Surrey Homes | SH76 | May 2021 | Restoration & New Build supplement inside

Restoration & New Build Supplement sponsored by S C
Case Study:
Bringing Back
the Barn
Theis & Khan tell us the tale of a recent masterpiece of a barn conversion
Burwash Barn was a real project right from
the offset, it had enormous potential but
was obviously going to require lots of work
to fufill it. The idea was to provide additional family
accommodation for a Grade II listed 17th century
farmhouse in East Sussex. Alongside the main house,
was a building which was comprised of three divided
barns. The clients wanted to convert this outbuilding
into a sitting room, studio bedroom, and bathroom
as well as a garage and outside store, all in a style
that complimented the historical
nature of the property and
honored the building’s authentic
character and features.
Originally built as part of
the farm, the agricultural
outbuilding that we began
with was an uninsulated timber
structure with rotten sole plates,
damage from water ingress, and
roofs in need of repair. We had
to meticulously survey and strip
back the structures before we
started rebuilding. We carefully
removed the existing foundations
and installed new ones, and used
traditional carpentry methods
with the tenons pegged, to
replace the existing timber
with new oak. The buildings had also moved over
time, which actually gave them a sense of age and
personality which the clients were keen to keep, so
the natural undulations within the roof structure
were not corrected. They also wanted to keep the
original structure of the building visible, so, rather
than installing the insulation between the studs and
joists, we installed new insulation over the existing
structure, exceeding building regulation requirements,
and forming a warm roof. The existing rotten oak
cladding boards were also removed and replaced with
new oak boards to match what was there before. As
for the roofs, the main barn roof had been replaced
with corrugated sheet and the lower roofs had many
damaged Sussex peg tiles. To fix this we mixed
reclaimed tiles in with the surving originals to ensure
the roof kept its traditional appearance, and also added
bat ‘slots’ for detail.
The original building was divided into three barns
that were not interconnected, and one of the key
changes we made was to link them all together to
allow the buildings to flow into each other. The
Wealden District conservation
officer allowed a small opening
in the wall between the lower
barn and the main barn, which
was enough for us to install of
a new stair. The conservation
officer was also keen that the
building retained its original
open elevation, which meant the
new sliding glass doors had to
be installed behind the original
posts and bracketed from the
existing structure. The end result
is large contemporary glazed
sliding doors and windows which
really show off the original studio
structure while also opening up
some enchanting views to the
countryside beyond.
Once all the work was done to make the structures
sound and habitable, the landscaping was also altered
to create a new vehicular entrance to the north of the
site, enabling the old track to be subsumed into the
field to minimise hard standing surfaces. Meanwhile,
inside the outbuilding, the interiors were decked
out with modern oak flooring, and oak doors and
windows to once again maintain the woodsy tone of an
old barn, with flush glazing and a beautiful statement
concrete fireplace bringing the whole thing elegantly
up to date with gentle touches of contemporary flair.
theisandkhan.com
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