Listed Farm Remodelling, Extension & Barn Conversions
Planning
The Grange is a Grade II listed farmstead located centrally within the village and Conservation Area of Hotham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The history of the existing buildings dates back to the mid-19th C when the two-storey farmhouse was built, upon the location of a pre-existing dwelling dating back to the mid-18th C. Prior to that the property was likely to have taken the form of a humble agricultural small holding, although for a short period of time the property was licensed to sell ale and so it may have served as the village pub. By the early 20C The Grange comprised some 170 acres of agricultural land but by the 1980’s farming at The Grange had ceased and the property began its gradual conversion to primarily domestic residential use.
The buildings that once served the farm still remain on the site, and alongside the farmhouse a Gig House, Stable and Granary, Cow House and Barn are arranged around a large central courtyard. The Gig House, Cow House and large Barn remain as redundant outbuildings in need of repair and repurposing.
The practice was commissioned to assist the Client with their project to repair the outbuildings to prevent their further deterioration, and to help them consider the various functional options for the conversion of the buildings into domestic use.
Whilst the existing buildings offer a generous amount of additional space, they were designed to house animals or for farm storage, they were not intended for human habitation. So, a primary architectural design question is how buildings with very few external openings can come to provide comfortable and contemporary living space, with good connection to external landscape and to nature. But more importantly the question of how buildings that were unconnected and spread out around a courtyard can be stitched together internally, in such a way that they support meaningful and social day-to-day family life, needed to be addressed.
Although a physical connection to the redundant buildings to the east of the courtyard could potentially be provided via the existing Stable and Granary along the north of the courtyard, this approach would not offer sufficient social connection between the spaces. If the social connection of spaces is not properly considered, the spaces will not provide adequate support to family life and consequently the conversion of the outbuildings will not be successful.
The proposed link extension is then a fundamental intervention to the site, which seeks to establish a strong visual and social connection between the existing farmhouse to the west of the courtyard, the converted outbuildings to the east of the courtyard, and through the large garden to the rear of the property. The link extension also creates a new internal space that provides a direct visual connection to the external landscape, among a series of buildings that offer very little connection between internal and external space.
