Caroline Kahn

Growing up as a participant in competitive hunter/jumper horseback riding, I noticed that the barns I visited were extremely run down, musty, dark, and confined. The style, organization, and programming of the traditional barn I was seeing firsthand were typically outdated and did not maximize aesthetic and/or function in the barn’s design. Most importantly, the horses’ health and safety were not the top priority in these barns. Horses are strong, elegant, and expensive animals, and riding is a highly competitive sport that demands from riders a lot of time, commitment, and money. With that being said, it would only make sense for the space in which the horses live and the riders practice to reflect such an elite sport. This equestrian center breaks out of the box of the outdated barn by modifying the traditional program through reconfiguring adjacencies and implementing new technologies, like stall watch, and automatic systems. Elements such as windows, two-way mirrors, and skylights literally break the exterior and interior walls and roof as well. In addition to windows and skylights, the barn has numerous entrances and exits to really open up and break the box of the structure. With this, the space not only maximizes function but does so while welcoming light and air in, and is open to adjacent spaces within and to the outdoors.