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Class Q

Apple Barns

A Class Q conversion turning an agricultural barn in the Metropolitan Green Belt into a bold, contemporary home fusing rural character with high-performance, low-energy design.

Passive Low Carbon Barns

Barn Conversion to Passive Living

The client is fully committed to adopting sustainable construction principles. By embracing a fabric-first strategy and low embodied carbon construction, the design prioritizes long-term environmental performance. This includes integrating advanced technologies and connected systems to achieve exceptional energy efficiency, comfort, and minimal operational impact, delivering a future-proofed home aligned with the highest standards of passive design and environmental responsibility.

Interiors

A converted barn with considered contemporary interiors.

Proposed Floor Plan

Farleigh Barns. The client’s commitment to Passive House principles drives a future-focused design that combines fabric-first strategies with low embodied carbon construction. By Hawkes Architecture Ltd.

The Transformation

The barns before…

Transforming a Steel Barn into a High-Performance Home

To transform the existing cold steel-framed agricultural barn into a highly insulated, energy-efficient home, the design begins by thermally breaking the steel frame’s connection to its original foundations. The entire frame is then wrapped with a passive, airtight, hygroscopic, vapour-open, low embodied energy engineered timber structure. This fabric-first approach drastically reduces heat loss, ensuring minimal energy is required to maintain consistent internal comfort throughout the year.


Heating will be delivered via far infrared radiant panels skimmed directly into the ceilings. This method—far more efficient than conventional convection heating—reduces overall energy demand for heating by over 60%. With no moving parts, boiler, heat pump, or underfloor systems required, it offers substantial savings in embodied energy and significantly reduces maintenance, replacement, and running costs over the building’s lifetime.

Hot water will be supplied using Mixergy tank technology, which optimizes production through smart internet connectivity. This allows hot water to be heated only when low-price tariffs — such as those from Octopus Energy’s Agile tariff — are available. By utilising off-peak energy, the system ensures significant annual savings. When paired with a large solar PV array and battery storage, the home will operate entirely off-grid during peak energy periods, further reducing its environmental impact and demand on the national grid.

landscape emerging

To transform the existing cold steel-framed agricultural barn into a highly insulated, energy-efficient home, the design begins by thermally breaking the steel frame’s connection to its original foundations. The entire frame is then wrapped with a passive, airtight, hygroscopic, vapour-open, low embodied energy engineered timber structure. This fabric-first approach drastically reduces heat loss, ensuring minimal energy is required to maintain consistent internal comfort throughout the year.


Heating will be delivered via far infrared radiant panels skimmed directly into the ceilings. This method—far more efficient than conventional convection heating—reduces overall energy demand for heating by over 60%. With no moving parts, boiler, heat pump, or underfloor systems required, it offers substantial savings in embodied energy and significantly reduces maintenance, replacement, and running costs over the building’s lifetime.

Hot water will be supplied using Mixergy tank technology, which optimizes production through smart internet connectivity. This allows hot water to be heated only when low-price tariffs — such as those from Octopus Energy’s Agile tariff — are available. By utilising off-peak energy, the system ensures significant annual savings. When paired with a large solar PV array and battery storage, the home will operate entirely off-grid during peak energy periods, further reducing its environmental impact and demand on the national grid.