PROJECT Woodlawn Museum at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park
LOCATION Sandy Spring, Maryland US
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE 4/1/2016
ARCHITECT Miche Booz Architect
ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT/DESIGNER Howard Revis Design Services / Tracy Revis, Elizabeth Eubank, 901 2nd Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. tracy@howardrevis.com 202 546 0022. Exhibit Design
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM Miche Booz, Joe Harris, Catherine Stratton Treadway
OWNER/CLIENT M-NCPPC, Montgomery Parks
CONTRACTOR/CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Garcete Construction/ Salvador Alvarado
PHOTOGRAPHER Roger Foley
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT P.E.L.A.
CIVIL ENGINEER
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER David Wallace
MECHANICAL ENGINEER
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
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SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
This project rehabilitates a historic (1832) three-story stone bank barn, adjacent carriage house (1897), and site for public use as a visitor center and museum at the core of the Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park. The site is on the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation, the Maryland Historic Trust interior and exterior easement program, the National Park Services’ National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Multi-media museum exhibits are featured in the restored Stone Barn, interpreting the history of the local African American and Quaker communities. The adjacent Carriage House has visitor orientation information and restrooms, and is the starting location for the Underground Railroad Experience Trail, which links Woodlawn to the historic Quaker properties of Sandy Spring.
An early plan to house all visitor center functions within the Stone Barn would have required extensive modification to the historic structure to condition the space. Instead, the architect identified the underutilized Carriage House as a more appropriate location for those functions. The design challenges were 1) to link these several historic buildings in a natural, inviting and accessible manner on a challenging multi-use site, and 2) to make the historic agricultural building safe for visitors and the multi-media exhibits.
Rehabilitation of the Stone Barn included replacing the cedar roof shingles and other roofing, selectively repointing major areas of worn mortar, encapsulating lead paint, and replacing several major structural beams in the lower level damaged by fire and pests. An existing dry-pipe sprinkler system was redesigned and reinstalled. Damage to the dirt floor of the animal stalls from groundhogs was repaired and their further entry was discouraged.
Additional changes to the Stone Barn and site were limited to those required by life safety/ building codes, ADA, stormwater regulations, and in support of the museum and educational programs. The Barn was improved to make it safe for public access and to allow a more natural flow of visitors through the exhibit spaces. A new stair was added linking the upper wagon level with the middle level. Window barriers and railings were added for visitor safety.
The exterior of the Carriage House was restored -- its foundation repaired and the walls and roof re-shingled. The interior, which contained a garage and narrow access to a loft space, was opened up to be a light and airy space. New windows and doors were added. An accessible restroom wing and breezeway were added to the north side of the building.
New accessible paths blend in with the agricultural setting while providing ADA access to multiple levels of the Barn and the Carriage House. Several non-contributing buildings were removed from the view shed of the Barn and the barnyard was repaired to make an outdoor event space.
The end result is a project which fully utilizes the historic site and buildings and fulfills its purpose of providing a unique educational resource to the Montgomery County community for many years to come.
JURY COMMENTS (If Applicable)
A lovingly thoughtful preservation and adaptive reuse of the original barn and carriage house. Historic preservation is important to our culture because it helps tell our story. The interventions for the modern functions and interpretive exhibits were equally respectful but maybe could have been slightly more clearly grounded in our time/technology and economy and offered a second note to the story.
We appreciated the care and sensitivity taken within the original barn building. The intervention felt at once modern and historically appropriate. The decision to locate some program into the adjacent carriage house was a smart move which allowed the barn to take top billing. Detailing and execution at the carriage house was less refined than the barn—the jury was eager to know more about how this component related to the overall development of the site.
The architect was really successful in maintaining the historic character of the main building while expressing the importance of the its history through careful and reserved interventions. The restoration and new integrated exhibits feel very seamless and reverent to the original building and its significance.
A very thoughtful preservation project which creates a proper setting for a history that needs to be remembered. The key to the success of this project was the thoughtful dispersion of the program between the Stone Barn and the Carriage House. The architect’s foresight of the implications of placing the appropriate program in the appropriate building allowed for a sensitive restoration project. I was most impressed by the restraint and simple interventions breathing life back into the original barn; allowing the inherent integrity of the original structure to show through.
MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project/Jury PDF
IMAGES (Captions and Photographer Credit)
1. Woodlawn Barn and Barnyard Site with Carriage House Behind. Roger Foley Photography 2016
2. Woodlawn Barn and Barnyard Site with Carriage House Behind. Roger Foley Photography 2016
3. Barn Interior with Exhibits and Hay Chute. Roger Foley Photography 2016
4. Barn Interior with Exhibits and New Stair. Roger Foley Photography 2016
5. Barn Wagon Level with Timber Framing. Roger Foley Photography 2016
6. Carriage House Exterior. Roger Foley Photography 2016
7. Stone Barn South Facade. Roger Foley Photography 2016
8. Barn Interior Granary Exhibits. Roger Foley Photography 2016
Woodlawn Museum at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park
Category
Local > AIA Potomac Valley > Institutional Architecture (AIA Potomac Valley)
Winner Status
- Merit Award
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