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The existing barns are situated next to ‘Ballaragh Old Farmhouse’ along a small farm track off Ballaragh Road towards the Maughold end of the hamlet of Ballaragh.
The barns are visible in the distance from the A2 Ramsey Road & MER line and also along a public footpath which runs from the Ramsey road to the Ballaragh Road
The barns are constructed of traditionally laid manx stone, with slate roof. The few windows and doors that remain are red painted timber.
The barns are ‘L shaped’, forming an enclosed yard area in the middle of the L. The shorter leg of the L faces the road and appears single storey, however it is in fact two storey due to the sloping nature of the site. The long side of the L heads down the sloping site, floor levels step down, but the ridge remains constant.
There are few openings to the outside of the L shape, with the majority of the windows and doors facing into the yard formed by the L shape. There are the remains of a small single storey pen at the end of the longer leg of the barn. This section no longer has a roof.
There are visible signs of cracking and settlement throughout the barns, with the gable facing the neighbouring dwelling leaning out considereably.
‘Aurora’ approved under PA17/00002/B Barn from public foot path The hamlet of Ballaragh from A2 Ramsey Road
There are several agricultural buildings in the vicinity of the site, many of which are of modern materials.
Materials such as fibre cement sheeting, timber cladding and metal roofing are now more common in the countryside than manx stone due to their ease of erection and maintainance.
-Fibre cement sheeting, brought down the wall, with slot windows at the change of material. -Metal sheet roofing, with weathered timber boarding
The modern agricultural style was utilised on the extension to a traditional stone barn near to the site. (Sam’s Barn - PA13/91341/B)
Althought these materials and forms don’t conform with Planning Circular 3/91, they actually sit more subtly in the landscape than a white rendered ‘vernacular’ dwelling, due to the softer colours and weathered materials.
EAST ELEVATION 1:100 SOUTH ELEVATION 1:100 EAST ELEVATION 1:100
The barns sit in land which is zoned for residential development. Land to the west of the barn is also zoned. Immediately to the north is not zoned but the half of that field towards the road is currently zoned as ‘AREA 19’ in the 2005 Laxey and Lonan Area Plan. There are two existing planning approvals in place regarding the barns. Works to the access have been commenced on these applications.
PA14/00809/B - Conversion of existing outbuildings into dwelling. This approval is for the conversion of the existing barns, with very limited alterations to the existing openings other than a glazed gable end. PA15/00590/B - Demolition of existing outbuildings and erection of detached dwelling with integral garage. This approval is to demolish the existing barn and build a new dwelling taking the original barn form and adding some larger modern openings in chosen locations to take in the fantastic views.
PA20/00894/A - Approval in principle for the erection of a dwelling at land north west of Ballaragh Old Farmhouse.
This application approved 12th October 2020, established the principle of building a new dwelling located in ‘Area 19’, away from the existing barns.
As part of this application, it was conditioned that as far as is reasonably practicable, the stone and slate from the existing barns to be demolised are to be reused.
This application aims to reuse this stone and slate as much as possible. The reuse of the stone should make the new dwelling sit better in the site, not appearing too new and neat which could occur if using new stone from elsewhere.
Matters of siting, design, external appearance, internal layout of buildings, site layout, drainage, landscaping, means of access of the site are all to be determined by this application.
As the AiP conditioned that no garages or other free standing buildings shall be erected within the curtilage of the dwelling without prior permission, this application also applies for the erection of a garden store/studio. This is so the scheme can be viewed as a whole and not incrementally grow.
PA17/00002/B & PA14/01360/B - Replacement dwelling and extending the residential zoning. These two applications were to replace an existing ‘Manx vernacular’ rendered stone built dwelling with a much larger non vernacular, contemporary dwelling, away from the footprint of the existing house. These applications also extended the existing residential zoning beyond that of the 2005 Area plan. This extension ‘neatened off’ the zoning to match the land in ownership of the applicant and provide a garden. This application site neigbours the site.
PA10/01193/B & PA16/01076/B - New build contemporary dwelling/ dwellings. These two applications approve new build contemporary dwellings in the countryside. Each application utilised modern materials and styles such as timber cladding and standing seam metal roofs alongside traditional stone and slate.
PA13/91341/B - Conversion of an existing barn into a residential dwelling house. This was the conversion and contemporary extension of an existing barn building in Ballaragh. This project is currently nearing completion and used anthracite grey windows, timber cladding and standing seam zinc roofing to bring a contemporary twist to the existing barn. The mixture of contemporary finishes with the traditional lime render and slate provides a contrast, while also remaining in keeping as the materials chosen are regularly found in the agricultural setting.
The applicant wishes to demolish the existing barn and build a new dwelling more in the vicinity of ‘Area 19’ of the Laxey and Lonan Area Plan. This is a much better location for a dwelling than that of the existing barn for the following reasons;
The form and massing of the new dwelling would replicate agricultural buildings in the area, utilising the sloping site context and linear form of barns.
It makes more sense for the settlement of Ballaragh for the new dwelling to be along the roadside. Area 19 sits between two areas of residential developement so is a perfect infill plot.
The applicant wishes to provide an environmentally friendly home for their family by going above and beyond current Building regulations standards for conservation of fuel and power along with a design and orientation to meet ‘Passive priciples’.
This would be difficult and cost prohibitive to achieve by renovating the existing barn. The location and form of the ‘Replacement dwelling’ approval on the barn footprint would be sub optimal for achieving a passive principle form and orientation and also much closer to ‘Ballaragh Old Farmhouse’.
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The existing barn materials will be reclaimed and reused wherever possible for the traditional stonework and slate elements of the design.
The materials chosen are aiming to produce an ‘Agritecture’ aesthetic.
Using materials found throughout the countryside and in agricultural settings helps the new dwelling sit within its environment without standing out.
Lochside House by HaysomWardMiller Stone base and timber above ‘HebHome’ Kit house, Dualchas Architects Traditional materials, with a contemporary twist Edinburgh Road by A449 Architects Use of materials to sit in the site respectfully RHouse by Rural Design Architects Use of Traditional form with contemporary finishes Maison Wedge by BGA Architects Barn like cladding (metal and timber) Newhouse of Auchengree by Ann Nisbet Agricultural form & cladding (metal roof & facade)
The site lends itself to a long, thin ‘legged’ form which utilises the sloping site. The massing would suit to appear like a barn (either traditional stone & slate, or more modern timber & sheet). This will help it to sit in the site context and not stand out.
Here are some examples of how RIBA award winning Architects have taken inspiration from agricultrual context.
‘Agritecture’ inspired dwellings take elements of their design and materials from the utilitarian portal frame barns and sheds found in the countryside, often standing out like these structures do, but less so than the tradititional white rendered farm house.
Timber and stone built dwellings allowed to weather, take cues from their surrounding context but sit in the site more subtly, often looking like they have been there for many years.
It is important to note that these designs don’t aim to replicate agricultural buildings, but take inspiration from them, alongside modern methods of construction and living standards/expectations to provide an interesting design which take into account site context such as sun orientation, views & levels.
Existing access to top fields Approved access to Aroura Open up existing access and widen to provide straight over access to lower fields View of previously approved access Existing Access to field (1) Proposed use for Laxey direction Existing Access to field (2) Proposed use for Ramsey direction The proposal utilises two existing field gate accesses and improves the situation for field to field access across the Ballaragh Road. It is proposed that;
-Access 1 is used for journeys to and from the Laxey (south) direction -Access 2 is used for journeys to and from the Ramsey (north) direction. -Access from fields above Ballaragh road to fields below the road, utilise and existing overgrown access (widened to improve), which will allow direct access accross the highway as opposed to turning farm machinery back on itself as is the current situation.
Both Access 1 and Access 2 provide much improved visibility to that already approved for access to the site under PA14/00809/B & PA15/00590/B, which provided 12m to the south and 36m to the north.
NOTE: See photo sheets for photos showing visibility in each direction.
To summerise, the application is asking for the erection of a new dwelling in the vacinity of ‘Area 19’ in the 2005 Laxey and Lonan Area plan and that the residential zoning is ‘neatened off’ to provide a garden area to the east of the dwelling in the same manner as PA1700002/B. The principle of this was established under the Approval in Principle application PA20/00894/A.
The application also asks for the demolition of the existing Ballaragh Barns. This does not require planning permission, however the applicant wishes to reuse the materials from the barn in the new build and does not wish to convert the barns, or construct the replacement dwelling barn application at a later date.
If this application is successful, the applicant would be happy for the implementation of this application to supersede the existing live planning approvals for the barns.
This would mean that there would be no increase in number of dwellings in the hamlet of Ballaragh. The existing applications would not be implemented further other than the already implemented access and the location of the new dwelling would better match the pattern of the linear settlement.
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