Originally a black metal-clad barn, it was in a very sorry state before we got to work on it.
The adjacent property was already occupied by the client’s parents, and she wanted to convert the building so that she and her son could move in next door to them.
Her initial idea was to replicate the look of the existing barn, but unfortunately this conflicted with her parents’ wishes for the site; they wanted to go with a more timbered look that would complement their own house and create a sense of cohesion between the two properties.
Planning was pretty straightforward for this project.
Powys County Council has an open approach to barn conversions, which for our purposes meant that there was no restriction for occupation.
Ecological input – meaning an evaluation by a consultant to ensure the development won’t harm any local wildlife – is the norm for almost all the projects I’m involved with, and in this instance it was fairly simple because the only wildlife that would be affected were the few bats that had been inhabiting the barn.
This made it easy to incorporate measures into the design to mitigate the environmental impact of construction and the completed site.
It was clear that the building needed a total transformation, but we didn’t want to lose the character of the earlier structure, which was what gave the project so much charm.
Additionally, much of the barn’s original frame was rotten; the solution was to replace a large proportion of it with a new timber kit, which ultimately created a much more energy-efficient building.
Between negotiations with parents and the challenges presented by the building itself, the final result was quite different from the look and character the client had initially envisioned, but in the end she was very happy with the finished dwelling..
Between negotiations with parents and the challenges presented by the building itself, the final result was quite different from the look and character the client had initially envisioned, but in the end she was very happy with the finished dwelling.
The barn has great character, both inside and out, achieving a pleasant balance of cosiness and spaciousness.
Its name translates to ‘The Bat Barn’, which I think is a perfect fit for this delightful property.
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