Modern Barn in Dorset is where crisp geometry meets English countryside
Modern Barn by Coffey Architects offers contemporary design and views over the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site

The aptly named Modern Barn, is a crisp, contemporary house created to look over the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Dorset, UK. Its author, London-based studio Coffey Architects, conceived the home, a commission for a local family, as a 'sustainably crafted coastal home', which draws on its distinctive location and the region's architectural vernacular, while serving the client's 21st-century needs.
Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
Modern Barn: crisp geometry meets English countryside
The residence's design was composed as a cluster of three pitched volumes. They are all placed on a plinth, which forms the structure's foundation, sturdily made of local Blue Lias stone. Larch timber wraps the volumes, juxtaposing the solidity and rough texture of the rock with the smooth, warm feel of the wood. All volumes are across a single level, making for a low, carefully articulated mini campus set within a wider, generous, 1.8-acre site.
Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
The separate volumes were not created by chance, or because of an architect's creative whim. Modern Barn's brief outlined a home that can allow for independence, and spaces where users can autonomously live, work and sleep, all at once but also separately, when needed. The spatial arrangement allows for that to happen.
Timber roof details of Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
This architectural response ensures high functionality for the residents, while the carefully chosen textures mark a structure that feels entirely at home in its rural setting above the bay of Lyme Regis. Meanwhile, a series of terraces outside the main living spaces – the kitchen, living room and bedrooms – make the most of the green nature and sea vistas beyond the property's carefully curated garden.
Interior view from Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
Practice director Phil Coffey said: 'At Modern Barn there is a seamless integration of the external pattern and interior shadows which offers a compelling experience, imbues the building with a unique identity, and fosters a genuine sense of belonging to its surroundings. With a focus on sea, sunlight and warmth of materiality, this is rich internal landscape in which to live.'
Kitchen at Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
Guest Yurt addition to Modern Barn
Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
Modern Barn by Coffey Architects
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Foster + Partners to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
For the Queen Elizabeth II memorial, Foster + Partners designs proposal includes a new bridge, gates, gardens and figurative sculptures in St James’ Park
-
Inside MAZE Design Basel the city's new design fair
With only 11 exhibitors and the backdrop of a Swiss Gothic Revival church, MAZE Design Basel is a new intimate art fair for those in the know
-
A contemporary concrete and glass Belgian house is intertwined with its forested site
A new Belgian house, Govaert-Vanhoutte Architecten’s Residence SAB, brings refined modernist design into a sylvan setting, cleverly threading a multilayered new home between existing trees
-
Foster + Partners to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
For the Queen Elizabeth II memorial, Foster + Partners designs proposal includes a new bridge, gates, gardens and figurative sculptures in St James’ Park
-
Wolves Lane Centre brings greenery, growing and grass roots together
Wolves Lane Centre, a new, green community hub in north London by Material Cultures and Studio Gil, brings to the fore natural materials and a spirit of togetherness
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshop
New Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on life
Thanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being reborn as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Lego and Serpentine celebrate World Play Day with a new pavilion
Lego and Serpentine have just unveiled their Play Pavilion; a colourful new structure in Kensington Gardens in London and a gesture that celebrates World Play Day (11 June)
-
Inside Abbey Road's refresh: touring the legendary studio's new interior
Abbey Road gets an interior refresh by Threefold Architects, bringing the legendary London recording studio in tune with the 21st century
-
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready to visit, ‘an exhibition you can use’
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready for its public opening on 6 June; we toured the structure and spoke to its architect, Marina Tabassum
-
A meticulously crafted artist’s space in east London evokes the area’s long creative history
Maich Swift Architects’ artist’s space has radically reconfigured a Victorian terraced house, transforming it into a contemporary live/work interior