A Huge English Barn Is Transformed Into An Incredibly Spacious Home

Reviving a Historic Structure

The Church Hill Barn by David Nossiter Architects offers a fresh take on traditional architecture. The modern style home located in Suffolk used to be a barn that was used for centuries on a farm. They managed to keep the original brick walls while implementing some timber framing to create a stunning and spacious home for the homeowners. Some of the brick and many timbers are left exposed inside the home as well which adds to the traditional style and charm of this home. The home is right by the border between the counties of Suffolk and Essex in England. It's also one of the buildings that created the home farm of Assington Hall close by. Unfortunately, the hall was burned in a fire in the 1950s, and then the other buildings on the farm weren't properly maintained afterwards either. So when the homeowners bought the farm, they were in quite a state and required a lot of work to get them back to being livable and usable. The original building was designed to provide space for many different farming requirements all under one single roof. The building is also still deemed a heritage building which is another reason they had to keep the general integrity of the building intact.

Specialized Design and Preservation

So this was a building project that would need some very specialized attention and design capabilities. That's where architect firm David Nossiter Architects from London, England came in. The designers really focused on preserving as many of the original materials as possible to retain the character and charm of the building to the best of their ability. Then, they were also able to add in some wonderful contemporary features and energy efficient materials that would improve the insulation of the building. They also had to add a new roof, but they were able to keep the high ceilings intact which was a very central feature to the building. To do this, they added the insulation to the exterior of the roof to create a good seal. They were also able to implement older reclaimed building materials from other buildings on the property to resurface the roof so that it didn't lose too much of its old appeal. In the walls, they used sheep's wool insulation to improve the insulation of the building and to keep it as natural and eco-friendly as possible.

Modern Features and Aesthetic

They also kept the original entrances and window openings in the barn but added new, properly insulated windows to make the home more energy efficient. The impressive front entrance is a pair of sliding glass doors which open up to the outside connecting the interior to the beautiful garden surrounding the property. The same idea is mirrored on the other side of the house leading out to the backyard of the property as well. The interior is stunning and wide open with high ceilings and a very industrial modern appeal. The exposed brick and timber beams add so much character to the home, and they added polished concrete floors and concrete countertops for a modern and seamless look that is also very budget friendly. The interior is kept very open with minimal furniture and decor for a very minimal modern style that complements the home very nicely. They also added plenty of kitchen cabinets all along one wall for fabulous storage all made out of wood. Then the bedrooms are tucked away to be nice and private, and one of them even has a lovely bathtub right beside the bed. Of course, new lighting was also implemented throughout the home to highlight the amazing features of the build and to be more energy efficient.