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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. The Ancient Party Barn in Folkestone, United Kingdom by Liddicoat & GoldhillDecember 20th, 2017 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Liddicoat & Goldhill The design eschews the language of the typical barn conversion, instead making the cluster of historic agricultural buildings into an atmospheric getaway for relaxing and gathering. Our clients, a fashion designer & a digital designer, are avid collectors of reclaimed architectural artefacts. Together with the existing fabric of the barn, their discoveries form the material palette. The result – part curation, part restoration – is a unique interpretation of the 18th Century threshing barn, a building type that often engenders a uniformity of approach when converted.  Image Courtesy © Will Scott
 Image Courtesy © Will Scott Rather than demand specific spaces or programmes, their brief focused on materiality and atmosphere, and on creative re-use of the existing volumes. Our task was to combine the quality of the surviving barn fragments with the texture and tone of their found materials.  Image Courtesy © Will Scott  Image Courtesy © Will Scott Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the 18th Century threshing barn, dairy and stables are a prominent feature from the North Downs Way. To maintain the barn’s brooding presence – and to provide security and a sense of protection from rolling Channel mists – the barn is usually kept in a closed state. However, industrial-scale kinetic mechanisms create openings that address key views into the countryside.  Image Courtesy © Will Scott  Image Courtesy © Will Scott Massive, insulated shutters recall the original barn doors, and protect a vast rotating window operated by an adapted chain-lift. To the East front, an American aircraft-hangar door allows the exterior to concertina upwards, creating a canopy over the dining terrace and revealing ribbon glazing within. A single rooflight, running the length of the main roof’s ridge provides steady ambient light to the living spaces.  Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Image Courtesy © Will Scott The original green oak framing was in a state of near-collapse at the start of the project: it was carefully disassembled and removed from site for repair by the Green Oak Company, specialists in traditional hand-carpentry techniques. While the smaller stable range remains timber-framed, the main barn frame and cladding is largely cosmetic – the oak is supported by a steel exoskeleton clad in a super-insulated industrial SIP system. This structural approach allowed for rapid completion of the building envelope and incorporation of the huge opening mechanisms.  Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Image Courtesy © Keith Collie One of the central spatial challenges was insertion of a mezzanine (for sleeping and bathing) into the main volume. A tapering brick chimney supports the corner of the mezzanine, and incorporates a cantilevered, waxed steel staircase and an open fireplace. This hybrid device interrupts the regularity of the three-bayed barn and delineates the different programmes within.  Main living space, Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Dining table, Image Courtesy © Keith Collie The prevalence of recycled and found materials belie high-tech solutions to the building’s operational requirements. A ground-source heat pump harvests warmth from the paddock soil to provide heating & hot water. Reclaimed light fittings were adapted to use long-life, low-energy LED lamps. Integration of heat, light and security systems allow Sinclair (who travels frequently between his studios in London, New York and Malmo) to manage the building and work remotely – the barn is part of the nascent Internet of Things. Work commenced on site in September 2012 and completed December 2014.  Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Image Courtesy © Keith Collie About Liddicoat & Goldhill Named as one of Wallpaper* Magazine’s ‘Future 30’ in 2009, Liddicoat & Goldhill were shortlisted for one of house Architect of the year award in 2013 and Sophie was shortlisted for Emerging Woman Architect of the Year Award 2012. Their first new build home, The Shadow House received an RIBA Award. Their work has been exhibited at the RIBA, Architecture Foundation, the Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, NLA, The Turner Contemporary and the Royal Academy of Arts.  Guest suite, Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Guest annex, Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Guest bedroom, Image Courtesy © Keith Collie  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill  Image Courtesy © Liddicoat & Goldhill
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