The Long Studio

Designed as a standalone multi-functional structure, the studio outbuilding was conceived of as a stage set and a lens through which to view the local site’s changing seasons. Large and small openings provide controlled views to the surrounding environment and the interior becomes a canvas for changing light patterns, sky conditions, snow and wind. Part teaching tool - to help educate clients – and part learning lab, the studio is a place made for improvisation and experimentation. The compact footprint and humble presence conceals a deeper connection to the outside world and a place to greet and collaborate with new clients. The studio also serves as a stage set for teaching others about architecture via videos published on the studio's YouTube channel. In this way, a small structure has the ability to impact a much larger world. Acting as a stage for musical performances, a place for family and friends to gather and a life-sized working mock-up of the practice’s simple, agrarian-inspired design aesthetic, the studio illustrates to potential clients how modest, unassuming materials can be made to feel expensive. As a teaching tool, the studio illustrates how a few simple materials, plainly fastened together nets a modern, authentic and affordable architecture. Drawing inspiration from simple, agrarian structures, the studio’s form is an archetypal barn which – historically - served many functions and created a large sheltered space with little money. In a barn, everything has a purpose and its means of construction - the way it’s put together - the hand of the maker, is present – plain to see.