Our second visit was to erect the swimming pool frame in quite a different style from the main body of the house. It was far more contemporary, using stainless steel tie rods to restrain the spread of the roof rather than the more traditional timber tie beams.
Apart from the stainless steel, the pool is modelled on a traditional aisled barn with the higher arcade wall posts sitting on pre-cast concrete ‘staddle stones.’ Again, plenty of glazing provides views and allows natural light to flood in. Like the barn rooms on the south-west elevation, the pool has oak common rafters with painted roof boarding.
Our penultimate visit was to erect the oak framed garage which was the simplest frame – a five-bay single-storey barn with four bays open sided. During this visit, we also erected a balcony link adjacent to the pool, two balconies and an isolated truss between the balconies.
The three storey tower was the last major phase of building works. It houses the only staircase in the house, measuring four metres square and is topped by a powder coated fully hipped and glazed roof.
The second floor of the tower also has clear storey glass topping the walls, providing 360° views of the surrounding countryside and providing access to another bedroom. Each floor of the tower was orientated the same as the one beneath, with exposed oak joists supporting the boarded floor.
