The Art Barn

In 2011, Peter bought a nondescript, modern cow barn deep in the Devon countryside. He commissioned his son to convert it into an archive and store for his work. After 9 years of designing and crafting, the project is complete, and clear evidence of how architecture can benefit from being done slowly.

A series of industrial scale shutters in cedar and galvanised steel playfully fold and slide, revealing a complex, multi-layered space within a mute and unassuming exterior. Inside the vast day-lit gallery, a freestanding ‘creature’ stands on stone hooves. Known as the ‘Winter Studio’ this room-within-a-room is the project’s nerve centre. It is wrapped in a dark cork and warmed by a wood-burning stove. Beyond its door, a balcony offers long views out through the tree canopy and across the valley. As the building is re-shuttered on departure, the balcony folds back flat, effortlessly becoming part of the wall again.

The Art Barn sits on the boundary between Devon’s rolling field-scape and the steep and wooded Teign Valley in Dartmoor National Park. This 250m² solar-powered, off-grid building will function as a drawing studio, sculpture store, archive, occasional gallery, and ultimately a permanent home for Peter’s work.