Blackburn Architects is working with Loudoun Country Day School to provide the conceptual design for the renovation of an abandoned barn on the 69-acre site of its new campus in Leesburg. The planned adaptive reuse converts a dairy barn into a 156-seat performance facility for cultural, theatrical and musical events for the school and community. The basic structure of the original barn is being preserved in the renovation allowing the school to benefit from a new performance facility without the environmental waste of demolition and new construction. The black box-style theater design will feature an18-inch platform stage, 132 seats at stage level, and 24 loft seats. An existing silo will be converted to house an elevator for access to loft level seating. In addition, the facility will be designed to provide the amenities necessary for catered events.

The new north-facing façade reveals the interior front areas of the theater with a dramatic glass-encased stair tower on the northeast corner of the building and a 30-foot glass wall reaching from ground level to the center peak of the original barn roof at the lobby entrance. The exposed glazed surfaces will catch the sunrise as well as indirect light throughout the day. At night, the stairway and lobby will glow like a lantern on the campus creating a visual and cultural focal point for the campus both day and night. An intricate system of wooden-slat louvers integrates the structural language of the original dairy barn with the large contemporary glass panels.

As a visitor approaches the bucolic property, the view of the barn will retain the look of a meticulously restored dairy barn saving the dramatic contemporary addition and adaptive re-use until the visitor is fully on campus.