Having started on the Alex and Naomi’s kitchen table in its early years, Best Escapes grew in their home at Lime Tree Farm. Eventually occupying all of the ground floor rooms and forcing them to move out. Clearly a new home for this thriving business was needed!
Right from out outset, Best Escapes had been all about quality and style, mixed in with a love of property, design and property development. The office had to capture all of that! The feeling was, to attract the very best team needed to sustain our growth, we needed an amazing workspace to inspire, motivate and accommodate our future growth.
Right next to Lime Tree Farm, this traditional Suffolk barn was ideal. Itself a listed building, made of clay lump and timber and right next to the farmhouse. Time to set to work! Working with a combination of a local, conservation architect and a London based contemporary specialist, Alex worked on the design. The design was to celebrate the original structure but make it work as a modern workspace.
He worked with his established team of local craftsmen to restore the clay lump, repaint with traditional lime, repair the roof and brickwork and then create the contemporary conservation. A main element was the steel mezzanine, which does not touch the original walls, meaning it could be removed and leave the original structure unaffected. The stairs and bridge were designed by an expert in ‘super light weight’ structures, meaning its the minimum amount of metal possible to enable access to the first floor.
With the environment in mind, as well as conserving the structure and using low carbon materials, there was also from the outset LED lighting, heating from wood pellets and the insulation was lambswool.
The final fit-out was bespoke, with all the desks being hand-built by local craftsmen and the furniture mid-century originals from iconic designers such as Eames, Noguchi, Knoll and Saarinen.
In January 2012 the scene was set, our wonderful team could move in and Best Escapes finally had a home it could call it’s own. From that point onward the business grew each year and went from strength-to-strength.
In 2021 Best Escapes joined forces with Sykes Holiday Cottages, becoming a sister brand to the award-winning agency.
Best Escapes
Lime Tree Farm
Badingham
Woodbridge
IP13 8LU
01728638962
