British studio Mole Architects has created Alde Valley Barn, a brick-clad holiday home set on a 17th-century Suffolk farmhouse.
The four-bedroom house replaces a steel-framed barn, which was added to the farmhouse in the English town of Aldeburgh in the 1900s.
Mall Architects The design is deliberately simple, referencing the architecture of the replaced barn while respecting the main 17th-century farmhouse next door.
“The new building has been designed as one of the barn structures of the main historic farm, retaining the feel of a simple building complex and associated outdoor spaces,” the studio told Dezeen.
The Alde Valley Barn has a timber frame and traditional gabled form wrapped in brick cladding, divided by sliding doors, bay windows and black timber paneling.
Mole Architects left the structure exposed on the inside but concealed it on the outside with brick cladding, chosen to mimic the surrounding structures in the farmyard.
Inside, Alde Valley Barn’s ground floor contains four bedrooms, while the living area, cozy, open plan kitchen and dining room occupy the upper floor. It is connected by an elevator and stairs.
The upper floor opens to a balcony on two sides to capture the morning and evening sun, allowing occupants to “experience the house at different times during the day.”
“The morning terrace overlooking the pond is located next to the kitchen and dining room, which open to the sun and views,” Mole Architects said.
“The western terrace gives access at the end of the day to a small enclosed garden next to the field that receives the late summer sun.”
As part of a strategy to reduce Alde Valley Barn’s carbon footprint, wood fiber is used as insulation, and photovoltaic panels on the roof generate electricity that contribute to its power supply.
Other homes created by Mole Architects include Freeholders House in Wells-next-the-Sea and Fijal House in Cambridgeshire.
Photography by Nick Guttridge and Rachel Smith.
