Church Hill Barn, Suffolk, England

Church Hill Barn, Suffolk, UK.
The site, situated on the Essex/Suffolk borders within the landscape immortalised by Constable was originally the home
farm of the nearby estate, destroyed by fire in the 1950s. It consists of a collection of farm buildings forming a courtyard.
The centrepiece of the site with views over the rural landscape is a large barn of cathedral-like proportions.
Having worked with our clients on the successful renovation and enlargement of a Victorian property previously, when it
came to renovating the barn, we were pleased to be
the first choice of architect.
Cruciform in plan with a collection of smaller spaces surrounding it, the arrangement sought to provide shelter for
different farming activities under a single roof. The barn complex is the legacy of one of its pioneering exponents of the
model farm movement John Gurdon Esquire, the original owner.
The clients purchased the buildings in dilapidated condition. Having sold their own property in nearby Colchester they
decided to reside in a caravan on the site during the build.
A large component of the renovations consisted of the refurbishment of the roof. In order to allow the existing structure
to be viewed internally but still conform to modern standards of thermal performance, the roof is a ‘warm roof
construction’ meaning that all of the insulation is located on the exterior of the roof above a new timber deck.
Roofing slates and timber materials were salvaged from the other agricultural structures on the site that were too
decayed to be usefully renovated.
The external walls were insulated with sheep’s wool and clad with larch timber, which has been left to weather naturally.
The original openings have been simply fenestrated with glazing set back from the external wall line. Oversized bespoke
glazed sliding doors fill the hipped gable porches, allowing views from the courtyard towards open fields. Two three- metre
square roof lights allow day light deep into the interior of the eight-metre tall central spaces.
Polished concrete flooring flows throughout. It was decided early on during the design process to keep the spaces as
open plan as possible. Where necessary partitions and screens are designed as over scaled furniture. Freestanding and
constructed from birch faced plywood sheets, they help to organise the spaces, providing privacy for bathrooms and
sleeping areas.
A biomass boiler feeds underfloor heating assisted by a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system to ensuring that the lofty spaces remain comfortable throughout the year.