Red Barn Restoration and Adaptation
Client: Oxford Intensive School of English

This project, located in a conservation area in the centre of the city of Oxford, involved the insertion of two additional floors into a large barn structure.Originally constructed as a big game museum, it was used as an ‘English Kitchen’ soup kitchen during World War II and finally as a school for the blind until it was sold to a private developer by public auction. All original internal features were retained, while the external facade was carefully altered to insert the high level of fenestration required for one to one teaching in a language school. Lack of any ownership on two boundaries necessitated particularly stringent fire restraint and created difficult operating circumstances. The project also involved the construction of an infill building to provide the head office with a suite of offices