Tetsworth Barn

WWA secured planning permission for a significant replacement dwelling at Tetsworth Barn in a contemporary style with rural references to agricultural buildings in Oxfordshire. We had previously obtained consent for the conversion of an existing dilapidated barn structure under Class Q of the General Permitted Development Order. The client wanted to build on this consent with a more aspirational and sensitively driven design that departed from the constraints of working with the existing structure.

In terms of a planning strategy, we initially weighed up and evaluated whether to try and get consent as a replacement building or as a para 79 dwelling. Paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework essentially enables isolated homes to be built in the countryside where typically they would not be allowed – if deemed to be exceptional. The bar for designs to be considered innovative and outstanding under this policy is set very high indeed.

Our client, who had a long family relationship with the land, was also a champion of good design that enabled a thorough and considered design evolution process. With Para 79 ambitions driving the design process, we arrived at a unique and contemporary response to the site addressing its rural heritage. Ultimately, we successfully achieved planning permission as a replacement dwelling without the need to evoke Para 79 policy in the application. For more information about the Para 79 policy, the RIBA has published a helpful 3-minute read titled, Using ‘Paragraph 79’ to design innovative country houses.