The Sixteen-Oak Barn, Traditionally, most farmhouses in the Meierij of ?s Hertogenbosch, a former administrative realm or bailiwick, have their separate parts such as living quarters, storage space and cowsheds integrated into a single building. Over time, however, these compact buildings frequently became too cramped to house all of these functions and a separate barn was added. These were usually built from locally available materials and largely followed the structural pattern of the farmhouses themselves. In 2017 we were told that seven of the century-old oak trees in our yard was in bad shape. They had to be cut down. Instead of following the usual path and selling the trees to the paper industry, we decided to reinstate an ancient tradition. And so, by replacing a collage of obsolete shelters and sheds, we would, in line with our farm?s monumental character, build a new barn with locally harvested materials employing traditional techniques. Besides a couple of oak tree trunks, we obtained from the nearby Wamberg estate, there would be enough timber to construct the new barn from the trees we had to cut down. Photography: René de Wit
Our new transverse barn is constructed with four tie-bar couple trusses that are connected by longitudinal stringers topped by a roof supported by rafters. The roof has an asymmetrical geometry with a steep and a low pitched side. There are three spaces inside the barn: a carport, a storage room and a workshop/meeting room for office use....