A couple relocating from London to the Hampshire countryside asked us for a home for a growing family. We designed a five-bedroom 310m² new-build house with a barn-like timber structure around a sheltered courtyard. The exposed frame draws on rural barns and makes a double-height kitchen and living space, with windows on every side looking out across the fields. Highly insulated timber construction, renewable energy and passive solar design make it a low-energy building.