The project, located in Iffley, Oxford, is still ongoing with an anticipated construction value of £50k. TJA are providing full architectural services, encompassing RIBA work stages 1-5. Our client wanted a place to be separate from the main house, for various uses: office, art studio, yoga etc. Constraints included root protection areas, distance from the main road and the host building’s designation as a grade II listed malt barn. The design takes these issues into careful consideration. A lightweight timber frame on screw piles minimises disturbance of tree roots and provides a system that can be easily brought into the constrained site. The proposed location is enclosed between a terrace wall and trees, as well as being sunken below the house, keeping the new building discrete. To feel part of the ensemble the new building mirrors the silhouette of the adjacent barn’s gable, and being built in douglas fir and oak, it pays tribute to the high-quality joinery of the barn’s roof structure.