The Old Fox Yard

The regeneration of this 16th century listed building to create a Design Quarter in Stowmarket, including our own office, an arts bar and art studio.

Heritage Champion Award 2021

National finalist for ASBP Awards as part of the Old Fox Yard

Modece Architects moved to Stowmarket in 2019 with the intention of making a change in the town, starting with the reconversion of the Old Fox Yard on the high street to include an arts bar and gallery which now attract a large volume of customers for local art, locally produced drinks, and social events.

Modece is creating a new Design Quarter in the heart of Stowmarket. The Design Quarter is set within The Old Fox Yard, a 16th Century Listed Coaching Inn which Modece has carefully been developing. The development required a sensitive mix of heritage and sustainability expertise. The Fox Yard is now home to Modece Architect’s own office, a new art gallery and workshop space and an art inspired bar. As part of a wider vision for the town, this intervention in the centre of the town is having a big impact on the opportunities for local designers and artists whilst also enhancing Stowmarket’s high street for the visitor economy. The vision is to create a place for artists and designers to practice, display their work, meet and discuss their projects.

Part of the project for the restoration of the Old Fox Yard includes the access to the Old Fox Yard and its visual impact from the high street, to not only pay homage and bring back the building’s heritage but attract visitors from the street to the businesses inside. Collaborating with local artists, redesigning signage and overall enhancing the entrance has allowed the Old Fox Yard to come back to life and become a space for meeting, socialising and appreciating local talent, local production and Stowmarket’s heritage.

Modece Property, in collaboration with Modece Architects, Fox Yard Studio and Pallet bar, refurbished the building into our office; Fox Yard Studio’s art gallery and workshop; and Pallet’s bar; all together forming a new Design Quarter in a Grade II listed building in the heart of Stowmarket.

We brought the vision to life by restoring the building to its former glory, using only sustainable methods which, on one hand, exposed the beautiful original timber-framed structure and in addition created a healthy interior environment for the bar, the studio and the office.  This included the restoration of the roof, original timber frames, walls and general layout of parts of this Grade II 16th century building. The design approach was to creatively preserve, integrate and showcase its heritage value while pioneering sustainable construction techniques. The result is a modern working environment with a historical fabric and natural materials that accommodates the needs of a growing business and attracts a talented team to the small architectural practice.

The history of The Old Fox Yard stretches back to the 16th century, starting off as a coaching inn known then as The Fox Hotel. The inn had a series of owners and by the middle of the 19th century had become a large complex of buildings.

The preservation of the original structural frame such as roof, original timber frame, claddings, etc. was essential to the project. The removal of all newer additions to the ceiling (i.e. opening up the ceiling to reveal its vaulted form) reveals the historic structure, except for an area over a new double height space that appeared to be a historic hay loft. The retention of the historic hay loft allows it to be reused as a storage space. The roof has been insulated and lined whilst retaining its main structural elements visible to create a modern airy open plan and vaulted space but with a nod to the building’s historic fabric. New structural elements are contrasting in their contemporary nature and repairs are ‘honest’ to their time rather than a pastiche of the original building.

Our regeneration project for The Old Fox Yard was a national finalist in the ASBP Awards 2022 which celebrates outstanding projects under the categories including “exemplary sustainable building projects”, “innovative products” and “forward-thinking initiatives”. It has also been awarded the Heritage Champion Award 2021 by the Suffolk Preservation Society in recognition of Modece’s contribution to Suffolk’s heritage through the Old Fox Yard.

This innovative approach to the refurbishment of a historic building which seeks to frame its history whilst turning it into a healthy, sustainable building is one of the first examples of its kind in Suffolk, setting a precedent for the treatment and regeneration of historic buildings in decay.