Our client wanted to replace timber stable building on the site with a large, open, daylit studio building for making large scale silkscreen prints and copperplate etchings.

Our design aimed to be a very simple “Barn” in form and materiality to suit the agricultural setting.  Simple contemporary detailing with timber walls and fibrecement roof make this building cost effective and unfussy.   It is essentially one single volume although it is divided internally into two halves – to accommodate different aspects of the design and printing processes.  The two halves are separated by the insertion of a series of smaller rooms housing wc, kitchenette and plant / storeroom.

The ground floor slab is laid over the top of the pre-existing stable floor to minimize digging and to re-use it as a blinding layer.  Above that the entire structure is made of timber – with flitch plate steel connectors for the principle LVL timber frame. Super well insulated and airtight, the building mobilises the polished concrete floor for its underfloor heating and thermal mass (fuelled by an Airsource heat pump).

The ample daylight from the roof provides an efficient, flexible, spacious and airy studio space with a rural outlook for inspiration.

Status – complete
Contract value – confidential
Design Team – Structural Solutions (Structure); Re:light (lighting)
Main Contractor – Core Construction of Bath