Permitted development has been approved for the renovation of a mid-century concrete frame barn in the South Downs National Park. Titch Hill Winery have commissioned the studio to reimagine the agricultural edifice into a functional winery, with expanded facilities that cater to every stage of wine making. Titch Hill is a natural wine producer with farm buildings overlooking their own vineyards, wheat and barley fields and the south coast. They have been making wines for the last 4 years, and the new winery will provide a home for the produce from the maturing vines.

The winery will utilise the wealth of material available on, or nearby, the site, retaining the existing structure, repurposing elements, and making use of agricultural by-products, such as straw and clay, to construct new components for the building. HG Matthews will be composing ‘strocks’ (straw blocks) to form an internal structure that will house the Titch Hill wine labs and wine cellars.

The pre-fabricated concrete frame and columns, with rich their patina and architectural motifs, will be retained. Redundant internal concrete wall panels will be upcycled; some reused as floor slabs and monolithic tables, and others crushed up into a flooring aggregate, akin to terrazzo. A lime rubble render made from broken down demolition waste and local flint from the estate, will be applied to external walls. Visible fixings on windows and door thresholds will pay homage to the buildings utilitarian personality. Passive low-tech strategies will regulate the internal temperature throughout the year, with no heating or cooling systems proposed for the Winery.

Around the barn the landscape is being transformed by Tom Massey Studio with the addition of productive gardens, and picnic spaces to connect the Winery to the surrounding vineyards.