The Lodge at High Point Farm

The Lodge is the focus of the wellness initiative at High Point Farm. The design established a contemporary dialogue between nature and the existing vernacular agricultural buildings on the farm.
Located in a sparse pine grove, the Lodge is the community gathering house and the heart of the wellness initiative. The sequence of spaces takes members from the land, through an entry threshold finally into a voluminous gathering hall with views back out to the land and up to the sky. The building is composed of 3 program zones, a small community center, building support space and a large gathering hall. The hall is placed to the west for views of the pond and afternoon sun and access to exterior terrace space. The small community program is placed to the east, insulated from the gathering hall by support program.
The building's form is a simple rectangle mass with modified by two simple operations: The first is to pull the roof and ceilings in to tent-like shaped. The second operation is to scoop out the mass to bring exterior space into the mass. Both these operations are meant to bring nature into the building; the landscape through the scoops and the sky via the stretched roof.