the yellow barn

BARN CONVERSION - PLUCKLEY, KENT

Located in the heart of the Kentish countryside, this project involves the careful conversion of an existing dilapidated barn. Studio four point ten were appointed as architects from an early stage with a design concept to create the appearance of a small farmstead, as is so common in the area surrounding Pluckley, by splitting the building into two parts and reusing as much of the existing footprint and structure as possible.

One volume is a large open plan space characterised by the exposed vivid yellow roof structure. These are designed to emulate the bright colour of the surrounding rapeseed fields that define this site in summer, and to preserve a memory of this season deep into the rainy winter days.

The second building contains the smaller bedrooms, bathrooms and utility spaces. The master bedroom, and all-important bath tub, enjoy the beautiful southwesterly views that this rural site has to offer.

The building is designed to be as “off grid” as possible. Heating and hot water are to be provided by an air source heat pump and the structure’s heat loss significantly reduced by high levels of insulation, triple glazing and ventilation that’s utilises heat recovery. Electricity will be generated by the integrated solar panels.