Services · 04
Barn Conversions
Serious buildings, converted without losing what made them worth converting
Kent is full of agricultural buildings worth converting and full of conversions that went wrong. The two failure modes are the same every time: a frame that was repaired badly, and a thermal design that fought the building instead of working with it.
“We purchased a barn for conversion... the build was a serious undertaking but Matt took the stress out of the process with his knowledge, professionalism and calm manner,” wrote Neil Harrigan on Google. That is what this service is: somebody calm who has done it before, standing between you and a very large project.
Surveying the frame before you commit
What is structurally sound, what needs splicing or replacing, what the foundations are actually sitting on, and whether the roof can take an insulated build-up. We would rather find the expensive news during an early survey than in month four.
Class Q, planning and building regs
Most barn conversions run under permitted development rights for agricultural buildings or through full planning, and both routes come with conditions about what you may and may not change. We work with your planning consultant and building control officer and build to what was actually approved.
Insulation, airtightness and glazing
Getting a barn warm without hiding everything good about it is the central design problem. Warm-roof build-ups, insulated slabs, careful airtightness detailing, and glazing set into the existing openings rather than punched through elevations at random.
Services, finishes and the frame on show
Underfloor heating, service routes planned so cables and pipes are not chased through historic timber, and an interior finish that leaves the trusses, purlins and brick doing the talking.
What's included
- Structural survey of the existing frame
- Timber repair, splicing and stabilisation
- Foundations, floor slabs and underpinning
- Warm-roof build-ups and insulated envelopes
- Glazing into existing openings
- Underfloor heating and planned service routes
- Building control and planning-condition compliance
- Interior finishing around exposed structure
Registered Kent company no. 13244885 · serving Sevenoaks District and the wider Kent area
From the project gallery
Related work, photographed on completion.
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