When London-based architects Bureau de Change said their design for the Long House home “reinterprets rural vernacular,” they weren’t being coy—chicken sheds 100 feet long once sat where the home now stands, guiding the elongated forms and its layout. With that starting point, the architects went deeper into local historic building practices, playing up barn forms and a materials palette that showcases the firm’s care for craft and detail.
Carved out of the center of Long House’s two parallel and abutting structures is an atrium clad in copper that radiates a warm gradient of oranges and reds. To its front, a low-slung and shed-like portion of the home is comprised of coarsely cut dry stone that gives the facade a masculine, peppered look. To the rear, the towering barn-like structure expresses something more refined: larch slatting is continuous, breaking only to recess at the windows where pieces have been charred to a deep black for a stunning ombré effect.
To further the point of the home’s pragmatic nature, it was also constructed to passive house standards. A thermal envelope is created by an insulated concrete formwork system, triple glazed windows further insulate, and a heat recovery ventilation system maintains air quality year round. A third structure on the site, an actual barn for storage, follows the rhythmic slatting of Long House’s larger volume.
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