The Barnhouse is located on a brown-field site to the rear of Highgate High Street. Originally this back-land would have housed the working areas that served the High Street shops. In this case, a Butchers shop had a slaughterhouse located in a listed barn amongst an ad-hoc collection of post-war brick outbuildings.

The house is conceived as three buildings sited to the perimeter of the available building land. The three buildings are then linked by a south facing conservatory to create a courtyard. This device allows the building to negotiate an extraordinarily complex landscape containing protected mature trees whilst the living spaces engage with the surrounding context at a variety of levels.

The building is entered from the highest point of the site. From here, ramps lead either up to the main living space, with spectacular views over London, or down, under a magnificent chestnut tree canopy, to the dining room and kitchen. Private spaces such as bedrooms are positioned furthest away from the entrance.