The project involves the restoration of two historic eighteenth century barns, focusing on a large courtyard within the grounds of Bolgoed Maen within the Brecon Beacons National Park.

 

The buildings have been developed over the years growing with the development and prosperity of the farm. Barn 1 is a large well preserved 3,000sqft building which has had many uses over the years from cowshed, dairy, piggery to more recently stables. Barn 2 which is almost a ruin, is 2,000sqft of mainly large double height space which was used for farm machinery and storage of hay. These buildings became redundant when modern farm machinery and practices developed in the latter part of the twentieth century.

 

Our approach to the design and redevelopment of these buildings was to keep the farm aesthetic where possible with very limited modern interventions. The uses are to be ancillary to the main farmhouse and cater for the growth needs of the tourist industry within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Planning permission was granted in 2021 for holiday accommodation.

 

Barn 1 (the dairy) design is to retain all the existing openings and reuse where ever possible the doors as new shutters for the new windows. This retention of existing doors and restoration of the stone facade will maintain the farm aesthetic and provide a sharp contrast to the new aluminium doors. The interior will be a simple clean, contemporary interior with a first floor gallery and bedroom off the main hallway, with a further two ground floor bedrooms, bathrooms and large lounge, kitchen and dining areas. The entrance hall will have double height space with exposed stonework, lime painted and exposed roof structure. The kitchen lounge area will open up to the rear west garden and first floor bedroom has views directly to the mountains. 

 

Barn 2 will have a similar aesthetic, off the courtyard as the other barn but the large openings will have a large sliding door to access the interior. This unobstructed opening maintains the original opening and a sliding timber screen can close it off from the courtyard for privacy and security. The entrance to this building is off the single storey side extension which has entrance hall, toilet and utility room. Off the hall is the open plan ground floor with kitchen, dining, lounge, snug and stairs leading to the two bedrooms and a further bathroom. The garden to the east of the building can be access by the large pivot door within the original opening. 

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Location: Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales

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Images: Buzzbox3d