Woodlawn Stone Barn

This project’s challenge was to animate a historic architectural treasure—an 1832 Quaker stone barn in Sandy Spring, Maryland—with the stories of those who once inhabited the farm and its community. Howard+Revis were asked to help a 21st-century audience make a personal connection to the daily challenges, failures and triumphs of a bygone era, and re-imagine a time when this heavily populated region was quiet farm country. More than a history of a barn and those who built it, exhibits were also asked to explore the shifting relationships between communities that intersected at the farm—Quaker owners, enslaved laborers and the free black community (some of whom helped escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad)—as they confronted nation-changing questions on slavery and freedom. Interpretation was tasked with bringing forward often overlooked characters, dispelling myths and creating a nuanced program as rich as the region’s history.

Design Team

Tracy Revis (Lead Designer), Elizabeth Eubank (Content Developer, Writer), Nina Reck (Graphic Designer), Hana Kim (3D Designer)

Project Area

5,500 sq ft

Consultants

MIche Booz Architects (renovation architect), MCLA LIghting (lIghting design), Blair Dubilier (AV Technical Consultant)

Fabricators

Boston Productions (multimedia producer), Capitol Museum Services (exhibit fabricator)