Ancient Party Barn in Kent by Liddicoat & Goldhill.

Many projects aim to create ‘living’ or ‘smart’ spaces, a common goal closely followed by an ‘indoor and outdoor connection’. To be frank, all the usual solutions had us feeling a little jaded. And then we came across The Ancient Party Barn. Designed by Liddicoat & Goldhill, the sheer scale and playful mechanics of this award-winning project have us seriously impressed. Liddicoat & Goldhill were commissioned by private clients to remodel the derelict barn in UK’s Kent province, with the brief to convert it into a home with a focus on materiality, atmosphere and a creative re-use of the existing volumes.

Industrial-scale moveable mechanisms were installed, giving the clients free reign to control views, light, air flow and privacy, depending on the weather, time of day and activities. The home features an American-style aircraft hangar door that can concertina upwards, simultaneously flooding the home with natural light and creating a canopy over the dining terrace. Other mechanisms include an adjustable skylight that runs the length of the main roof’s ridge, and an enormous rotating pivot glass door. The seamless and graceful movements of these mechanisms are enhanced by the sheer scale of the barn, and make the home appear like it’s dancing in rhythm with the surrounding countryside landscape.

For the interior, Liddicoat & Goldhill combined the rustic quality of the surviving barn elements with the texture and tone of materials collected by the clients. A steel skeleton was erected around the barn, so that the structurally unsafe original timber framing and beam work could remain. One of the central spatial challenges was the addition of a mezzanine, which is supported by the tapering brick chimney. A cantilevered, waxed steel and oak staircase was added to connect the floors, which wraps gracefully around the chimney.

[Images & drawings courtesy of Liddicoat & Goldhill. Photography by Keith Colli. Video by Will Scott.]