Forgeworks revamps Somerset farmhouse with low-lying stone extension

An extension built from timber, glass and limestone unites a 19th-century farmhouse with an adjacent barn at this home in Somerset, overhauled by London architecture studio Forgeworks.

Named House of Blue Lias after a local variety of limestone used for the project, the home is set among the Mendip Hills, which are designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The homeowners tasked Forgeworks with bringing a sense of cohesion to the site, which comprised a 19th-century stone farmhouse and a neighbouring barn that had been poorly converted and suffered from damp.

Alongside the updating of this barn, the studio added a linking volume to stitch the two buildings together, creating a 25-metre-long axis around a central stone hearth.

"The site is typical of rural conversions – historic fabric, inconsistent upgrades, and no clear spatial hierarchy," Forgeworks director Chris Hawkins told Dezeen.

"The challenge was to bring order without over-designing," he added. "Rather than treating the farmhouse and barn as two separate buildings, we designed a new link structure that reoriented the entire property around a shared centre."

"It creates clarity where there was fragmentation and makes the house function as a single home," said Hawkins.

The clients' appreciation for American mid-century architecture informed the low-lying, horizontal form of the linking volume.

This is lined with five sliding glass panels that open it out onto a swimming pool terrace.

A thick wall bookending the barn end of the linking volume, a central hearth and chimney have all been finished in Blue Lias stone - the project's namesake - that was chosen to match the palette of the original farmhouse.

The stone is teamed with timber and stainless steel finishes, chosen for their tactility and durability.

"The aim was permanence without heaviness," Hawkins explained.

"Stone grounds the building in its context, timber brings warmth and rhythm, stainless steel adds a quiet precision. Materials were chosen for their tactile quality, durability, and ability to age well."

Within the barn itself, Forgeworks stripped the interiors back to the stone walls, introducing new insulation, solar panels and air source heat pumps.

Externally, a pale rendered finish ties in the barn with the farmhouse opposite.

The barn now houses additional bedrooms and bathrooms as well as a playroom, study and garage for the client's vintage cars.

Forgeworks was founded by Hawkins in 2021 and is based in London and Wiltshire. Previous projects by the studio include the renovation of a 1960s bungalow in Bath.

Other farmhouse renovations on Dezeen include A Place in the Country, which Studio Ben Allen finished with a playful colour scheme, and the "hairy" Church Cottage extension by James Grayley Architecture.

The photography by French & Tye.

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