Feildbarn: revolutionary (and invisible!) rural regeneration: an innovative solution for the re-use of thousands of redundant field barns in the Yorkshire Dales and beyond. A free-standing 'eco-pod' is inserted into a repaired barn, providing holiday accommodation and a source of income to the rural economy. It is built from low-tech materials, generating employment and training opportunities in construction and conservative repair at a local level.

Many thousands of field barns stand derelict across the UK. FCBStudios’ Creative Re-use Studio has developed a scheme which both conserves these historic structures and provides a sustainable use which contributes to the local economy. Our team is experienced in dealing with regeneration projects combining the sensitive re-use of historic buildings with cutting edge sustainable design. 

The initiative has been made possible through the development of working partnerships with English Heritage, the Historic Farm Buildings Group and the Yorkshire Dales National Park, 

including a £15,000 grant from the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust Fund under the Sustainable Development Fund Programme. The design of the eco-pod is in line with best building conservation practice, is 100% reversible and is (potentially) carbon neutral.

The first prototype ecopod was trialled in Yorkshire in October 2008 and the project received planning permission in April 2009. This prototype won the 2009 Sustain Magazine Award for Sustainable Development. A great deal of local and national interest was stimulated by a series of exhibitions during summer 2010 where Feildbarn featured as part of the Prince of Wales’ Sustainability Garden Party at Clarence House. The team of volunteers is now in the process of setting up an independent charitable Trust which will continue to seek funding from public and private sources to ensure the long-term survival of these icons of rural England.

Click here to open the brochure