The Shed

‘The Shed’ began life as a archetypical concrete framed agricultural building, occupying a quiet position beside our client’s traditional farmhouse home. Recognising the agricultural barn’s potential for conversion to a unique family home, with unrivalled views across open countryside and farmland adjacent, our client Janice approached us in the summer of 2019 to create a design, secure planning permission, provide technical (building regulations) information and ultimately manage the delivery of the project at construction phase.

First and foremost, we had to ensure that the agricultural barn was both structurally fit for conversion, and that the existing building would meet the parameters for conversion under the Class Q Prior Approval planning route, which allows the conversion of certain types of agricultural buildings to a dwellinghouse. We used our extensive knowledge of planning legislation to determine that this building would indeed meet the requirements; offering an expediated and simpler route through the planning process.

Secondly, we utilised our list of contacts to appoint a structural engineer to carry out a full structural survey of the building, which in any case would need to be provided as supporting evidence for the planning application. This survey was returned with a very favourable assessment, identifying only minor areas of defect or spalling that could be rectified during the construction process.

Having gained assurance of the legislative and technical context of the project for our client, we could now proceed with the exciting part- design work!

The barn offered a blank canvas to mould into the contemporary home our client dreamed of after many years of living in an old house, with all the maintenance challenges that this brought. The first challenge our team had to address was that of providing ample natural light. The deep plan form of the building meant that inner rooms were going to be inevitable; but how were we going to make these spaces high quality? We settled on the concept of creating a central glazed atrium in the building; a space that offered potential for an indoor courtyard garden space that the bedrooms would overlook, but that also acted as a light well ensuring each and every room would be bright and comfortable.

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Our client loved this concept, and this space became one of the principle design moves that truly excited people, and unlocked the potential of this building. Choosing a tree to inhabit and animate this space through the changing seasons became the most hotly discussed part of the project. After seeking advice from a number of local plant nurseries, a beautiful mature camellia tree was chosen.

The building further capitalised on the stunning panoramic countryside views by the introduction of large openings throughout, and a mezzanine level leading onto a balcony space, offering a harmonious relationship between the inside and outside. Although the Prior Approval route set some requirements regarding the external appearance of the building to retain the agricultural character of the original, this did not feel limiting, and the building was cloaked in larch cladding to complete the contemporary transformation.

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A local builder with extensive expertise converting concrete frame buildings was appointed after a rigorous tender process to construct the project, and we worked closely with them as the Project Architect throughout to address the more complex technical aspects of the scheme. We also performed the role of Contract Administrator, ensuring the project was completed on budget.  

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