At the point where the cow stalls meet the “milking parlor,” the structure angles slightly to the northwest to conform to the topography, giving the barn further modernist panache. The building sits atop a low ridge, adjacent to a stand of old-growth forest.
3Looking through the freestall barn, where cows can eat, roam and sleep wherever they want.2The milking parlor, where students Allison Vander Plaats and Matt Fortin prep cows for service.The smart unit identifi es cows by their ID number, and can keep track of how much milk the cow produces on average. 1A DeLaval milking unit, which automatically removes the device from the udder when milk flow drops below 1.5 pounds per minute.“This is the least smelly cow barn you will ever visit.” The barn is “oriented so that the open walls catch the prevailing winds and maximize ventilation,” Erdy says.
#ODD DAIRY BARN DESIGN WINDOWS#
The twin planes of the sweeping, ribbed-metal roof have a dramatic offset - a space filled by clerestory windows (above eye level) facing the southern exposure. The building represents an elegant, modern take on traditional barn design. “The barn is the first thing you see, so it has an aesthetic function.” “The building is a commercial dairy and a working classroom, but it also serves as a gateway to the Cornell campus at its rural edge,” he says. The terms ‘Ivy League’ and ‘farm’ sound like odd companions, but Cornell’s relationship with farms, cows and soil runs deep.Ī concrete manifestation of Cornell’s commitment to food science and animal husbandry, the Teaching Dairy Barn has a symbolic value too, says Scott Erdy, a principal of Erdy McHenry Architecture, the Philadelphia-based firm that designed the structure.