As designers we always enjoy a challenge but when we were given a 7 metre wide strip of ground in a suburban back garden on which to place a 4 bedroom family house we knew some considerable inventiveness would be required. The shape of the plot meant that the primary axis of the building was going to be at 90 degrees to the surrounding houses so the design would also have to convince the planning authority to be flexible. The resultant, barn shaped, minimalist structure which was to echo the traditional hay barns in the adjacent countryside managed to fit all the criteria. At the southern end of the house, double height glazing provided full advantage of the views over the adjacent fields and led to a deck which projected over a pond at the rear. The design was considered attractive enough to be chosen for the BBC House of the Year Show.