300 Year Old Barn Renovated Into a Modern Yet Rustic Residence

There's nothing like a good <a href="http://inhabitat.com/beautiful-renovation-literally-turns-an-old-barn-inside-out/">barn conversion</a>, and the Hillcott Barn in Hereford, UK is a fantastic example. The 300 year old stone barn was originally used for threshing wheat, but the owners wanted to renovate it into their home. With the expertise of UK-based <a href="http://www.rra-arch.com/">RRA Architects</a> and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/prefab">prefab</a> off-site manufacturing, the barn was transformed into an ultra modern abode that continued to cherish the delicate and historic elements of the original construction. Natural ventilation and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/daylighting">daylighting</a> also played a huge role in the design and construction of the adapted home.

The barn is located on a hill with a vantage over open farmland and woodlands

Wanting to preserve all that was good of the historic barn, but still have a modern, efficient, functional home, the owners required delicate and experienced design work.

To accommodate the budget as well as the barn's structure, RRA designed and prefabricated offsite a number of pods that were lowered into a pre-prepared position ready for connection.

In this way, modern interiors for the kitchen, dressing room, bathroom, ensuite and tv snug were more easily placed into the historic envelope, but have rest lightly at the same time.

Original materials like the rubble stone walls, lime washing and the rustic elm timber roof trusses were renovated, repaired and shored up. The roof however was modified significantly to improve ventilation and add more natural daylighting.

By raising the roof up off the walls of the barn, extra windows could be added around the edges and fresh air could move about.

The large doors on either side were outfitted with large operable windows while the original arrow slits were kept intact.

Inside the more intimate bedrooms are placed inside the more dimly lit spaces, while the living spaces are located in the brightest areas. An upstairs glass catwalk lets more light into the downstairs spaces.