Following on from the construction of  an organic farm to support 150 Hectares of farm land we were asked to expand and update the farm to support both the increased farm land area of over 1,000 Hectares and the current farm practices.

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The appearance of the farm from the nearby view points on the escarpment along which the 'Pilgrims way' to Canterbury runs, and closer quarter views was a key consideration for the client and planners.  This led to a masterplan approach of forming a ‘farm within a farm’. 

The original farm comprised a small open courtyard formed by simple group of brick buildings. Behind this a number of concrete and steel framed buildings had been introduced in an ad hoc manner over time.

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The original brick farm buildings are visible from the access road and have a degree of charm and character so these have been retained and refurbished to provide a farm office, staff welfare and small scale storage.

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To ensure good ventilation the buildings are clad with timber boards to within 1.2 metres of ground level, with the long elevations articulated by expressing the galvanised structure. Ridge ventilation – essential to the health of the livestock and storage of grain – is expressed as a positive feature along the ridgeline. 

Clean roof rainwater is collected and used for watering the animals, with yard and all other dirty water filtered through tanks into a reed bed system before it enters the adjacent stream.