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Broads
£0.5m to £0.99M
Listed Building - Grade II, Sited in SSSI area
The Architects Office , Gower Road , Haywards Heath , West Sussex , RH16 4PL , United Kingdom
Careful repair and part-conversion of a Grade II listed thatched barn in the Norfolk Broads National Park including a new cart lodge, garage outbuilding and a walled kitchen garden with glasshouse. We were approached by former clients to assist with the restoration of a Grade II listed farmhouse and associated outbuildings in the Norfolk Broads The thatched barn outbuilding is a large structure located to the rear of the property and is listed in its own right. The barn was built as a threshing barn for grain which was then malted in the Malthouse formerly to the east of Grove House. We sought permission from the Broads Authority to convert the thatched barn from agricultural use into residential ancillary accommodation associated with Grove House. The existing buildings were not suited to the current needs of the local agricultural industry, and their conversion to ancillary residential use was proposed to enable a programme of repair and restoration of the historic buildings to take place, repairing historic damage and ensuring the thatched barns continued use and ongoing maintenance. The proposals are sensitive in their design, focusing on repair and restoration of the existing buildings, whilst maintaining their inherent character and appearance. A mezzanine floor has been re-instated to the west wing, which has been insulated internally to form habitable accommodation. Historic openings that have been blocked off and adapted during the historic development of the thatched barns have been reintroduced. The main barn is to be made weathertight by introducing glazing to existing openings to create a storage and play-barn space. The previously demolished cart lodge to the west of the thatched barn has been re-instated to provide covered parking associated with the main house. Permission for a new 3 car garage outbuilding was also secured alongside a new vehicular entrance, returning the farmstead to a similar layout and form. The design and appearance of the new structures take their design cues from existing buildings on the site and from the local Broads and Norfolk vernacular architecture. Detailing has been carefully considered with window openings, brick buttresses and roof forms reminiscent of the existing outbuildings.