Glazing Vision’s Flushglaze fixed rooflights were instrumental in converting a heritage-listed farm barn building into a contemporary home.

The farm buildings, located around a courtyard, had fallen into a dreadful state of decay since the 1950’s. The large barn at the heart of the farm complex, which was to be the client’s new home, needed a major roof refurbishment as well as insulation to meet modern day thermal standards.

The barn had an unusual and unorthodox layout, cruciform in plan and surrounded by a collection of smaller spaces, which had been originally used for the shelter of livestock and different farming activities under one roof. The vast central space with almost cathedral-like proportions, necessitated an innovative architectural approach in order to transform the barn into a modern family home.

The lofty 8 metre high ceiling and the exposed wooden gable structure, whilst visually impressive, raised another issue for the architect – that of ensuring that there was adequate light falling into the central core of the barn.

Two Flushglaze fixed rooflights from Glazing Vision were installed into the existing roof apertures. Needing to be made to bespoke sizes – almost 3m square – these rooflights were precision-engineered. Their lack of an internal frame ensured that they did not detract from the impactful wooden roof/ceiling structure, which the clients loved, or the lofty airy feel of the atrium below.

Their clean and contemporary external appearance raised no concerns for the local planning authority. The lack of bulky capping systems meant that these Flushglaze fixed rooflights would not trap dirt, of critical importance bearing in mind the practicalities of actually getting up onto the extraordinarily high roof to clean them.

Additionally, it was critical that these glazed elements did not reduce the level of insulation. The Glazing Vision Flushglaze fixed rooflights, tested and certified by the British Board of Agrement, satisfied the architect as providing excellent thermal performance, but also structural integrity and unparalleled weather resistance.