‘Rural tranquility’ is a phrase that springs to mind when visiting this beautiful countryside site. Bounded by hedgerows and surrounded by agricultural land, its mature and well-established greenery gives the site a distinct rural feel.
Located in the Mendips to the east of Wells, the site includes a redundant stone-built barn which was previously used for agricultural purposes. Our client wished to convert this into a 2-bed low-energy dwelling, in keeping with its rural context. Although a previous application to convert the barn had been refused, our planning consultancy was brought in to help and successfully secured permission. Our client can now progress with converting the property into their perfect rural home.
Given its setting, the property’s closest neighbouring buildings are farmhouses, cottages and converted barns. With this in mind, our designs for the proposed home needed careful consideration to sensitively integrate the conversion into its context. Ensuring minimal visual impact on the rural landscape was also important. Our design team used the barn’s existing form, structure and openings to help keep its rural character in the local area. The property will also retain its existing stone facades, with some windows and large glazing panels added to face the field. Timber louvres are included as solar shading on the elevations which catch the sun.
As well as its low-energy design, the property will use a range of carbon reduction measures to bolster its sustainable credentials. These include solar PVs and hot water collector, rainwater harvesting, and high thermal insultation. The building will also use locally-sourced materials where possible, and a vegetable garden will be introduced to satisfy most of family’s food requirements.
Inside, the ground floor features an open plan layout with a central kitchen and a dining-living space, using most of the barn’s footprint. The first floor celebrates the existing structure by exposing the roof trusses to keep its barn-like character.
Our planning consultants were delighted to secure consent for the conversion and building work is expected to start soon.
