Isabella Muirhead

'Behold the Shed’ aims to reimagine the beloved woolshed as a place of ritual and memory; an embodiment of the essence of rural NZ. The site contains two existing sheds – one is renovated, the other replaced, and an entrance pavilion and tower are added. This project interrogates the use of the old sheds to inform the new scheme – it draws on the circulation of people and sheep, and observes the light quality which is so particular to the woolshed vernacular, creating an aspirational design which pays homage to its heritage while also looking to the future. This is seen formally through the ‘memory’ of the gable roof in the new buildings, as well as spatially through the compression and decompression of space which is reminiscent of old sheds.
The scheme integrates the client’s diverse requirements spatially and materially; all five species of timber grown on site are used in the building, as is the wool from the sheep which are shorn in the shed. The building aims to create a landmark which puts the client ‘on the map’ and will stand the test of time.