Bumpers Oast by Acme
Bumpers Oast is a modern interpretation of a traditional house located in Kent, United Kingdom, designed in 2018 by Acme.
Description
Kent is characterized by rolling landscapes, apple orchards, and oast houses used to dry hops as part of the beer-brewing process. The new house has been designed as a 21st-century interpretation of the formal language of Kentish architecture.
Five towers are built slightly apart from each other, creating inward-looking spaces in each tower and a more outward-looking central space opening out into the surrounding apple orchard. Each of the towers houses private functions such as bathrooms, bedrooms, and service spaces, and framed window openings allow for selective views out. The center of the house is a triple-height living space, visually open to the garden and towards each of the four towers, forming the heart of the house.
Oast houses were traditionally made from solid brick walls with clay-shingled roofs. In order to achieve an extremely low-energy house, the towers will be built in two layers – a heavily insulated inner skin and a clay tile rain screen façade. The outer skin is made from traditional Kent-style tiles in six shades, slowly fading from dark red at the base to light orange at the tip. The interior of the roundels unfolds seamlessly into one another. The entry floor is grounded in hard finishes, that transition to warmer materials as one climbs the towers into the more intimate living, play, and sleeping spaces.
Photography courtesy of Acme
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- by Matt Watts
