The Cowshed

The clients purchased the barn with an extant consent, which didn’t make the best use of space or celebrate the unique qualities of the building. The brief was to explore a new design blending contemporary and historic features. The small-scale and sensitive nature of the built fabric demanded a conservation-led design approach. The proposed concept united both sides of the barn by inserting a timber pod structure into the fabric of the listed building, this mitigated the level change, acted as a division between the bedrooms and bathrooms and housed the new staircase to the first floor. Making use of the limited space in the two-storey element also proved challenging; the master ensuite bathroom was tucked under the eaves with the shower suspended over the stair, creating compact but characterful spaces. An innovative approach was taken towards the re-use of the building’s tilted timber structure, which was “lifted” into its original position, providing an interesting construction challenge enabling complete reuse with minimum intervention. Even the original padstones, discovered during construction, were reused. The barn's simplicity was celebrated by using existing openings and a restrained material palette, including timber boarding and lime plaster, which sit comfortably within the stone shell of the existing building. The retention and repair of historic features such as barn doors, weathered timber boarding and timber roof structure and contemporary glazing respect the barn’s agricultural heritage. The project has been used by the Local Authority as an example of a successful collaborative approach between a heritage-led architect, experienced structural engineer and a supportive conservation officer to address the challenges associated with small historic structures.