March 2019 - Briefing Note
Picks Barn Development - North Luffenham Road

The plan for Picks Barn is to create an ‘Artisans Hub’ made up of 4 or 5 units and a Tea Room that will serve visitors to the Barn as well as anyone working at the Barn itself, Lyndon Barns, Farm & Workshops. The Mezzanine Floor will be an exhibition area available for everyone working in the building to showcase their products. We are hoping that we will be able to attract local artisans and just in case you’re wondering what an artisan is:

“An artisan is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates things by hand that may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative arts, sculptures, clothing, jewellery, food items, household items and tools or even mechanisms such as the handmade clockwork movement of a watchmaker. Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of an artist”.

The shape and footprint of the building will be exactly as it was before with the exception of the veranda to the south side of the building. Visitors and people working in the Barn will park below the building to the south and all that will be seen from the road is the Barn itself.

Picks Barn Site Plan
Site Plan (from the North Luffenham Road looking south)

The re-building of Picks Barn is seen as an opportunity to improve the Luffenham Road approach to the Village which started with the planting of the roadside trees by the village in 2000 as our Millennium project.

By cladding the Barn in traditional materials, re-claimed brick, oak and a corrugated tin roof, coupled with carefully landscaping the frontage to minimise the impact of the building, we are confident that once completed it’ll provide an attractive and much improved view of the village from North Luffenham. The main image above shows a similar sized building restored in a style akin of what we’re trying to achieve.

Proposed Internal Layout

The planned building has a rectangular plan form 22.15m wide by 18.5m deep. We’re re-using the existing concrete portal-framed structure with balanced lean-to elements set to either side. The entrance to the building will remains at its eastern end and comprises a central doorway with a glazed entrance feature rising into the gable. This leads into a central corridor space, off which 6 units are ranged, including a Tea Room in the south east corner. A staircase provides access to a mezzanine floor set within the taller, central section of the building. Set at the rear (western) end of the building are toilets, shower and a kitchen. A fire door is centrally located in the western gable end of the building, with double doors in each of the lean-to elements, exiting the larger units.

Picks Barn Internal Layout
External Elevations

Externally the building is to be finished in reclaimed brickwork at lower level, with timber cladding applied to the upper sections. The roofing will comprise a corrugated tin cladding. Fenestration to each of the units is provided in the north and south elevations of the building. The south facing elevation also includes a 2m deep veranda running the length of the building, to provide some shade to the south facing windows.

Picks Barn East Elevation
Picks Barn North Elevation
Picks Barn South Elevation
Community Hub

The Mezzanine Floor (exhibition area on plan) will be made available for village events in the evenings. It’ll be approximately 1680 sq ft (156m2) and provide a suitable venue for any village activity that might otherwise have taken place in the Village Hall. There’ll be a small kitchen available for preparing & re-heating food.

We see this project as having a positive impact on the village providing a focal point for village activities and offering local employment. It’s over a century since the Village Pub was closed down followed by the Village Post Office and Shop in the seventies. The re-building of this redundant barn and turning it into an attractive and useful structure with differing uses must be an improvement on what was there before and of benefit to the community.

Please feel free to contact Edward Conant if you’d like additional information. As the building takes shape and there’s something to look at, Edward would be happy to arrange a meeting on site for anyone interested. There will also be updates on our social media pages (links below) and gallery.