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An axial flux permanent magnet (AFPM) motor can be considered one of the optimal motor designs due to its higher torque density and compact sizing. The majority of the AFPM models to date adopted surface mounted and spoke type rotor designs for various applications. However, these designs provide poor protection for the magnets. On the other hand, magnets in an AFPM can be placed inside well-designed flux barriers to guard against harsh conditions. This paper describes the design, optimization and prototype development of a double stator single rotor (DSSR) axial flux interior permanent magnet (AFIPM) motor with a novel “H” shaped flux barrier. At first, a preliminary design of the AFIPM with the flux barrier has been developed based on requirements and design equations. A multi-stage optimization method including Taguchi orthogonal array, multivariate regression analysis and the genetic algorithm has been used to calculate the optimal design parameters of the motor. Detailed electromagnetic finite element simulations have been carried out to compare the performance of the optimized model with the baseline design. Finally, a prototype of AFPIM has been developed and experimental results have been verified with simulation data.