ABSTRACT
Sitting on the edges of Fulmodeston and Barney, surrounded by fields, these two housing schemes have created ‘barns in the landscape’ rather than a typical domestic, close-boarded-fence suburbia. The scheme at Fulmodeston also meets Passivhaus standards. Fulmodeston and Barney are small, pretty villages in north Norfolk. Traditional design prevails here – and there are many agricultural buildings, mostly converted into homes, surrounded by fields. Norfolk’s mostly flat topography means that you regularly come across ‘roofs across fields’, which create a characterful landscape. The new schemes in Barney and Fulmodeston responded to two orientations inspired by vernacular villages. The scheme at Fulmodeston is facing the street and that at Barney is perpendicular to maximise solar orientation. The resident in the single bungalow at Barney complained about the cost of heating the vaulted space, but the new electric heaters were more effective.
