Adaptive Re use, Re work and Extension of a redundant mid 19th Century Barn
"This print has been around in the McAvoy family since I was a child.
I dont know where it is or who painted it, but it satisfies my rural yearnings. So much manual and animal activity ...presumably before the age of Steam.
Photographer Ian Macnicol' s test polaroid no 1
Photographer Ian Macnicol' s test polaroid no 2
Photographer Ian Macnicol' s test polaroid no 3
Photographer Ian Macnicol' s test polaroid no 4
Wher the Picts took refuge from advancing Romans - The Vitrified fort or "Mither Tap" of Benachie
The Garioch - Aberdeenshire
From Master Bedroom window.
The Barn o Braco is part on an agricultural Building Group generated to serve the Mill o Braco . The Braco being a burn that once powered the Mill . The Mill lost its custom to Industrial production in the early 20th Century. The Barn fell out of use.
2 things led to finding it and deciding it was worth saving :-
- A fathers admiration of "heavy" Scottish materials, clarity in engineering and robust tangible structures. -A mothers sense that the ethos of a barn was conducive to shelter and safety.
Mum McAvoy recalls - " I climbed up into the Hay loft and I just knew those old rafters would be a comfort to me and my family.. it was instantly a place where I knew i would contentedly sleep"
The Barns principal relationship was to a shared utilitarian Courtyard where it would discharge Horses and Carts. The challenge was to Re-focus the building via a 100% extension and some slappings to a south facing garden and the mountains to the East.
The starting point was to look at the true nature of the place and how in adapting a redundant Barn, it could find its new niche. We were careful not to upstage or dominate the existing 19th Century Building group. Backward through the maps and in conversation with the native farmers Madge and Will Murrison we gleaned some knowledge of season and climate .- A careful measure up and that prolonged time on site with the Farm owners allowed for a basic understanding of place and weather and a solution that allowed the house to find its niche .
The application of craft and material to the process of adaptive re use.fell easily into place once ears were open. Engagement with localised craftspeople and material were obvious.
Common to most of rural Scotland this "neck of the woods" had a lot of endemic and quite specific Building stock. The purchasers were not fond of the preponderance of alien bungalows starting to colonise this precious landscape esteemed as "The Garioch." being held in esteem for the ancient "chapel o Garioch " and the Garioch Burn that sustained its community..
These Robust mid 19th Century Granite Buildings sat in the mythological landscape of the Garioch which surrounds the Bennachie range of mountains. A landscape where Nature and farming had been mixed since before the Romans and the Picts- fought nearbye at "Mons Graupius" in 83AD
This mythological landscape and the effects of real memory of buildings from childhood farms, led to 7 years of endeavour in maintaining a small component of a very real and very specific place .
Their friends thought they were mad but the smell of old wood and sun on soft lime mortar kept the McAvoy's temporaly shy of the ever prevailing "Non Place" that their friends were commonly living in . The psuedo Queen Ann bungalow derived from the shires of England finds a home easily throughout this landscape.
This advent of "Non Place" continues to consume and degrade the hinterland of Aberdeen.The Garioch was doing its best to avoid it
Dad McAvoy as Engineer remained focused on the physical and commented that "This is not going to blow away... its built like the forth Rail bridge" and famously to journalist Caroline Ednie when writing for Homes and Interiors in 2003 that "I cannot scientifically prove it ....but it is certainly lighter inside the House than out "
The process of adaptively reusing this old Barn, flowed easily once started with local builders Doug and John Penny,
To work there at the foot of that mountain was a joy.
Memories from childhood that in the course of decades of living in sterile Bungalows had disappeared were connected to once again.
The search for authentic Barn Architecture became the ethos of the Project.
The genus Loci was speaking.
It moved in process from dreamscape to practical undertaking before really accommodating their memories again.
Project An existing long Granite Barn, of 1.5 Stories was taken back to bear walls, its fenestration and relationship to a shared Courtyard accepted. A new wing of accommodation was framed in native Oak Wood , a wing that feathered down to open up gallery views to the "Mither Tap" of the Benachie range of mountains. A home engaged with the passage of light and seasons and which indulged the occupants in those seasonal changes was framed by a wooden skeleton and each window positioned to relate to an aspect of the landscape.
Reflection of primary emphasis away from a Courtyard to a Private Garden.
Creation of a new wing of accommodation, off not unfamiliar proportions to Local Building Stock.
Integration of Passive solar gain, underfloor heating, shelter belts and super Insulation levels without compromising the basic Architectural Form or building grouping
Enabling the house to frame and glimpse the silhouette of the Mither Tap of the Benachie range of Mountains.
Exploration of traditional Cruck Framing principal via Arch Braced Collar Oak structure.
All secondary timber in locally sourced and milled Douglas Fir.
Non Toxic specification devoid of harmful chemicals.
Gradual breakdown of mass of new build, retaining strength of existing.
The new Oak and Douglas Fir Structure in the garden provides the clients desire for clarity in primitive engineering. The Natural materials used throughout and the presence of a new Hearth offer the desired warmth.
The flavor of barn architecture, joy in movement through the house and intimate rooms in the roof create a number of surprises.
Local Trades were favored in conducting a simple exploration in proportion and material selection.
Working with the Landscape, topography and localised weather pattern.
Hawthorn + Oak Hedgerows as shelter belts. Low maintenance wild flower meadows in lieu of lawns
Barn principal resulting in more space for less money.
Facilitating elements of Self build, and allowing the Interiors to evolve with the Budget.
To be nothing more and nothing less than it had to be.