Institutional projects

My institutional experience has been broad, including corporate offices, dance studios and churches. Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina has engaged my services over the last 10 years for a series of completed and current projects.

Pines Portico . campus focal point

 

The commission to design the focal point of Penland’s campus was won in an invited competition of 64 architect/artist teams. Collaborating with internationally known Chapel Hill sculptor, Patrick Dougherty, I designed the new front porch and gathering space at the entry to Penland’s Pines Dining Hall. The light steel structure and translucent roof provide shelter and sunlight to animate Patrick’s stickwork sculpture.

 

Dail Dixon and Patrick Daugherty – competition team.   Dail Dixon - principal in charge and project architect while at Dixon Weinstein Architects  

Dorm 54 . contextual housing

Nestled in the historic, core campus of the Penland School of Crafts, Dorm 54 provides accommodations for 16 students. The building’s forms refer to nearby National Register structures in a contemporary, but respectful, design partnership. The entry bridge allows preservation of existing grades and vegetation, preserving the site and helping to weave the new building into its context.

Dail Dixon – principal in charge and project architect for while at Dixon Weinstein Architects (Weinstein Friedlein Architects, successor firm) 

Rail detail

Dora's Place 

 

A beautiful woodland pond, Dora’s historic house and planned reinterpretation of her legendary garden provide the setting for the Guesthouse and Sleeping Cabins. Restoration of Dora's and the Guesthouse provide accommodations for instructors and visitors to the campus. 

 

Sleeping Cabins

 

Located across the pond on a gentle hillside, the Sleeping Cabins provide housing for studio assistants. Five cabins with repetitive plans are animated by a family of varied, low slope roofs. The cabins are linked to a shared bathhouse by a boardwalk. All structures are built on pole structures to preserve the ecology of the site.

Visitor Center and Penland Gallery  

 

2006 Master planning and the phase one addition included a new lobby and toilets.

 

Phase two was completed in 2016. The project includes extensive renovation to the National Register listed Horner Hall including conversion of the second floor to business use, renovations to main floor galleries, development of basement space for art storage, and the addition of a new exhibit gallery and sculpture garden. Master planning and phase one were completed as principal and project architect at Dixon Weinstein Architects, phase two as Dail Dixon, faia ,architect.

Image by: Robin Dreyer