Sheep Field Barn redevelopment
Henry Moore Studios & Gardens is renovating of one of its buildings, the Sheep Field Barn, to create new spaces for learning, thinking and making. Due to open to the public in 2026, there will be two studio spaces and a gallery introducing Henry Moore’s art and life.
The redeveloped building will be net zero, with reduced embodied carbon, recycled components, thermal insulation made from sustainable sheep’s wool, ground source heat pumps, double glazing and a water treatment plant.
The project
In collaboration with leading architects DSDHA, in 2024 we started a project to transform the Sheep Field Barn Gallery into a dedicated learning and exhibition space.
Henry Moore was a strong advocate for education. Over the years, the Foundation’s engagement programme has flourished, welcoming more than 2,000 school children annually and offering a range of creative workshops.
Expanding the Sheep Field Barn will enable us to offer a permanent space for visitor engagement and learning activities.
Central to this project is a commitment to sustainability. Here are some of the steps we’ve taken to ensure this project is environmentally friendly.
Eco-friendly outside…
The sustainably-sourced timber frame of the new extension is supported on lightweight screw piles, avoiding the need for concrete foundations or new steel supports, and therefore helping to reduce embodied carbon.
Where we have needed the odd steel support, required for making adjustments to the existing steel structure, we have recycled one of the supports removed during construction.
The new external timber cladding on the building has been sourced and recycled from an old dismantled barn.
…and inside
Inside, the timber structure is predominantly exposed, limiting the need for unnecessary lining materials.
All of the original external cladding has been re-used as internal cladding in the new extension, cutting the need for new plasterboard.
The acoustic insulation in the new workshops is made from wood wool board, a natural, environmentally friendly alternative to plasterboard.
Thermal efficiency
Keeping the building cool in summer and warm in winter is a big priority. We’re using sheep’s wool to insulate the walls and have installed triple-glazed skylights.
This helps reduce the power we need to regulate environmental conditions in the galleries, as some artworks are sensitive to changes in temperature or humidity.
As a natural fibre, sheep’s wool requires 85% less energy to produce compared to glass fibre insulation. It’s a sustainable and renewable resource, with zero ozone depletion potential, and at the end of its useful life it can be re-manufactured or biodegraded.
Sheep’s wool insulation is safe and easy to handle, and no protective clothing or special breathing apparatus is required to install it.
Solar energy
We’re installing photovoltaic tiles across the entire roof of the Sheep Field Barn to generate solar energy for the building.
The building will have an EV charging point to power an electric van, which we’ll use to move artworks around the estate.
Ground source heat pump
We’re replacing the old oil-fired boiler in the Sheep Field Barn with a ground source heat pump.
Ground source heat pumps are a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuel heating systems. They function by absorbing heat from a system of underground pipes, and then transferring that energy via a heat exchanger and compressor to heat water.