Client Brief

The client wanted to explore the planning potential on a farm which had been in family ownership for many years. The farm consisted of a number of buildings including a farmhouse, Oast house, granary, two hopper huts for which we created plans to turn into one five bedroom property, and a threshing barn. No planning permission was in place and the site had remained untouched since the 1960s.

The client wanted our help with exploring the planning potential of the buildings on the site with the following spec:

Oast house: Project completed by Vernacular Homes

• 5 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms + WC
• Lounge
• Large kitchen/diner

Granary: Project under way with Vernacular Homes

• 2 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms
• Lounge
• Kitchen/diner

Barn: Sold with planning permission

• 5 bedrooms
• 4 bathrooms + WC
• Lounge
• Large open plan family kitchen diner with double height space

Farmhouse: Sold with planning permission

• 3 bedrooms
• 3 bathrooms
• Separate living rooms
• Kitchen expansion

Hopper Huts: Project completed by Vernacular Homes

• 5 bedrooms
• Separate annexe
• Large living area

Read more about the Hopper Huts project here.

Planning Ideas

Preserving heritage
The imposing late nineteenth century farmhouse is constructed on the estate of Baron Amherst of Hackney in a Tudor Revival style with a multitude of Gothic details: cross wing plan, jettied first floor, exposed timber framing, arched doorway, ornamental chimneys, and large mullioned windows with trefoil heads.

From working with Tunbridge Wells local authority on many occasions, we knew that extension of the property would be difficult from a listed building perspective as it would detract from the composition of the Victorian farmhouse. Instead, to expand the kitchen, we designed plans to create an open plan scheme by combining existing spaces and these first plans were approved by the planners.

Additional properties
We were confident of the planning potential on the Oast and barn, but a pre-application advice process with the local authority enabled us to identify planning potential on some of the smaller farm buildings, which included two hopper huts. Pre-application advice is when advice is sought from the local planning authority before the formal planning application process.  This can sometimes be useful in establishing the direction of the scheme proposal, as it did with this project.

Stunning staircase
To make the most of the height and light in the Oast house, we built a beautiful, curved staircase with a vaulted landing area.

Kiln roofs
We re-pitched the Oast kiln roofs, allowing use of the top floor of the kilns which had been truncated and had a low flat roof unsuitable for conversion to habitable accommodation. Planning requirements meant we had to rebuild the walls with the existing bricks, in the same Flemish garden wall bond brickwork, as existing, but upright. This was an expensive element of the build, but we kept costs down by using a simple yet striking design. The newly reinstated high ceilings add a real wow factor.

Challenges

The brickwork walls of the granary had rotated to an alarming angle. However, we were able to work with them, converting the building and rebuilding the ground floor walls, using the existing bricks, as mentioned above.