Barn renovation on McLennan Road

Barn renovation on McLennan Road
In it’s original state, this barn renovation in Wanaka was a farm building built in the 1930s or 1940s. Before we started work on it, it had already been partially converted with a bedroom and ensuite bathroom in one corner of the barn, with the rest remaining as open space with dirt floors.

Description

This property had a number of very positive attributes going for it, including a beautifully secluded one acre site with established trees, an existing septic tank, as well as water and power to the boundary. The original building foot print was 100 square meters, which we chose to work within rather than add on to.

A new concrete foundation and floor was placed everywhere except the existing bedroom and ensuite. Wall framing was replaced where necessary to meet current standards. The roof was only a few years old so we chose to beef up the roof framing and supported from underneath.

The existing ensuite didn’t work for the new layout so it was demolished and a new bathroom was created on the western side of building.

The barn was re-clad with NZ Oregon bevel back weather boards over a cavity system. Windows were a mix of up-cycled and new double gazed timber windows.

Fortunately, the barn is sited well to get good solar on three sides of the building. We put the kitchen / dining room on the north east corner to get early morning and all day sun. The eastern side was chosen for the master bedroom, while the bathroom and other two bedrooms were placed on the west.

We experimented with the rustic barn theme for the interior, using Southland Beech solid timber floors throughout. A lime sand and gypsum plaster and some earth plaster was laid over std stopped gib board. Whitewashed ply wood was used for the ceilings, along with Macrocarpa sarking over macrocarpa ceiling rafters, and recycled Totara custom-made door jambs and trim. Up-cycled fixtures and fittings have been used where ever possible to give the barn an authentic aged look.

Location

Wanaka

Date

10th June 2015

Type of work

Barn Renovation