Big Barn Conversion

A contemporary conversion of a 19th-century, single-storey milk barn in Stokeinteignhead, Devon, into a three-bedroom family home and studio space.

When an old building is internally insulated and lined with modern finishes, it can lose some of its original honesty and charm as the existing structure becomes hidden. Our approach was to expose the new structure rather than conceal it, while retaining and reinterpreting the key characteristics of the original barn.

The new first floor was designed to appear as a lightweight insertion into the barn, sitting on exposed steel beams. We achieved this in part by using lightweight timber finishes at first-floor level, contrasted with heavier, warmer and more earthy materials on the ground floor. This reintroduced the contrast and texture we were looking for.

We wanted to retain the experience of open space. The decision to create a double-height space at the centre of the barn makes the interior feel generous from every part of the building. A secondary steel frame, hidden within the roof structure, removed the need for roof ties, allowing shafts of natural light from the rooflights to move uninterrupted through the dwelling.

This was a technically challenging project, partly because the existing rubble-stone walls were not structurally sufficient to support the new first floor, the roof timbers had suffered from dry rot, and the barn was split across two levels.

We overcame these challenges by underpinning the existing walls where necessary and supporting the first floor and roof with an internal, lightweight steel structure.

Client testimonial.