The original internal dividing walls have been knocked through in the centre so that your eye is drawn all the way down the length of the building from the kitchen at one end to a feature fireplace at the other. A mezzanine expands over the sitting room and the kitchen, linked by a long glass balcony. Areas for seating and eating are subtly zoned. The floor changes from mammoth, but practical, porcelain tiles at the kitchen end of the building to reclaimed wood in the hall and sitting room. The wooden floors have been carefully laid using pieces of different lengths and widths and bring a warm solidity across the ground floor. “Wherever possible we have reused and upcycled,” the owner explains. Old planks have been made into benches and shelving, and add a rustic nod to the buildings humble origins.

Elemental textures of rust, concrete and red brick help to anchor the interior, paying homage to its roots and bringing authenticity to the build. This is echoed in little touches all through the barn – from the rusted metal light switches by The Workshop Below, to the staircase with its banister made from rebar (the metal rods used to reinforce expanses of concrete). These were sliced up and “installed in a trice.” It is agri-chic, but executed to the highest standards and pulled together with flair.

The wall colours have been carefully thought out – to contrast with the neutrals and touches of red, but also to help the spaces become more human in scale. While white and pale colours make rooms feel more airy, darker hues and warm tones work well to make a large expanse feel more intimate. The main colour in the hall is Farrow & Ball’s Inchyra Blue, a deep shade of teal that contrasts effectively with the splashes of red and highlights the blue Indian cupboard. “I’ve had that cupboard for so many years,” says the owner. “It follows me everywhere!” The wall opposite the front door has not been painted at all and remains as bare plaster – a pale muddy pink with a tactile chalky texture. If you should wish to replicate the look of raw plaster in paint, as the owners have done directly above this space, you’ll get a very good match from the Paint and Paper Library’s Plaster III.

The wall colour in the David Haugh kitchen is Oak Apple from Fired Earth, a lighter colour is used here as a contrast; the kitchen nestles under part of the mezzanine. There’s no room for high wall cupboards, but luckily more storage space exists in an adjacent utility room. What draws you to this end of the building is the clever use of lighting within the island unit, so that instead of a blocky line of blank cupboards, the focal point is an elegantly backlit fretwork panel. Hey presto, a utilitarian piece magically turns into a feature in its own right. Above it an oiled walnut chopping board has been seamlessly sleeved into one end of the porcelain worktop – a great example of the design adage ‘form ever follows function’. Behind this unit an unbroken line of kitchen units run  right along the end wall, the reconditioned range has been painted exactly the same dark grey and blends chameleon-like with the units. Well thought out details like this bring unity and an understated sleekness to the kitchen end of the building.

Above the island unit, a nifty and original lighting trick is revealed. What appear to be bespoke lamp shades are in fact upturned wastepaper baskets slotted over the existing shades. “I hate seeing the light source,” the owner explains, “this way you get the diffusion of light but the bulb is invisible.”

Lighting is so important, especially in a large space like this. “It was very hard to design overhead lights for this building. In the end we had this metal structure made and suspended it from the roof.” The rectangular gantry system supports a series of large articulated spotlights, reminiscent of a lighting system in a theatre or film set, each one can be directed independently around the space.

Controlling the lighting is easier in the sitting room at the other end of the building. The ceiling, which would be considered high in a conventional house, is lower and the sitting room, painted in warm neutral Worsted from Farrow & Ball is classically relaxing and proportioned.

Few of the windows have any treatments at all and have monolithic, unfinished concrete sills. The sort of softening that curtains might bring would definitely detract from the impressive shape and effect of the windows – and, as the owner says, “We’re not overlooked here, so we don’t really need curtains.” The building faces east and all the windows are on this side, so the light comes flooding in at just the right time – in the morning, rather than at the other end of the day when the strong afternoon light might come blasting in and make the interior too hot. The natural light, as it changes through the day,c makes interesting changes to the appearance and effects of the interior colours.