In the Cotswolds, Bureau de Change have reinterpreted the rural vernacular to create a new home using inter locking barn forms and a palette of local materials.

Billy Mavropoulos, Co-Founder of Bureau de Change, explains how the design drew on traces of the site’s former use: “We took the elongated forms of two 30 metre-long, timber chicken sheds as the starting point for the new design. The house then became a play of traditional barn volumes which have been pushed and pulled to suit the needs of the client”.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

“The front volume has been cut into to create an internal patio, hidden behind the elevation”.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

The back volume is extruded to double height, creating a point of interest where the two barns interlock and are pushed into one another. A building within a building allows the far end of the front barn to house a studio for the artist owner, and a part of the second volume has been broken off to form an annexe adjacent to the main house.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Inside, the key living spaces fan out around the patio, which acts as a focal point for the home. Clad in copper, the patio is a moment where both nature and light are introduced.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

“Materially, the house echoes much of Bureau de Change’s work in its attention to craft and detail”.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

In this case, paying close attention to local historic building practices and approaches to material have played an important role in generating a language which both revives and reinterprets the vernacular.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

In addition, the construction meets passive house principles – with an insulated concrete formwork system creating a thermal envelope, limited openings on the south-facing façade, triple glazed window units and a heat recovery ventilation system to maintain air quality year-round.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Co-Founder Katerina Dionysopoulou explains: “The front barn has been built in dry stone wall by a local crafts[1]man, chosen not only for its local relevance but for its inherent qualities of mass and muscularity. This façade is monolithic, with fewer openings to produce a heavier, solid volume at the front.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

As a counterpoint, the taller barn at the back is clad in a lighter-weight natural larch which has been charred to a deep leathery black at each window recess. This charring has then been brushed away to gently blend it into the natural larch – creating an ombré effect which emphasizes the rhythmic push and pull of the window indentations”.

Architecture Firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Photo © Gilbert McCarragher

This sensitive material treatment deconstructs the expansive façade, adding texture and interest – a principle echoed in the indentation of the stone walling at the front entrance. In both material choices, the studio have envisaged a slow process of weathering and age that will further embed the new home into its rural setting.

Ground floor plan, © Bureau de Change Architects

First floor plan, © Bureau de Change Architects

Section A-A, © Bureau de Change Architects

Section B-B, © Bureau de Change Architects

About Bureau de Change Architects:

Bureau de Change is an award winning architecture practice founded by Katerina Dionysopoulou and Billy Mavropoulos. Its work is a direct product of the founders’ upbringing, passions and experiences – combining the pragmatism and formality of their architectural training with a desire to bring a sense of theatre, playfulness and innovation to the design of spaces, products and environments. The result is a studio where rigorous thinking and analysis are brought to life through prototyping, testing and making.

Facts & Credits:

Project title: Long House, Typology: Residential Restoration, Location: Cotswolds – UK, Architecture firm: Bureau de Change Architects, Text description: Bureau de Change Architects, Photography: Gilbert McCarragher

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