Situated within a rural green belt area in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, the design focused on achieving a virtually net zero building with exceptional insulation, airtightness, and energy efficiency. The structure features an exposed Glulam frame, adding warmth and character to the interior while celebrating the building’s construction. High-performance elements, including triple glazing, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR), and composite cladding, ensure year-round comfort with minimal energy use. The zinc roof and maintenance-free exterior materials provide longevity and durability.

In the heart of the home, the living area features a sleek, contemporary kitchen with a hidden utility space neatly concealed behind. A wood-burning stove adds warmth and character. High-quality fixtures and fittings, shadow gap detailing, and full-height sliding doors enhance the sense of space and craftsmanship. Floor-to-ceiling glazing frames views of the surrounding landscape, seamlessly connecting the interior with its rural setting. Both bedrooms are generously sized and feature their own adjoining bathrooms. The bedroom nearest to the living area includes a cleverly designed bathroom with hidden sliding doors, allowing it to function either as a private ensuite or as a guest bathroom.

(*Class Q permitted development allows the conversion of existing agricultural buildings into up to five dwellings, subject to certain conditions and limitations, without requiring full planning permission. The image at the very bottom of this page shows the building, a poultry barn, before work took place.)

Barn Conversion, Hockley Heath on Instagram

Through careful negotiation with Warwickshire District Council, we have gained approval to replace an existing house with a significantly larger, high-performance dwelling located in the sought-after area of Baddesley Clinton, near Solihull.

Our strategy cleverly maximised the new home’s volume by leveraging all available permitted development rights associated with the existing house. This included allowances for extensions, an additional storey, and outbuildings, enabling us to establish a larger theoretical volume than would typically be considered acceptable. By demonstrating this as the baseline, we successfully justified an increased size for the new dwelling within planning constraints.

We also navigated key planning challenges, including ancient woodland preservation, biodiversity net gain, ecological impact, and highways considerations. Additionally, we achieved a significant improvement in energy efficiency by integrating sustainable technologies and a high-performing building envelope.

View this new dwelling on Instagram

These historic stone barns have been carefully renovated together with contemporary introductions and extensions. Wherever possible, the existing stone and oak structure has been retained and exposed. The new work has been carefully considered so it enhances the original building with oak framed doors and windows, weathered zinc roofing and gutters and oak cladding.

The interiors have been sensitively adapted with natural stone floors which will align with the exterior terraces and simply decorated walls and ceilings which act as a neutral counterpoint to complement the original parts.

Natural light within the building is enhanced with the use of large glazed sliding doors and floor to ceiling fixed windows with minimal framing. Large roof lights within the zinc roof drop light down into the interior and natural light will flood the northerly corridor between the old and new buildings.

A hand-made oak kitchen and breakfast area have been installed within the new extension with uninterrupted views over rolling countryside through the glass box forming the new end of the building.

The floors, walls and roofs are heavily insulated with a highly efficient heating system with underfloor heating.

We explored two possible designs and agreed to take a modern stance with a simple ‘L’ shaped plan which would emerge from the slope of the hill with the living and bedroom spaces then floating above the grass.

We deliberately kept the building low and let the natural environment dominate.

The building orientates itself to the open countryside beyond and presents a very modest and private frontage to the lane it is accessed from.

View Plan

As much of the original character is preserved and the large open fronted barns are kept as such by avoiding unnecessary division and insertion of casement windows identically detailed front doors and split full height stable doors (used as windows) sit adjacent to full height glazing helping preserve the open quality.

Interiors are kept unfussy and elements exposed where possible. New materials and finishes reflect the robust qualities of the existing barns.

The new link buildings are designed to be contemporary in appearance and a standing seam zinc roof to deliberately distinguish the new elements.

Awards: 
2010 Daily Telegraph British Homes Award, Best Small Conversion Project of the Year
2009 Premier Guarantees Quality Award winner
Finalist in 2009 Channel 4 Grand Designs Best Conversion Award

“Thank you for all your hard work at Hardwick Farm Barns. The finished product has been very well received and I am very pleased with the look we have achieved together as a team. Your early work on creating workable, usable, layouts within the confines of old barn structures has been particularly successful and has certainly added value. We were very keen to avoid the mistakes seen on many 80’s conversions and your use of glass and timber in existing openings coupled with interior layouts has worked very well. The difficult to please Local authority conservation architect was much happier with your designs than those we inherited, this contributed to grant of consent for a 5th unit which you obtained for us. When he toured the finished product recently, he was very complementary about how the character of the barns had been kept, which I hope will help us with future planning / listed building applications.

Finally your drawings were very comprehensive and have been commented on by a number of contractors on site. The usual grumble is that Architects don’t provide enough information, yours were so comprehensive we actually had people saying there was almost too much! definitely the best way to be.

Thanks again, I look forward to your attention to detail and contemporary design flair on our next project.”