Tollgate Barn

The brief

The project started with Class Q approval, but we soon moved to a full planning application so we could make some design changes and get better use out of the scheme. From the beginning this was a close working relationship, with the client sharing the things that really mattered to them, and a lot of our job was simply to listen carefully and design around exactly that. The family have dogs, so the whole home was planned with pets in mind, and because stairs were not going to work for an elderly member of the household, we kept everything on one level and fitted a lift. The brief, in their words, was for a happy space throughout, and that idea guided every decision.

Key challenges & interesting design decisions

This is a modern take on a barn conversion, and a lot of the character comes from the detail. The kitchen is a bespoke piece in rosewood with a retro feel and contrasting colours, the sort of thing that gives a home its personality. We chose to stay single storey rather than going to two storey, which keeps a lovely open feel, and then introduced a mezzanine level to make the most of the volume. We were very particular about the floor plan, and the mezzanine became an interesting place to look out over the rest of the property.

There is a big private cinema room too, one of the spaces the family were most excited about. Throughout, the work was about honing in on what they actually wanted and designing faithfully to it, so the finished home feels genuinely theirs rather than a standard layout dropped into an old barn.