New Music Barn and Visitor Center

IMEG provided engineering and design services for the new Olivier Music Barn and Visitor Center at the Tippet Rise Art Center, an 11,500-acre working ranch that connects music, art, and nature. Tippet Rise features several intimate musical performance venues with varying shapes, sizes and acoustics. This LEED Gold certified performing arts and educational center attracts performers and audiences, encourages creativity, and is a model for energy-efficient building and maintenance practices. Additionally, the center houses artists-in-residence and spaces for teaching, practicing, rehearsing and recordings. 

Engineers provided MEP and acoustic design for the new facility. The all-rusted exterior barn with pitched roof includes an all-timber interior, large windows for natural ventilation, a large commercial kitchen, and large sliding doors that open to the nearby creek outside. The acoustic design of the Music Barn used simple materials, including a pitched ceiling that creates a specific sound and timber framing which helps diffuse the sound. 

 The near-net-zero facility relies almost entirely on renewable energy sources. Stakeholders involved with this project were dedicated to utilizing environmentally friendly procedures and products for climate control, water, and electricity needs. 

The project received a Mountain Region Environments Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council Mountain Region. 

Owner
Tippet Rise
Location
Fishtail, MT
Size
11,500-acre
Services Provided

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing