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Buddhist Meditation Center Looks Like a Giant Barn With Many Windows in Rural Netherlands

Posted By Tafline Laylin On In Architecture | Comments Disabled

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Bureau SLA, mansard roof, vernacular architecture, the netherlands, sustainable design, salvaged materials, buddhist meditation center, barn, Metta Vihara, daylighting, glazing, sustainable design, low-cost design

Corrugated steel is great for durability and cost and the mansard roof helps to create the expansive space, which comprises 26 beds in 13 rooms. There is also a meditation hall, library and a dining hall. Wood on either end of the center takes the edge off the steel, plus it was salvaged on site from scaffolding left behind by the builders. Ugly joinery is disguised by a series of white-painted windows.

While most of the center has concrete floors, the meditation center has a bamboo floor and tall glazed windows that open out to the verdant landscape. Bare limestone was used for the structural walls, while environmentally-certified MDF was used for the remaining walls. The project has been well received by the locals, according to the designers, who overheard cyclists saying “This new cowshed looks really good, but why does it have so many windows?”

+ Bureau SLA

Via Dezeen