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Looking for a way to add more space for your hobbies or trying to open up another revenue stream? A set of new barn design plans could be the right choice for you. Explore more about 42º North’s approach to designing multipurpose barns, and how we can help you make your new space a reality.
Chances are, you have a certain picture in your mind of what a barn architect is like: An uptight, pretentious artist who would rather chase their own vision for your space than accommodate what you need.
Throw that picture out the window. After all, we started our design firm to get away from architects like that. Generally speaking, these are the traits we recommend looking for when you’re in the market for a barn design expert near you:
Think outside the agricultural box for this one. There are plenty of reasons you might want to have a modern barn on your property that don’t necessarily involve storage for a tractor. Here are just a few ways we’ve seen people use their barn designs over the years:
These are just a few examples. Whether you’re operating a guinea pig rescue out of your barn or want to use it as a hangar for your Cessna 150, the sky is truly the limit.
Chances are, if you’ve been thinking about constructing a barn on your property, you’ve probably considered pole barns as an option. This is understandable, as pole barns tend to be cheaper than other styles. However, you might end up trading price for customizability and find out after it’s too late that a pole barn just doesn’t accommodate your needs.
Before you start working with a pole barn designer, it can help to think of all the customization options you might want.
For example, what if you want a custom horse barn with attached living quarters? Or perhaps you need to connect your barn to a chicken coop so your egg-laying hens have a safe place to roost each night.
No matter what your needs may be, it pays to work with a custom barn designer to help you see all the possibilities there are.
If you’re planning to choose us as your barn designer, we’d like to get to know you first—and we’re sure you’d like to get to know us and our process. After all, building connections and getting to know about your vision takes time. We’ll connect with you over a cup of coffee and have a few laughs together either in person or online.
Expect to hear hundreds of questions from us during even this early stage in the process. We want to know how you use your current space, and how you’ll use your new barn. If you have animals that will be living in there, or you’re planning on using the barn as an event space, we want to know about that, too.
One thing we absolutely won’t do in this first meeting is start drawing a potential design live in front of you. While a lot of architects and designers do this, we frankly think it’s just a bit of baseless showmanship that illustrates they aren’t gathering the information they need to know more about your project.
One of our core beliefs is that a designer’s best asset isn’t their hands—it’s their ears.
We want to listen to your ideas and learn about how you use your current space, both through listening to your questions and observing how you use the spaces you’re currently using. You’ll also receive a questionnaire that asked you about everything you feel about your current barn space, spaces you’ve visited, how you want to use it, and more. We want to know everything you love (and hate) about where you’re at now so we can help make your design dreams a reality.
We mentioned the hazards of working with someone who starts drawing live in the first meeting once already, but it bears repeating: Do not work with someone who draws a design for you without visiting your current space. If they even start, you’re likely with the wrong designer.
Before we go to the metaphorical drawing board, we want to take a tour of your current space. To us, this is the most important part of the process! It gives us a better idea of how to make your modern barn design work for you than a questionnaire could ever do alone.
Together, we’ll tour your current barn and other spaces to learn about the ergonomics and spatial relations of the place. This tells us a lot about how to design the space to fit the needs of you and anyone—or anything—else that might use it.
Or rather, we fire up some of the best architectural CAD software the industry has to offer. This lets us provide an exact visual of what your barn design will look like when it’s finished.
In fact, we care so much about giving you a visual of the details in the new space that the 3D models we use will also include the textures of the walls, the landscaping, and any livestock or fixtures you may need inside the barn.
Even after you’ve signed off on the final barn designs, we’ll still stay in touch with you. This is because we like to be as hand-on as possible during the building process. Expect us to connect with your builder to make sure they accommodate your budget and schedule while turning your vision for your barn into a reality.
In addition, we’ll also provide recommendations for landscapers and other specialists to make your new barn match your exact vision.
The journey to a space that perfectly fits your needs begins with just a single step: Contacting us. Reach out today so we can start designing the best barn for all your needs.