As the built environment faces mounting pressure to decarbonise, could straw offer a scalable, high-performance solution? In our latest BE News commentary, Thomas Bennett delves into the underexplored potential of straw construction. With its rapid carbon sequestration, thermal efficiency, and circularity, straw presents a compelling case for bio-based building at scale. Click the link to read the piece.

If you're considering developing or converting your farm buildings, understanding rural planning policies and sustainable design can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re thinking about a barn conversion, building a new off-grid home, or repurposing unused agricultural buildings, there are many routes you can explore – and the good news is, many projects might fall under permitted development rights, making the process easier than you think.

Studio Bark have been recognised for our commitment to sustainable design in the inaugural Regenerative Architecture Index (RAI) launched by UK Architects Declare and Architecture Today. We are proud to be recognized for our commitment to creating architecture that not only mitigates negative impacts but actively contributes to environmental and societal well-being. You can read the full Index in the September & October 2024 issue of Architecture Today.

We are hosting a drop-in day at U-Build garden studio, Manbey Pod, on Sunday 22nd September 2024. Our team will be on site to guide you through the project. Find out more on the Open House Festival page. We look forward to seeing you there!

In the climate emergency it is now more important than ever to design and build truly environmental architecture. Greenwash within the profession is everywhere - but so is complex jargon and well-meaning misunderstandings. That’s why we’ve put together this simple explainer - to cut through the noise and help build the way to a net zero future.

The total renovation at Meadow Road began with the very practical objectives of remodelling the house to better suit a young family, and upgrading the environmental performance of the existing building. The house hadn’t been touched in years and was drafty, cold and damp. However the shared vision of both architect and client has created a home that doesn’t just meet these practical aims, but celebrates the best of features old and new, sensitively creating a new design language for the home.

Our Paragraph 84 project, Water Farm, was one of the most popular houses featured on Dezeen in July. Also featured is an exposed concrete house in Japan, a pair of renovated homes on a remote Canadian peninsula and another secluded home in Canada clad in cedar shingles. Read the story to see all five top houses.

Studio Bark has won planning permission for a ‘whole-life zero-carbon home’ in rural Cambridgeshire, next to a 15th-century moated manor house. The low-impact home, designed for a ‘forward-thinking’ family of four, will replace a post-war barn, centring around a full-height planted atrium space designed to enable passive heating and cooling. Find out more in the Architects' Journal.

Where The Trees Go tells the story of the origins and travels of wood for the 2024 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR): Nature of Hope. The exhibition is now open at the Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, until 13th October 2024. The theme of this edition, Nature of Hope, focuses on how architecture can restore ecological balance by taking biodiversity and nature as a starting point. With animation by Jonny Glover (www.jonnyglover.com)

Capital & Centric has unveiled the designs from the four finalist teams in the RIBA-run competition to transform Wolverhampton city centre. Studio Bark have been working with Metropolitan Workshop, Jan Kattein Architects and Mole on our proposal for an ‘inclusive and sustainable’ transformation of the key brownfield site. Find out more at the Architects' Journal.

Water Farm is a Paragraph 84 family home in Suffolk by Studio Bark. The home for a family of five (and four dogs!) pairs a fresh visual language with low-energy design. Read more in Wallpaper*. Images by Jim Stephenson

If you're looking to build a new home on an isolated location in the countryside, Paragraph 84 could be for you. This section of planning policy is all about building new homes in isolated locations that are of exceptional quality and sustainability standards. We've carried out extensive research on the policy, and apply our knowledge to help our clients build their own dream rural home. Explore our research or contact us to speak to our team about your project.

From site finding to barn conversions, urban extensions to retrofit, there’s more to Studio Bark than you might think… We create sustainable and sensitive homes that our clients love to live in. We do it by thinking outside the box, seeing any planning or design challenge as an exciting opportunity to develop inspiring, future-proof, sustainable design. We work collaboratively with local authorities, communities, and yourselves, to achieve homes that are not just award winning, but loved by their owners. So, how can we help you?

Forest CLT is a community land trust based in Waltham Forest, that exists to tackle the housing crisis by building genuinely affordable, sustainable, and community minded places for local people. The membership group approached Studio Bark to develop a site in Waltham Forest that would greatly improve the area for residents; converting an informal car park into affordable housing and green space.

New photos, same values, as ambitious as ever to create positive change in our industry. We recently had a blast taking new studio photos with the brilliant Tom Joy (www.tomjoy.co.uk). Visit our Studio page to see more from us. This summer Studio Bark turns 10 years old and we can't wait to see what the next ten years have in store. We want to keep pushing the bar for climate action in the right direction, making sure to keep an open, generous mindset to bring those around us along for the ride.

We're very excited to be the winners of two Archiboo awards: The Activism Award and Best Written Content! We love that an award for Activism exists, and that our ideas have connected both with the judges and our audience. As our Director Sarah Broadstock told Wallpaper*, "Winning it helps us to improve our visibility in this area and connect with others interested in creating change."

Our project Manbey Pod featured in Homes & Gardens March Issue feature 'Spotlight on Sustainability'. Our founder Wilf Meynell says "We need a transformative shift to reach our global targets, and the materials we use play a massive part in this". Manbey Pod was self-built by our clients using our pioneering U-Build modular construction system, made from UK sourced timber.

We're delighted to be shortlisted for three categories in this year's Archiboo Awards: the Activism award, Best Written Content award, and Best Use of Video award in collaboration with Jim Stephenson. Explore the awards shortlists at the link.

We have won planning permission for a ‘whole-life zero-carbon home’ in rural Cambridgeshire, next to a 15th-century moated manor house The low-impact home, designed for a ‘forward-thinking’ family of four, will occupy a post-war barn, centring around a full-height planted atrium space designed to enable passive heating and cooling.

We've been shortlisted to design a new and vibrant neighbourhood in Wolverhampton for Capital & Centric, alongside many exciting and progressive names in the industry. We're excited to be collaborating with Metropolitan Workshop and Mole Architects on the competition.

Our project Breach House was recently granted planning permission for an ‘exemplary’ water-powered home in rural Leicestershire. You can read about it now in the Architects' Journal.

Breach House is a home inspired by the water that surrounds it, and designed for climate resilience. It was granted planning permission in February 2024 under Paragraph 84 of the NPPF.

We worked with students from the University of East London to devise a roof-supporting column with otherwise unusable timber at one of our sites within ancient English woodland.

Looking to avoid high energy bills, lengthy mortgages and other people? Tim Dodd features Nest House in the BBC's recent piece on off-grid living.

At the end of December 2023 the NPPF was updated meaning yet another rebrand for exception clauses Paragraph 80 and Paragraph 134. Paragraph 80 is now Paragraph 84, and Paragraph 134 is now Paragraph 139. The good news for you (and for us!) is that there are no changes to the wording or content of either clause.

A feat of engineering that provides a haven for natural reflection in Leeds City Centre to ‘make a stand’ against wasteful supply chains.

The screenwriter’s retreat, a garden studio built for creativity using hand-crafted sustainable materials.

Studio Bark's research and findings relating to Paragraph 84 of the NPPF (previously Paragraph 80).

In 2021 we launched ‘No Building As Usual’ as a highly collaborative cross-sector approach to student builds.

Visit our Studio page to find out more about who we are and what we stand for at Studio Bark.

A bespoke lodge in the Norfolk countryside, built by students using traditional local materials.

Periscope House is the story of a harmonious and collaborative client-architect relationship. We were able to create an affordable, environmentally exceptional home that provided the family with permanence, comfort, and a connection to nature.

Studio Bark's research and findings relating to Paragraph 139 of the NPPF (previously Paragraph 134).

Nest House is a single-storey eco-home, designed to respond to the client’s specific accessibility needs. Constructed using Studio Bark’s modular and demountable U-Build system, the house delivers on their dreams for a low carbon eco-home that celebrates the surrounding countryside.

The Bark Journey is designed to give you an overview of our process. We use the RIBA Plan of Work to move through the stages from project briefing through to building completion.

Sun House is a Paragraph 84 (previously Paragraph 80) home which builds on a history of solar house design to deliver our clients a beautiful, warm and bright home. The house could be a new prototype for climate resilient architecture; a home which builds upon the principles of the Grade II listed home the clients currently live in, but incorporating modern technologies to ensure light, bright connected spaces which have both low embodied and operational carbon demands.

We developed U-Build to transform the way people think about buildings and the way they are built, by simplifying the construction process and enabling anyone to participate.

Measuring only four-and-a-half metres across and three metres deep, this small new space does much to enhance the Victorian mid-terraced house. A large fixed skylight, paired with full-height glazed French doors, fills the wooden box extension with natural light and lends much to its Victorian host.

The Hood was created in collaboration with artist Michael Pinsky whose work is known for challenging the status quo on climate change, urban design and societal wellbeing.

Our how-to guide reveals the different types of survey you may need before building a new home on your land.

We worked with Chris and Roxie to construct their home with a team of architecture students in a pioneering live build using Studio Bark’s innovative U-Build construction system.

Cork is a common interior floor finish, and has even been used as external rainscreen cladding. We set ourselves the task of building an entire building from cork to see if it would work as the sole material, eliminating the need for frames, linings, glues, tapes, breather membranes and wet trades.

Our clients built their own garden pod - and you can too. Manbey Pod is a garden studio designed as a family amenity space, storage area and textile studio. This was the first time we’ve handed over the U-Build construction to the clients, Peter and Joan.

Oolite House is a family home nestled into the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills. The topography and surrounding grain have shaped the form and massing to ensure the house sits comfortably within its context. The landscape and house are intertwined, bringing family life into immediate contact with the natural world outside.