Located in rural areas, often surrounded either by fields, rolling hills, valleys, or mountains, barns provide the perfect opportunity to create a warm, cozy living space immersed in a bucolic setting. These architectural projects showcase some of the most impressive and inspiring barn conversions. Completed all over the world, from the US to Switzerland and Australia, these projects transformed humble barns into comfortable living spaces, creative studios, artist residencies, and more.

While all of these barn conversions began in similar ways – the renovation and transformation of an agricultural building – they vary widely and feature different programs and designs. For example, here you can read more about a traditional timber barn in Switzerland, which an architecture studio converted into a music and art house with creative studios and accommodation for visiting creatives. Another project involved the conversion of a solid stone barn into a contemporary space with a multi-functional interior that houses both live and work spaces. Another timber-clad barn now houses an art studio as well as the client’s own large-scale sculptures.

Most of these barn conversions, however, are residential spaces. Among them, permanent homes and weekend or vacation retreats. Some of them, created within the walls of 19th century and early 20th century barns. Many architects preserve at least some of the original elements that attest to the buildings’ age and rustic character; for example, antique timber beams or original stone walls. Other projects preserve the envelope only and create distinctly contemporary living spaces, but often finished with natural materials that still link the new spaces to their context and site’s history.