22 October 2020 · By Fran Williams. Photography by FRENCH+TYE

Located in the village of Long Compton, this £420,000 barn conversion turns an existing agricultural structure into a seven-bedroom holiday home on a sensitive 14-acre site

Taking a standardised shed kit-of-parts as its starting point, the scheme celebrates these industrial qualities through the barn's simple form.

The barn is wrapped in corrugated matt black steel cladding, giving the building's 23m-long elevations and curved roof texture. Façade openings punch through to the living spaces and where original openings once accommodated large agricultural vehicles, they now frame views across the surrounding countryside.

Accommodation – including seven bedrooms, a cinema and a yoga area – is arranged over two floors, while at ground floor, a large open-plan space is zoned into separate areas for cooking, dining, living and playing.

The double-height living space to the south end of the home features an upper-floor balcony, chimney and two-storey glazing.

White walls and sliding doors form a backdrop to the home's interiors, accompanied by details in Douglas fir, concrete, ceramics and stainless steel.

Utilising the rich grain of Douglas fir, the material is found in the flooring, stairs, handrails and bespoke furniture, while soft grey wool curtains create contrast.

Two hundred square metres of scaffold board decking wraps the base of the building. A natural children's play area also accompanies the barn, using repurposed components sourced from the surrounding environment such as stiles, gates, trees, rocks, logs, stepping stones, animal troughs, mounds, fingerposts and a trampoline.

The opening of the scheme marks the end of a two-year project by the client to turn the barn into a holiday home, which is now open for bookings including developmental workshops for creative teams.

Future plans for the site include a series of external sleeping pods, also designed by Turner Works, and a wider wildflower meadow.

The external envelope of the barn has been wrapped in corrugated steel that lends a rhythm and texture to its 23m-long elevations and curved roof. This new profiled steel cladding, in matt black, unifies the façade and roof, simplifying the overall volume and reducing the appearance of the barn to its purest form when seen from a distance. Façade openings have been positioned and sized to respond to the barn’s new use as a living space, giving the overall building a human scale.

Inside, the accommodation is arranged over two floors. A double-height living space, featuring an upper floor balcony, forms a moment of spatial generosity, its verticality emphasised by a chimney and two-storey glazing. There are seven bedrooms in total, six of which are located upstairs to make the most of elevated views across the scenic surroundings.

The design utilises a reduced palette of industrial and self-finished materials. White walls and sliding doors form a calming backdrop throughout the property, complemented by elements in Douglas Fir, concrete, ceramics and stainless steel. Douglas Fir was chosen for its warmth and rich grain. Soft grey wool curtains with a metallic solar reflective backing illustrate and further explore the balance between industrial and homely qualities within the property. The scaffold board decking connects the interior with the surrounding fields and encourages activity to spill outdoors.

The Barn provides a calming and flexible living space, designed to be equally suitable for hosting families, business workshops and wellbeing retreats.

Carl Turner, director, Turner Works

The project started as a text from my wife Laura – a joke in fact – with a link to a field for sale. After attending The DO Lectures in west Wales, I was inspired to create a similar space where creatives and pioneers could get away from it all – refresh, rethink, rewire – in order to tackle the huge problems that we face as a society.

Laura and I live in London, conjuring up the barn conversion project to give us what we don’t get in the city. As a family, it’s an amazing place to go and spend time together, share experiences and explain to the kids our place in nature; what we need to ensure we protect. As the leader of a studio it’s a great place for the team to connect and talk about our plans for the future.

To have Turner Works on this project and help make the dream a reality was a no-brainer. I have long admired their work and after working with Carl Turner in 2013, he’s since become a good friend, first working on my house and now this. The site brought its challenges, with strict building restrictions dictated by local planning laws, yet the result forms a sensitively executed set of interventions on the landscape that maximise the opportunities.

My vision for a workshop to be held at the barn is to help businesses understand their true purpose and how they intend to show up in the future. I feel we are in a time of great revealing, where everything is being unearthed but there is no new story to replace it. Workshops at the barn will hold a space to shape a new vision and be connected to others who are also looking for a new story and a better way. It’s really a magical place to help create a better future.

David Johnston, client and founder at Accept & Proceed

Project start October 2018 Start on site June 2019 Completion September 2020 Gross internal floor area 275m² Gross (internal + external) floor area 475m² Site area 14 acre Construction cost £420,000 Cost per m2 £1,527 Architect Turner Works Client David and Laura Johnston Structural engineer Ian Wright Associates Building control Stratford-upon-Avon District Council Main contractor Mirus Construction CAD software used Vectorworks

Tags Barn conversion Carl Turner Cotswolds Turner Works

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