Burgundy Farm Country Day School

Burgundy Farm Country Day School

Alexandria, VA

Founded in 1949, this private school converted three barns and an existing farmhouse into a school with an educational program of K through 8. This project included two classroom buildings built in the forest beyond the original buildings. Not only did the new buildings need to consider their context (adjacent to the old farm), they had to sit on their wooded site in the most natural way possible. By using pole construction, Ritter Norton was able to site the two buildings without removing any trees beyond the edge of the building proper. The new decks, extensions of the classrooms, were built around existing trees and all trees adjacent to the buildings were left in place. The end result clearly illustrates to the students that development doesn’t have to ruin the landscape.