OLD + NEW: The Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms: An Interventionist Approach

Caroline Roberts // Adviser: Brian Newswanger

OLD + NEW: The Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms: An Interventionist Approach

This thesis explores the confluence of new with old in interior environments. The interventionist approach to adaptive reuse is a powerful tool to use in making old buildings pertinent in today’s world, thus preserving the cultural heritage that they bring while adding relevance, accessibility and sustainability to their presence. An interventionist approach has been applied to the proposed renovation of The Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms. Using this historically significant property as a canvas, new contemporary details have been woven together with the existing built fabric. The juxtaposition of materials, textures and design approaches emphasizes the weight and passage of time, thus honoring the language of the past by infusing the new.