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Massachusetts
State Police Horse Barn
Acton, MA
The Massachusetts State Police Horse Barn provides
winter quarters for twelve horses, administrative space for the State
Police Mounted Unit, and a year round riding/training ring. The
facility was designed by DiMarinisi & Wolfe to be an appropriate
addition to the New England landscape in which it is set. the
design idea of the project is the massing together of three
different functional units of the complex, keeping their shapes and
identities separate while at the same time connecting them
efficiently in the traditional manner of New England farmsteads.
The horse barn is constructed of traditional
materials - principally wood, plywood and corrugated metal - in order to
keep the project's cost modest and its appearance in harmony with
its purpose. The project's design uses three different scales - human,
horse and man on horse - one in each of its three components and
combines them into a larger whole. It also uses three different
colors to distinguish the three units - white, red and blue-gray - with
the white serving as a unifying trim color throughout. To add
visual interest and some symbolism to the project, the facility
design includes the traditional colors of the flag and the Mass. State
Police, the figure of a man at the barn door front, and a horse
weathervane and a cupola above the administrative office.
The Massachusetts State Police Horse Barn as
designed by DiMarinisi & Wolfe is an example of how to make an
interesting, modern architectural whole which meets a clients
specific functional needs using traditional vernacular forms and
materials. |