light without heat. When splitting the barn, we shift one north, so in this way, each barn of twelve stalls will still have an opening to the east and west, so fresh air and ventilation are continually available.  Wood and stucco were used throughout the building for the greatest thermal mass and each of the stalls where fitted with automatic valves for drinking and cleaning water.

            Basic stable requirements should be addressed by the design. Fresh air should be constantly available and stale air should be expelled. This can be achieved by careful position the building in the site taking advantage of the natural winds, in this case wind flows usually from the sea. Daylight is essential for the horse’s well-being. Sunlight, in particular, is necessary for the normal function of the horse and even has an effect on hormonal balance. The northern side of the barn in tandem with the tilted roof was used to accommodate jalousie windows to permit the filtration of sunlight.

            This was a good continuation of our preliminary studies and understanding of the typical barn typology. The commerciality of the project gave us knowledge of the many different interactions and requirements we hadn’t encountered before. Especially in the use of wood in the trusses that give us the uplift counterforce to surpass the minimum requirements for Hurricane force winds. The use of this type of structure gave us the great ventilation while withstanding regular washing. Commercial continuous use was taken into account as the barn should maintain its integrity through the years.