ACME Unveils a Contemporary Oast House in Kent

ACME have designed a modernized oast house in Kent, United Kingdom, creating a family home based off the proportions and geometries of vernacular buildings integral to the traditional beer brewing process. The clients spoke of their love for the spatial relationships that arise from living in circular spaces. The resulting house is able to provide a range of atmospheric conditions for shared experiences and private moments, which are all generated out of the interesting curved rooms carved out of the oasts.

From its exterior, the 230 square meter property is seemingly divided into individual looking oast buildings, however, once inside, occupants can appreciate how each tower intersects to form open plan, light-filled interiors. The central tower soars upward into a triple-height void curving around a stairwell, forming the main shared family space in the home. As occupants move upward through the buildings levels, spaces become more insular and private, as bedrooms and bathrooms are carved out in “tree house-like retreats”.

Highly skilled local craftsmen were employed to ensure the Kent-style tiles seamlessly tapered as they transitioned toward the shrinking circumference of the upper skin. The 41,000 tiles gradually transition from dark red to orange and then to blue as they near the sky. Like it’s curving outer shell, the interior finishes needed to be malleable to work with the unconventional form. Plywood, micro cement and mosaic tiles were utilised alongside custom made curving furniture to ensure the shape of the space was celebrated and showcased.

The five shingle clad towers are constructed using a highly insulated timber structure to generate a low energy home designed to passive house standards, bringing the local vernacular firmly into the 21st century. As Friedrich Ludewig, director at ACME asserted, “this house can be both contemporary and proud of its Kent identity”.