Cushing Terrell was responsible for designing a building to be used as a backdrop for sculptor Patrick Dougherty's on-site art commission at the 12,000-acre Tippet Rise Art Center. The program for the project was simple: replicate a late-1800s one-room Montana schoolhouse to provide a relatively protected interior space for housing Dougherty's sculpture which is made of saplings. 

Situated on a working ranch, it was important that the project be constructed with minimal site disturbance. This involved maintaining a small job-site footprint and using eco-friendly solutions such as corncob grit blasting to weather the exterior wood. With few interior lights and no mechanical or plumbing systems, the project has virtually no impact on its environment—it functions as a passive inhabitant of its ecosystem.

The most difficult task for the project was determining the level of protection needed for the sculpture while creating a building that looked as if it was battered by a century of weather. Dougherty creates ephemeral sculptures out of native saplings, so long-term deterioration of his work was assumed. However, he requested the design team determine a way to protect the interior from water infiltration so as to maximize the potential for its longevity. This is typically not particularly difficult, but when replicating a more than 100-year-old, deteriorated schoolhouse, the task becomes significantly more challenging.

One element the team wanted to preserve was the look of a deteriorated roof allowing natural light to filter into the interior through gaps in the skip sheathing. This was achieved by sandwiching acrylic sheets between two layers of 1-by planks in a seamless application invisible to the untrained eye.

A secondary challenge was creating interior and exterior finishes closely matched to those of nearby historic Stockade Schoolhouse. The first step in achieving this was thoroughly documenting the details of Stockade, noting layers of paint and elements of detailed deterioration such as subtle discoloration from differential rates of water damage, ghosted “memories” of since-removed built-in shelving, and rows of rusted nails once holding shingles.

The second step was reviewing full-scale mockups with the client and contractor to determine the best “recipe” of finish techniques. The importance of having a contractor who was willing to experiment throughout the project cannot be understated.

The final step was a hands-on approach to construction administration, walking through subtle details and tweaks to the finished recipe with Tippet Rise staff, while the contractor worked on each element. The bulk of the project spanned an unbelievably quick six months. To speed completion and limit site disturbance, the cabin’s walls were pre-fabricated in nearby Bozeman, Montana, and shipped to the site.