The Old Sty, Somerset, United Kingdom holiday home

The Old Sty, Somerset building refurbishment, UK, English Country real estate, House, UK Architecture, Photos

7 December 2025

Architects: London Atelier

Location: Tatworth, south west England, UK

Photos: Ralf Eikelberg

The Old Sty Holiday Home, United Kingdom

The Old Sty – A Small Building with a Big Heart

The Old Sty represents the first completed phase of a long-term masterplan for a Grade II listed estate in Somerset. Once a modest piggery and later a small garage, the stone outbuilding has been carefully transformed into a contemporary holiday home that honours its rural origins while offering a warm and materially refined interior. Though the footprint is compact, the architectural ambition is clear: to work with the depth and character of the existing structure while introducing a new layer of London Atelier architecture — calm, precise and rooted in place.

Externally, the approach is deliberately restrained. The rubble-stone walls, simple gabled roof and deep-set openings were repaired and consolidated with minimal intervention, maintaining the agricultural character of the building. New oak-framed doors and discreet frameless windows are inserted with clarity and precision, forming a contemporary layer that remains distinct yet respectful. These interventions stabilise the historic envelope, improve its thermal performance, and re-establish the outbuilding as a functional element within the wider estate.

Inside, the spatial strategy centres on a sculptural plywood volume that forms the kitchen, bathroom, ladder-stair, storage and a small mezzanine platform. This “house-in-house” approach preserves the perimeter stone walls in their entirety while giving the new interior its own architectural identity. The plywood insert sits lightly within the space, allowing the building to be read as two distinct layers: the rugged historic shell and the crafted, contemporary core. This separation also improves thermal and acoustic performance without compromising the character of the original structure.

A series of built-in plywood elements — seating, shelving, a loft reading nook — provide spatial richness and functionality within the modest plan. Polished concrete flooring runs through the home, giving material continuity and introducing a warm pink tone drawn from the local red earth. This soft hue anchors the interior and contrasts gently with the tactile timber surfaces and rough perimeter walls.

Daylight is a defining element. Rooflights, deep window reveals, and a projecting feature window draw light deep into the plan, mediating between the two ‘skins’ of the building. Light moves across the exposed stone and plywood surfaces throughout the day, revealing the texture of the original construction and highlighting the crafted simplicity of the new insert. These controlled openings also frame views toward the wider estate, reinforcing the building’s connection to its landscape.

Bedrooms and ancillary spaces continue this theme of crafted restraint. The sleeping platform above the plywood volume is accessed via a finely detailed timber ladder, conceived as both functional element and joinery piece. The main bedroom sits within the restored stone shell, its deep reveal forming a quiet alcove for sitting and reflection.

The bathroom, fully contained within the plywood core, is compact yet calm. Minimal junctions, warm timber surfaces and the seamless continuation of the concrete floor create a space that feels intimate rather than confined. Here, the interplay between new materials and the surrounding stone fabric expresses the layered identity of the building at its smallest scale.

The Old Sty achieves a careful balance: it preserves the agricultural character of the outbuilding while offering the clarity, comfort and refined materiality of contemporary architecture. It demonstrates how modest structures can be renewed with restraint and imagination — and how thoughtful design can bring new life to the heritage fabric of rural estates.

From a modest piggery to a refined holiday home, The Old Sty represents a significant adaptive reuse project. What were the key challenges and creative solutions involved in transforming the building’s original function and structure into its current purpose, particularly given its Grade II listed status?

Transforming The Old Sty from a piggery into a holiday home required working within the constraints of its Grade II listed fabric. The main challenge was introducing modern comfort without altering the building’s modest scale or rural character. Externally, the stone walls and simple roof were repaired with minimal intervention, while new oak-framed doors and frameless windows were added as clearly contemporary but respectful elements.

Inside, limited space meant that all services had to be integrated efficiently. A single plywood volume—housing the kitchen, bathroom, storage, sofa bed and ladder-stair to a mezzanine—allowed the rest of the interior to remain open and calm, avoiding structural changes to the perimeter walls. Rooflights and new openings brought daylight into the depth of the plan, revealing the rugged stone and clarifying the dialogue between existing structure and new crafted insert.

The project’s success lies in its restraint: retaining the building’s agricultural identity while enabling a functional, materially honest place to stay.

The Old Sty is the ‘first completed phase of a comprehensive masterplan’ for the estate. Could you provide some insight into the overarching vision for the entire Grade II listed estate and how the design principles and successes of The Old Sty will inform or influence future developments?

The Old Sty is the first built element of a broader masterplan to extend, reorganise and sensitively adapt new Living Spaces to a Grade II listed rural estate. The vision focuses on strengthening the existing historic fabric, improving environmental performance, and creating a coherent set of buildings that support both contemporary use and the estate’s long-term stewardship.

Following the completion of The Old Sty, two further buildings on the estate have now been delivered, each applying the same principles of clear detailing, careful insertion, and minimal intervention. A further five structures are currently in planning, extending this incremental, conservation-led approach across the wider site.

Although every building is different in age, condition and use, the strategy remains consistent: maintain a legible relationship between old and new, introduce crafted, restrained interventions, and use light, proportion and material integrity to bring clarity to the interiors. This approach aligns with the practice’s wider body of adaptive reuse and conservation work, where heritage buildings are strengthened rather than reinvented.

The lessons from The Old Sty—compact service inserts, improved daylighting, and materially honest upgrades—will continue to guide future phases, ensuring the estate evolves as a coherent, environmentally robust and respectfully renewed ensemble.

The Old Sty in Somerset, United Kingdom – Building Information

Architecture: London Atelier – https://www.londonatelier.com/

Main Contractor: John Flanagan

Project size: 50 sqm
Site size: 60 sqm
Completion date: 2024
Building levels: 1

Photography: Ralf Eikelberg

The Old Sty, Somerset, United Kingdom home images / information received 071225

The Story of Gardening Museum
Architects: Stonewood Design

photo : Craig Auckland
The Story of Gardening Museum
The Story of Gardening Museum has been awarded a RIBA National Award 2021, a RIBA Southwest Sustainability Award 2021, and the Newt in Somerset have received the RIBA Southwest Client of the Year 2021. The Story of Gardening is located on the edge of a well-established small woodland area within the wider visitor attraction at The Newt in Somerset, near to Bruton.