Fieldwork Architects Converts Rural East Anglia Stables into Home

Key facts

• Fieldwork Architects converted a 280-square-metre agricultural stable complex in East Anglia into a single-family home.
• The layout splits across two barn volumes linked by a lightweight external timber colonnade.
• Internal timber boxes elevate living quarters on columns above sunken areas, framing views over surrounding trees.
• A central steel and cherry wood staircase extends upward directly from the kitchen island.
• The building runs on an air-source heat pump and solar PV array paired with triple glazing and underfloor heating.

Fieldwork Architects has completed the conversion of a former agricultural stable complex in East Anglia into a 280-square-metre residential property. The completed house reuses the footprints of two farm buildings, linking them via an open colonnade while inserting a series of elevated timber pods into an exposed structural steel skeleton.

What the conversion delivered in East Anglia

The scheme reconfigures the site into two distinct barn forms that can operate as independent zones or as one connected residence, as first reported by Architects' Journal. Connecting the pair is an external covered colonnade built from lightweight timber, establishing a sheltered transitional walkway across the rural plot.

Inside the front volume, the architects introduced a cedar-clad room suspended above ground-level social facilities. This lower level accommodates a sunken conversation pit and a dedicated sauna, creating a stepped cross-section that separates communal gatherings from private retreats.

By contrast, the rear barn houses three distinct timber volumes positioned within a wide open-plan footprint. These creative working and utility areas remain inwardly focused, using the central timber box—which is raised above the finished floor to create storage underneath—to look out across the wider internal volume.

Site history and the agricultural framework

The project belongs to a broader lineage of rural conversions across the East of England, where defunct farming assets are repurposed rather than cleared. Rather than erasing the site's agricultural past, the practice built precisely over the footprint established by the previous stable buildings.

The original buildings defined an agricultural yard condition, which the new layout preserves to protect the local settlement pattern. Keeping the existing footprints enabled the design team to maintain established spatial relationships with mature boundary trees, limiting ground disturbance across the perimeter.

By preserving the utilitarian outline of the original sheds, the project avoided introducing foreign massing into the landscape. Structural engineers Constructure retained the architectural language of the former barns by keeping the primary steel portal frame on display throughout the interior living spaces, reinforcing the building's working origins.

Internal volumes, material palette and services

To construct the elevated internal boxes, structural timber posts were introduced alongside the retained steel frame. A periscope concept governs the spatial section: raising the upper floor components on columns allows sightlines to clear the natural hedge and tree canopies outside, drawing distant countryside panoramas deep into the domestic living spaces.

Circulation within the rear volume centres on an unusual sculptural stair formed from a central steel spine with cantilevered cherry wood treads. This staircase springs directly from the edge of the kitchen island unit below, turning primary food preparation joinery into the structural anchor for vertical movement.

Bespoke interior cabinetry was produced in partnership with joinery specialist TG + Co, combining mid-century design cues with Douglas fir joinery, cedar panelling, plywood, and exposed polished concrete slabs. Inset cork inserts appear across key floor thresholds and steps, while the primary wood-burning hearth features decorative hand-painted tiles.

Environmental services follow a net zero and all-electric servicing strategy engineered by Cream Engineering Services. Space heating and domestic hot water run through an air-source heat pump distributing to ground-floor underfloor heating loops, supported by an array of rooftop photovoltaic panels. The envelope features high-performance triple glazing and elevated insulation specifications, alongside a climate-resilient sustainable drainage system that regulates surface runoff across the curtilage.

How the project team approached the rework

Fieldwork Architects was established in 2018 by two former Foster + Partners associates and delivered the stables project following the completion of an experimental stabilised rammed-earth house in Jersey. On the East Anglia stable project, the practice served simultaneously as project architect, interior designer, project manager, and principal designer.

Reflecting on the relationship between modern craft and agricultural utility, Fieldwork Architects co-founder Tim Gibbons highlighted the team's commitment to "retaining the open functionality of the original volumes" while contrasting exposed industrial structural members against refined, softer timber elements.

The clients sought interiors influenced heavily by mid-century modernism, prompting the collaborative effort between the architectural team and TG + Co on built-in furniture that doubles as spatial partitions. Lighting schemes developed by Strom highlight the texture of the Douglas fir wall linings and concrete surfaces while keeping artificial illumination understated.

Project completion and team credits

Site work commenced in September 2023 following the appointment of main contractor Ken Stapleton & Sons under a JCT Intermediate building contract. Building control compliance was managed privately through approved inspector Assent Building Control, and landscape interventions across the site perimeter were designed by Joe Reynolds.

Practical completion was reached in July 2025, concluding a 22-month construction programme. The delivered home demonstrates how low-grade agricultural buildings can be upgraded to contemporary residential performance standards using off-grid microgeneration, timber-rich interiors, and precise volumetric planning.

Timeline

1. September 2023Contractor Ken Stapleton & Sons starts construction work on site under a JCT Intermediate contract.
2. July 2025Fieldwork Architects completes the conversion, landscape integration and bespoke interior fit-out.

Why this matters

Agricultural conversions frequently struggle to balance the vast, open scales of utilitarian farming sheds with the practical heating, acoustic, and privacy demands of domestic life. Fieldwork Architects’ stable rework provides an alternative to conventional domestic partitioning by treating the original envelope as an unheated outer shield that houses insulated, elevated micro-buildings. By executing the scheme through an all-electric services strategy, triple glazing, and an exposed hybrid frame of structural steel and timber, the project demonstrates how low-grade agrarian structures across England can be revitalised into thermally efficient, character-rich family homes without losing their agricultural identity.

Questions answered

who designed the east anglia stable conversion

Fieldwork Architects, a UK design studio established in 2018 by two former Foster + Partners architects, designed the conversion, working alongside interior joinery firm TG + Co.

what heating system does the east anglia stables use

The converted home runs on an all-electric heating setup powered by an air-source heat pump, underfloor heating, and rooftop photovoltaic solar panels.

how large is the fieldwork architects stable conversion

The completed residential conversion provides 280 square metres of gross internal floor area, spread across two connected barn volumes.

what materials are used in the fieldwork architects stables

The home features an exposed structural steel portal frame, Douglas fir joinery, cedar cladding, plywood linings, inset cork steps, cherry wood stair treads, and polished concrete floors.

how are the two converted barns linked together

The two independent barn volumes are connected externally by a lightweight timber colonnade that provides covered access between social spaces and creative studios.

when was the east anglia stable conversion completed

Construction started on site in September 2023 under contractor Ken Stapleton & Sons and reached practical completion in July 2025.

Source: originally reported by Architects' Journal.