This proposal involved taking an existing barn that was being used to house cows, straw and various farm yard paraphernalia and converting it into two dwellings with a shared heating system. The owner wanted to make use of his existing building to provide himself and his son with a brand-new dwelling each.
This building was approved under permitted development which allows for change of use from agricultural building to residential. Making the conversion work presented many challenges as we needed to preserve as much of the structure as possible. The relative ground and floor levels were tight; insulating the structure and making for an upper floor was challenging. The existing structure was partially under pinned and is currently being dug out to stabilise the structure.
The design employs metal roofing, vertical timber cladding, high levels of insulation, wood burning stoves and a combined heating system. The client specifically asked for tall windows to the front elevation so as to capture as much natural light as possible.
This building is currently under construction and the client is hoping to complete works before the end of 2018.