Albion Barn

Location: Oxford, UK
Scope: Gallery + Offices
Area: 325sqm
Stage: Completed 2013
Budget: £700K
Client: Private
Architect: Studio Seilern Architects
Structural Engineer: TALL Engineers  
Services Engineer: Atelier TEN
Lighting Consultant: Sutton Vane Associates
Quantity Surveyor: BAQUS
Contractor: Lamburn Geekie
Photography: Philip Vile

Albion Barn at Old Belchers farm in Oxfordshire is a residential and cultural exhibition space designed for a private art dealer.

A charming 17th century farmhouse with a collection of barns and stables within a courtyard and farm estate setting, the collection of buildings has Historic Interest Building Status, and the property falls within the Conservation Area of Little Milton, a picturesque Costwold village in Oxfordshire.  It is in this residential setting that the owner of the property wished to establish a contemporary art centre, displaying his own collection and installing exhibitions within a more domestic and intimate setting than the typical industrial lofts of urban commercial galleries.  The grounds are also a place for exhibitions, allowing the art collection to spill into nature.

The old farmhouse buildings were to be converted into art galleries, where the architecture would react to the intimacy of its domestic setting.  A place where art could be displayed and the owner could informally entertain amongst his extensive art collection. The 325m² project also includes a dining room and offices wrapped around an ‘intimate’ central hidden library with four secret doors. 

The main barn, located aside from the house courtyard setting, out of view from the High Street and just inside the private access road, has been converted into the main exhibition space.  The building is compartmentalised into the public galleries with their dedicated entrance, and a more intimate library, dining room and kitchen, for smaller informal gatherings.

The library acts as a focus for the building, a transitional and pivotal space between the private and public spaces.  The idea was that once inside the library, one should feel fully surrounded by books, rather than walls.  The space is galleried, and the ceiling mirrored, giving the sense that the library extends vertically into infinity.  The illusion is then broken by an oversized pink skylight, puncturing the ceiling into a deep void, giving a soft and warm natural glow to the books.  The four walls are covered in full height bookshelves, within which four secret doors have been integrated.  When closed, the space seems to have no exit, and one is fully immersed in this extensive and wondrous art book collection.