Light + Air

Bringing natural light and air into a project is always a necessity – whether it be your home or barn.

Cupolas and roof lanterns are a wonderful way to enhance the style of your barn project.  Both cupolas and roof lanterns are tower-like feature projecting from the top of a roof.  There are both aesthetic and functional reasons for these additions.

Aesthetically, cupolas and lanterns can accentuate the height of your structure.  Since it is placed on its highest peak, they becomes a focal point that draws your eye upward from the otherwise long massing of the barn structure.  

In barns, cupolas were originally designed to allow for continuous airflow into the hayloft and utilize natural stack ventilation to dry the hay.  Ventilation is often often through slats located in the upper gables or through operable windows located in the top of the cupola.

Roof lanterns are an architectural skylight element that dates back to the Renaissance architecture and are most notably seen in 16th-century cathedrals.  Roof lanterns are passive daylighting systems that bring natural light into the center of the structure.

Another option for daylighting is the use of dormers. In addition to bringing in natural light, these dormers can aesthetically help to break up the otherwise long and large roof of a barn.  In our Tampa Barn project, we located a long linear dormer above the stalls to provide a better sense of connection to the outdoors for the horses.