The Construction Source America

Morton Buildings | 5 opposed to conventional applications involving studs. After implanted in the ground or surface-mounted to a founda- tion, columns support additions in trusses and framing components that include wall girts, roof purlins and more. As an engi- neered building system, this modality has proven to provide greater savings in costs, greater energy efficiency and greater convenience than tra- ditional building methods, but without forcing compro- mises in terms of quality or aesthetic allure. This is has been demonstrated time and time again through the build- ing of churches, high-end homes, centers of commerce and a range of municipal in- frastructure, in examples so seemingly singular in struc- tural and architectural design that one would never ven- ture to guess such examples are a reflection of the build- ing practices behind a pole barn. “I think we’re one of the best kept secrets in con- struction,” says Dan Nyberg of Morton Building Compa- ny in Morton, Illinois, a more than cen- tury-old, family-owned company whose expertise and operational exceptionality has certainly contributed to this building model’s transition from agricultural or farm-based applications to that of more residential and urban settings. Yet, as Ny- berg explains, “There’s a certain stigma