Welcome to Grand Designs, bringing you insider information about the spectacular oak framed Victorian barn conversion in Surrey.
For Philip and Angela, this build was part of a life change that had begun two years earlier. Just after their second daughter was born, Philip fell seriously ill, prompting the family to leave London and move back to his parents' village. Acquiring the site was easy, as Philip's parents owned it. Getting planning permission took longer, and but crucially they would be restoring the outside of the barn and keeping the innovation hidden.
Budget And Build
Cost of land: £0
Planned budget for build: £400,000
Final cost of build: £450,000
Architect Damien Blower of Stedman Blower produced a stunning design: the central space was left unbroken as the principal living area, and the bedrooms and bathrooms were contained inside two curved steel pods, which rose from either end of the barn and were linked in mid-air by a suspended walkway.
An adjacent stable block would be integrated into the barn to become the kitchen. Following the concept design, architect Elspeth Beard, who specialises in the conversion of old buildings, produced the detailed design and became the project architect. They budgeted for just over £400,000, paid for by the capital from their London house and a small mortgage. Perfectionism ruled: one of the builders' first jobs was to knock down part of a cart-house to give the main bedroom a clear view of the church.
While the pods were being made, local contractors stripped the barn back to its timber frame, insulated the roof with top-spec boarding and finished it with traditional clay tiles. Huge timber columns, to support the overall structure, were secured in holes filled with concrete.
Many of the newly exposed oak beams and trusses were beautiful, but their irregularities meant that the measurements of the pods had to be constantly adjusted. The old timbers also needed steel plates to strengthen the areas where the pods would be bolted to them.
Philip, co-ordinating the project from his office on site, drove progress on as fast as the many complex tasks allowed. After just four months, the steel pods and walkway were fitted into place. Philip then networked the entire building with computer cabling, 'future proofing' it by trying to second guess what sorts of technology would be available in the years to come.
A helix-shaped staircase was welded on site. Plasterboard was fixed to the steel pods to create sweeping curves, and the last weeks of the build turned into a frantic - and expensive - marathon of tiling, painting, lighting and fitting. The cost of materials and labour had sent Philip and Angela over budget, but incredibly, this daring build finished on schedule.
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Want to be a self-build guru? Then read on....
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