The Pod Gallery by Stonewood Design

Designed by Stonewood Design, The Pod Gallery is a rural project for a private client involving the restoration of Grade II listed Home Farm Barn and the insertion of a pod-style private art gallery. The handsome vernacular stone barn hints at a surprise with its beautifully detailed frameless glass windows on the grand west elevation, revealing a jewel-pod of a gallery hovering at the far end.

The architects of Stonewood Design faced two challenges when building within this historic 17th-century barn in England's Cotswolds region: to restore the barn and the adjacent house while respectfully installing a new gallery for the homeowner's art collection.

First, they stripped the barn's past renovations to reveal its original stone walls and wooden structure. Then they designed the new room—called the Pod Gallery—to cantilever from the attached house into the barn. This allows the gallery, which doesn't touch the barn's walls, roof or floor, to seemingly hover in mid-air, an eerie effect amplified by the space's coloring and lighting. The floating room's bright-ochre and white hues contrast heavily against the darker barn.

The rest of the barn will both be utilized to exhibit bigger pieces of artwork – viewable from within the gallery – or as a space for the clients’ horse.

photography by Craig Auckland  source: decor10blog.com