Stable in West Flanders by Studio Farris Architects

Photographer: Koen Van Damme

Studio Farris Architects transformed a small barn into an office with meeting room, library, office desks and a resting/reading area. The original façade was restored and new openings were created in a functional way. A new “box” was designed and inserted into the original volume, and consists of a new shell that accentuates the pure form. This box-in-box system allows to improve energy efficiency and avoid any chemical reactions with sulphates in the ground and walls of the original farm. Instead of creating an extra floor in the existing volume that would take away the perception of the whole space, an autonomous furniture object was placed into the space, referring to the original farm and rural area.

This extra object made out of stacked up wooden beams transforms the space into a very functional office. The wooden beams are piled up in such a way that different spaces arise. On the top several workspaces were created, accommodating two desks. Underneath the workspace-platform a meeting area is created, with a view onto the landscape. The stacked beams become the library, bookshelves, storage room and resting and reading area. The beams have been carved in this specific way to create a staircase to climb to the top workspace, and to reach the different beams on every level.

Studio Farris Architects

Contractor: Vooruitzicht - Art
Structural engineering: Brosens

Photographer: Koen Van Damme