Project: The Barn & The Office
Architecture: PAD Studio
Contractor: R Moulding & Son
Structural engineer: Built Engineers Ltd
Interior Designer: William Nickerson Interior Design
Location: New Forest National Park, United Kingdom
Year: 2019
Photo Credits: Ståle Eriksen
The new build construction of two separate buildings in a contemporary architectural style with semi-passive house energy performance
The Barn & The Office is a modern contemporary family home, located within a tranquil coastal setting in rural Hampshire. The brief was to design a low energy replacement building, with increased energy efficiency, designed in keeping with its unique setting and the local surroundings, embracing the remarkable site.
The single storey building is designed sensitively in its massing, incorporating natural materials that blend it into the site, reducing the impact of the new home on the surroundings. Orientated to enhance the solar gain, increasing the privacy of this dwelling whilst maintaining the connection to the stunning location and coastal views. A key influence on the design was the architecture of the local agricultural buildings, the nature of the exposed coastal site and the stringent local planning requirements. Proportions, materiality and the window arrangements of local farm buildings were carefully studied, taking inspiration to create a contemporary yet sympathetic design for both past and present industry and aesthetic, ensuring The Barn sits comfortably in the local surroundings.
Materials incorporated in the design are contextual and appropriate for the coastal setting, selected to enhance the fluid relationship between the interior and exterior, whilst also having a sympathetic response to the particular ambience of the place. The exterior is clad entirely in recycled (from another barn) wide timber boards, including the roof and the terrace decking, the reused wood brings a unique and rich patina to the scheme. An innovative detail is incorporated in the north and south gable, with full height rough cut waney edge Douglas Fir boards positioned end, appearing like a row of fins jutting out from the building that blur the edge of the building into the surrounding natural landscape.
A brick plinth to the base refers to the colour of the brickwork locally which was historically made locally from the pale local clay. The cladding is cut away to reveal the brickwork around the main entrance and the chimney is detailed in the same brick which in combination with the plinth helps to firmly anchor the building within its setting and becomes a textured focal point in the living room internally .
Inside the house is bright and light with a muted colour palette; the main living space is open plan with pale oak flooring and full height ceilings, exaggerating the feeling of space. Large frameless picture windows are used throughout, flooding the interior with natural daylight and creating a fluid relationship between the interior and exterior. The large glass doors lead onto the covered terrace, this sheltered outdoor space creates an additional living space that enjoys views out across the natural meadow and glimpses of the sea beyond.
The interior design incorporates some quirky and original design detailing. The kitchen has stunning polished concrete worktops with integrated sink, all cast in-situ, adding a robust yet elegant edge to the domestic interior. The concrete upstands in the kitchen have been customised by the family as mini time capsules with coins, shells and even an iphone embedded into it, adding a totally unique and personal point of interest in this space.
Two generous double ensuite bedrooms are located on the ground floor, with generous frameless picture windows offering an abundance of natural daylight, externally simple landscaping outside these windows offer additional privacy and views through an abundance of natural planting.
Directly above the main bedrooms a mezzanine level creates a sleeping loft and shower room, imagined for children but capable of sleeping up to six adults. The space is in the eaves of the roof yet feels spacious and airy, a large roof light brings in natural daylight. The loft is accessed by the unconventional paddle staircase with a fireman’s pole installed to offer an alternative, fun route down to the living space.
The landscaping is simple yet effective, incorporating silver birch trees and meadow wildflowers that embed the buildings into the established coastal setting within mature trees.
