Cowlas House

The conversion had to satisfy Policy DM27 of the local plan, which supports the reuse of redundant rural buildings only where this can be achieved without significant extension or rebuilding. We responded by including the smaller west-end stone workshop and open garage into the conversion, minimising the amount of new building required to a single, modest, single-storey rear extension that isn't visible from the lane and doesn't alter the massing of the principal elevation. A structural condition survey and feasibility report by BEA Engineering Design confirmed the existing buildings could support this approach, needing only minor repairs.

The development revitalised a varied collection of traditional outbuildings: a stone workshop and garage under a shared slate roof (with an existing PV array on the garage portion); a one-and-a-half-storey stone barn with a clay-tiled roof previously used for informal ancillary accommodation; and a lean-to timber willow-weaving workshop at the eastern end.

Rather than selecting an alternative set of barns across the yard-which were considered during preliminary planning discussions in 2019-these specific structures were chosen for their direct connection to the established garden. The garden features mature trees, wildflowers, fruit trees, and vegetable beds, alongside expansive views extending east across the valley.

To ensure privacy and maintain a distinct outlook without overlooking Cowlas House, the primary living space, kitchen, and outdoor terrace are oriented toward the garden, facing away from the adjacent lane and main house. Additionally, two covered outdoor areas provide both functional work zones and daily amenities: a sheltered eating space adjoining the kitchen, and a north-western area dedicated to storing timber and drying produce and willow.

The design was tested in detail against the Building with Nature Standards Framework (BwN 2.0), a benchmark for green infrastructure and ecological design, addressing all twelve of its standards - from multi-functional outdoor space and climate resilience through to water management and support for wildlife. In practice this meant a genuinely fabric-first approach: highly insulated walls and roofs, high-thermal-mass materials to keep the internal environment stable, and passive stack ventilation through carefully placed rooflights and windows rather than mechanical cooling, with deep overhanging eaves to keep out high summer sun. Energy comes from the existing roof-mounted PV array combined with an air source heat pump and thermal store. Because there's no mains water or drainage within reach the house draws from a new private borehole and disposes of foul water through a new package sewage treatment plant that was judged the most ecologically sound option available.

Because the brief was for a home that would suit its owner well into the future, the whole scheme was designed against Lifetime Homes and Building for Life principles, as well as Part M of the Building Regulations. All of the accommodation sits at a single ground-floor level, with no internal steps other than a small mezzanine storage space above the lounge; entrances have level thresholds, low-energy downward-facing lighting on PIR sensors, and weather protection from extended eaves; bathroom walls are built to take grab rails later if needed; and the roof structure above the main bedroom and bathroom is already designed to carry a ceiling hoist, should that ever be required. Two parking spaces are provided, one long enough to be widened to a full 3300mm should an accessible bay ever be needed - the kind of quietly future-proofed detail that costs little to build in at the outset but a great deal to retrofit later.

Devon Wildlife Consultants surveyed the site and prepared the Wildlife Report and European Protected Species Licence application needed before work could begin, since old agricultural buildings like these are exactly the kind of place bats and barn owls like to be. The resulting mitigation is built into both the buildings and the wider garden: two Schwegler 2F bat boxes fixed to the retained mature trees, bat access tubes built into the barns themselves, three new bird boxes on the renovated buildings, and continued swallow-nesting provision in an unheated outbuilding across the lane. Works affecting the roofs were timed for late September and October specifically, to fall between the end of the bat maternity season and the start of winter hibernation.

The project began with our original appointment in June 2021, and planning permission followed in 2022 after an initial hurdle: early, informal advice from Devon County Highways had suggested the scheme was likely to be recommended for refusal, given the substandard nature of the local junctions onto the A377. A full Transport Statement, prepared by Bellamy Transport Consultancy, addressed this directly and concluded there were no transportation, traffic, highway safety or access grounds that should prevent approval - a conclusion North Devon Council ultimately accepted. 

The finished home draws on a palette of local stone, timber framing, natural reclaimed slate, UK hardwood chestnut flooring, clay tiles made by Russell Kingston, and carefully crafted internal carpentry by the client’s son. Each material was chosen to ensure that, on completion, the converted barns would read from the lane much as they always had.