Three semi-detached barns to open-plan homes · Madeley, Staffordshire

Three semi-detached agricultural barns in Madeley, Staffordshire: already a sought-after part of the county, no stranger to beautiful properties. The barns had structural character worth preserving: oak purlins, circular windows, the kind of original features that a careful conversion can showcase and a careless conversion will erase.

The brief: three open-plan residential homes the original character of the buildings, plus current spec for thermal performance, acoustics, en-suite provision, and modern living.

Full residential conversion across the trio. New first floor inserted. Stud wall partitions to create the new room layout. En-suite bedrooms specified throughout. New external windows and doors, including floor-to-ceiling glass panels on the ground-floor open-plan space (four of those panels act as windows). Skylights cut into the roof to flood the upstairs with natural daylight.

Full rewire. New central heating system. Fire doors and frames. New kitchens. Thermal upgrades to bring the agricultural envelope to current residential Part L. Sound proofing between the three properties so the semi-detached configuration actually works acoustically. Plastering, tiling, bathroom fitting, painting throughout.

Critically: the original oak purlins were conserved and exposed in the finished interiors. They contrast and yet harmonise with the neutral grey palette the conversion is finished in, the modern colour language doesn't fight the heritage timber, it frames it.

Three former agricultural buildings became three open-plan residential homes that any owner would happily call home. The conversion is a small masterclass in heritage-sympathetic modern design: keep the elements that make the building worth converting, layer current spec around them without competing with them. Madeley has another beautiful addition to its skyline.