Woven Lea Multi-animal Barn
Woven Lea Multi-animal Barn
The Woven Lea barn, designed as part of Krista’s Agritecture Thesis is a multi-purpose barn. Required to house cows and pigs, through the various rotational cycles throughout the year. the orientation of the barn (stemming for the masterplan), allows each barn to take advantage of natural ventilation and reduced solar gains for reduced energy use. The barns are mainly used in the winter as summer is spent mostly pasture grazing.
The barns are compost pack barns, open housing for the animals. Cows spend 3 months in the barn followed by the pigs for 3 months. Corn is sprinkled in the pack over the period with the cows. Without cleaning out the pigs move in and naturally root the bedding pack for the corn. This natural turning of the manure and straw composts the manure and is ready for the fields in the spring. Additional clean-out of the barns is made very simple by the various levels of the farmyard layout and simple gravity assisted transfer to the compost storage area in the lowest level.
Each barn has a cistern for water collection and feeding to the animals. Collecting enough rain for the animals throughout the summer.
Similar techniques to the farmhouse are used for insulating. Hay and straw storage is down along the long lengths of the barn. This storage is completely full during the winter months and protect the barns from cold winter winds and provide insulation to the barn.
