Converting an attached barn in France
Posted: Mon, 2023-May-01, 16:05
Hi all! I’m converting an outbuilding into a practice space and am in need of some guidance. I’m in the design phase, and am feeling overwhelmed by the possibilities and am not sure which direction to move in.
Here’s the structure I’m working with:
The outbuilding is attached to the house on one end, and another outbuilding on the other. The room is 5x6m. The walls are 40cm thick rammed earth (Pisé – a traditional construction technique in my area of France). But one of the 4 walls is stone (40cm thick – this one has the other outbuilding on the other side). There’s an A frame ceiling 5.5m high at its peak, 4m high at the base. There’s a porous layer of wood and a tile roof. The room has a giant opening with a barn door of 3x4m. There’s a cement floor. There are neighbors in the vicinity as well as my attached house.
The room will be used for teaching music, rehearsing, and basic recording.
Here are my goals:
- Soundproofing as much as possible without breaking the bank – ideally I’d be able to rehearse rock groups without bothering the neighbors. If this turns out to be beyond my means, hopefully I can still rehearse softer groups.
- Have a bay window/door in the opening to let in light (the opening is south facing)
- Lower the ceiling about 2.8m high to reduce heating costs
- Keep the stone wall visible for aesthetics.
Whatever the final design, I’ll need to seal the ceiling and the barn door opening. For the ceiling, I’ll build a false ceiling either by hanging threaded rods from the roof joists or by installing wood joists into the walls. As for the barn door opening, I got a deal on a glass door/bay window, double glazed, that fits in the opening up to 2.5m height wise, then on top of the lintel, I’ll close with wood and fiberglass insulation.
After this, I see two options:
1 Insulate the false ceiling and seal everything as best as possible and potentially add an inner sliding door, and live with the results.
2 Build a room in a room. Probably wood framed structure, acoustic drywall and insulation all around and insulating the floor.
I’m still trying to come up with budgets for both plans to help me decide.
What would you do? Any advice would be helpful! I’ve attached some plans and photos for reference.
Here’s the structure I’m working with:
The outbuilding is attached to the house on one end, and another outbuilding on the other. The room is 5x6m. The walls are 40cm thick rammed earth (Pisé – a traditional construction technique in my area of France). But one of the 4 walls is stone (40cm thick – this one has the other outbuilding on the other side). There’s an A frame ceiling 5.5m high at its peak, 4m high at the base. There’s a porous layer of wood and a tile roof. The room has a giant opening with a barn door of 3x4m. There’s a cement floor. There are neighbors in the vicinity as well as my attached house.
The room will be used for teaching music, rehearsing, and basic recording.
Here are my goals:
- Soundproofing as much as possible without breaking the bank – ideally I’d be able to rehearse rock groups without bothering the neighbors. If this turns out to be beyond my means, hopefully I can still rehearse softer groups.
- Have a bay window/door in the opening to let in light (the opening is south facing)
- Lower the ceiling about 2.8m high to reduce heating costs
- Keep the stone wall visible for aesthetics.
Whatever the final design, I’ll need to seal the ceiling and the barn door opening. For the ceiling, I’ll build a false ceiling either by hanging threaded rods from the roof joists or by installing wood joists into the walls. As for the barn door opening, I got a deal on a glass door/bay window, double glazed, that fits in the opening up to 2.5m height wise, then on top of the lintel, I’ll close with wood and fiberglass insulation.
After this, I see two options:
1 Insulate the false ceiling and seal everything as best as possible and potentially add an inner sliding door, and live with the results.
2 Build a room in a room. Probably wood framed structure, acoustic drywall and insulation all around and insulating the floor.
I’m still trying to come up with budgets for both plans to help me decide.
What would you do? Any advice would be helpful! I’ve attached some plans and photos for reference.