Feeringbury Farm Barn
Feering Bury Farm is a Grade II listed barn on an isolated working Essex farm, and has been converted into a large home and artist studios, representing a radical departure from traditional barn conversions.
The original structure was a large timber-framed aisled barn with a central structure dating to c.1560 with aisles added in the 18th century. Although it would have been thatched, the original roof materials were lost and had been replaced by corrugated material. Local authority planners and conservation officers indicated that the building should more or less be maintained in its original state. In particular, planners wanted to avoid visible rooflights in order to preserve the barn's industrial external appearance. Hudson Architects' solution was therefore to replace the corrugated roofing with large polycarbonate rooflights, which were in turn covered with a perforated steel mesh that allows diffuse light into the barn, while concealing the rooflights from view from the outside. This clever solution retains the barn's industrial appearance, while the uneven texture of the mesh also recalls the barn's original thatch. Internally, the original agro-industrial nature of the building was maintained: existing concrete grain silos were re-used to create bathrooms and a staircase to a mezzanine bedroom suite at one end of the barn. The space is split two-thirds along the way of the barn by a full height glass wall, providing separation between the open plan house and the client's artist studios and workshop.
