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Albion Barn

Oxfordshire

Project Details

£0.5m to £0.99M

Within a Conservation Area, Alteration to existing property

Practice

Studio Seilern Architects

Studio Seilern Architects , 24 Scrubs Lane , London , NW10 6RA

Albion Barn at Old Belchers farm in Oxfordshire is a residential and cultural exhibition space designed for a private art dealer. Old Belchers Farm is a charming 17th century farmhouse with a collection of barns and stables within a courtyard and farm estate setting. The collection of buildings has Historic Interest Building Status, and the property falls within the Conservation Area of Little Milton, a picturesque Costwold village in Oxfordshire. It is in this residential setting that the owner of the property wished to establish a contemporary art centre, displaying his own collection and installing shows within a more domestic and intimate setting than the typical industrial lofts of the urban commercial gallery. The grounds became a place of exhibition allowing the art collection to spill into nature. The old farmhouse buildings were to be converted into art galleries, where the architecture would react to the intimacy of its domestic setting. A place where art is displayed, while simultaneously the owner could informally entertain amongst his extensive art collection. The 325m² project on Old Belchers Farm also includes a dining room and offices wrapped around an ‘intimate’ central hidden library with four secret doors. The galleries are devised to accommodate different scales of art, dividing the spaces into double height galleries for large sculpture and installations. A single storey extension with skylights for natural light, houses the more intimate scale art, such as paintings and smaller sculptures of installations.