Continuing our look back at 25 years of Alex Oliver Associates, we look back today to, perhaps, one of our favourite barn conversions.

By keeping as much of the historic fabric as possible, the converted building still looks and feels like the original, but transformed into comfortable family accommodation.

Converting existing buildings is a balancing act of the proposed use with the character of the building.

Introducing new glazing can be particularly tricky, but sometimes the building itself will give you the answer. The large dormer window on this barn conversion in Wiltshire proved the inspiration for two further dormers, greatly increasing the light into the building, without appearing alien in character.

This Grade II* listed building dates back to the early 1700s and we never tire of visiting site as part of our ongoing design works for the owners of this Queen Anne beauty.

We’ve recently revisited a housing development we designed in Wiltshire, which included a courtyard of new build houses and a bungalow, but also two historic buildings dating back to the 1800s which were outbuildings to a long ago demolished mansion house.

These new homes are restored to the latest standards of insulation and services, but with the character of a bygone age that only an historic building can give.

Our conservation work sees us cross many thresholds, from the humble to the not so humble.

But the great thing about our projects is we get to look round some really interesting listed buildings, from a chocolate box thatched cottage to a castle. These two projects are examples of where we’ve provided strategic early stage advice to potential owners, helping them shape their future plans.

We like a wide range of architectural languages and which language we use for a project can be decided by a number of factors.

Chiefly though, when working with an existing building, the building itself will give us the correct direction. This country house dates back to the 1890s but the original design felt incomplete and unresolved. The language of the existing home suggested that a Gothic language would be the most appropriate direction and here is the finished article.

You never know what you will discover when working on historic buildings. The rich tapestry of the past can sometimes throw up some unexpected discoveries.

Sometimes however the discoveries can merely be the result of a simple clean. This building in Wiltshire which we designed an apartment conversion scheme for sits right on the main road. Years of dirt and road grime has built up, obscuring to all but the most eagle eyed the phrase over the door. All it took was a bucket of warm soapy water!

The important thing when converting a barn is to use the fabric of the building to lead the design. That way the resulting property still looks and feels like a barn.

This can throw up some issues with low head heights, strange window positions and unusual corners, but this Grade II listed barn in Hampshire is a good example of the beauty that can be created by being led by what is there. As you can see from the before and after photos it has clearly been converted with softwood shiplap cladding being replaced by a return to traditional feather edged boarding, but is definitely still the same building and still a barn.

When working on old buildings a straight line is a rarity. Historic structures wobble, are out of plumb and are curved by the hands that made them.

The trick, when undertaking conservation work is to not fight this. Going with the fact the building is out of square keeps your intervention to a minimum and makes for a more authentic result. We took this approach for this Grade II listed Devonshire Linhay we worked on a few years ago and these pencil drawings we produced as part of the design process show how wonky some parts of the building were. All part of the charm.

The use of crinkle crankle walls, characterised by their undulating or sinusoidal shape, dates back thousands of years, but the term “crinkle crankle” itself was first used in 1598. These walls are known for their distinctive appearance and also offer structural advantages over straight walls of the same thickness.

Most crinkle crankle walls are made of brick, but we were asked a few years ago to undertake a feasibility study on the restoration of this cob crinkle crankle wall, part of a series of cob and brick crinkle crankles surrounding a walled garden in Wiltshire.

We really appreciate Classical architecture and count ourselves lucky to often work in this style in both our new build and conservation work.

The effortless elegance of this entrance porch could never be mistaken for being of any other style. The cyma recta moulding of the porch canopy is perfectly balanced by the corbel brackets which combine ovolo, cyma recta and cavetto profiles. An understanding of these different components and their language is key to producing architecture worthy of the Classical label.

We are lucky to see some very unusual buildings in the course of our conservation work.

You wouldn’t normally expect to find an industrial chimney in the back garden of a mid-1800s country house, but our research discovered an interesting story as to why. The settlement where the house is, was a built for the workers of a lumber mill which was originally steam powered. After three catastrophic fires as a result of embers catching sawdust alight, the chimney was moved further from the engines and into the garden of the mill owner’s house where it remains to this day, now under our watchful eye.

Sometimes working with historic buildings is a puzzle, rarely though is the building itself literally a jigsaw puzzle.

An orangery had stood at this property in the West Country since the Victorian times, however a failed restoration in the 1960s saw the domed timber and glass structure collapse during heavy rain in the mid 1990s. We undertook a feasibility study for a potential purchaser to reinstate the collapsed building using the salvaged timbers.

It's good to be green, but being green shouldn't just be the preserve of new buildings, to really get on top of the problem, every building needs to be looked at carefully to see what can be done. If everybody does something, we'll be able to make a big difference. Even listed buildings can play their part.

We've recently gained planning and listed building consent for a program of restoration and upgrade works on a historic country estate in West Sussex. We have been working closely with Martin Thomas Associates M+E consultants, and a key part of the strategy worked out with them, is to introduce renewable technologies for the site. Here are some illustrations of the strategies to be utilised.

First impressions count. First impressions for a home, really count.
The portico of this elegant Grade II* listed town house was in need of some real tender loving care before we started our restoration project. The restored timberwork provides the sort of entrance you would expect and really sets the tone for the beautifully restored interior within.

We feel that when working on listed buildings we have a responsibility to be sensitive to them and their history. Over restoring a building is often as bad as doing nothing at all.

This Georgian townhouse was in a very poor state of repair having been both a hotel and offices for many years. Lots of elements needed repairing, but we had to be careful to do it in such a way that the repairs were not obvious. The craftmanship in this field of Moulding The Builder is evident on this rubbed brick window head and key stone where they have executed our repair scheme in such a way that looking at it now, it simply looks ‘right’ rather than rebuilt.

We consider ourselves very lucky to work on some beautiful barns. A key principle we adopt is to ensure that wherever possible the building keeps its character and still retains a barn like quality rather than that of a regular house.

Our scheme for this Grade II listed barn in Wiltshire carefully exposed the historic timbers in the former hay loft to ensure the buildings history could still be read. Careful placement of elements ensured we could incorporate the office and home cinema the brief required, without compromising the listed structure.

We don't only work in the country; our projects often take us into the town.

This project in a Conservation Area reworked a former car dealership in a pair of Grade II Listed buildings dating back to the late 1700s/early 1800s. The key move was to treat both buildings as separate, removing the unattractive and awkward 1970s single frontage and replacing with two new timber shopfronts more in keeping with the style of the individual buildings.

Old buildings often throw up unexpected challenges… For example, how to access the wine cellar of the Grade II* listed Georgian townhouse without compromising the original plan form of the room it is accessed from.

The solution was perhaps more Thunderbirds than George III, but installing a gib door and floor hatch minimise the visual intrusion and negate the need to bisect the space with an alien staircase. Sometimes our conservation work can challenge us, but the opportunity to work out neat solutions like these is why we relish that challenge.

When working in traditional styles of architecture it is important to get things ‘right’. Many different elements need to coalesce correctly for the finished scheme to look comfortable.

Take for example this country house in the North Wessex Downs AONB. Carefully modelling the form of the house by breaking the mass of the building into two forms with different but complimentary looks, rather than simply using the same style of all elevations gives the overall scheme a more interesting aesthetic of contrast that reflects a narrative of development over time.

The application of the Golden Section ratio to plan, elevation and openings of the building ensures comfortable proportions in keeping with traditional forms. Careful selection of materials (reclaimed brick, render and timber windows) allows the building to feel grounded and ‘at home’ on the site from day one.

All of these carefully considered choices add up to a whole greater than the sum of its parts.