The client owned several farm buildings which had been in family ownership and was exploring the possibility of living on site. After looking at the options, the redundant oast house was determined to offer the best opportunity of creating the required living accommodation with the following spec:
– 5 bedrooms
– 2 bathrooms + WC
– Lounge
– Large kitchen/diner
The oast conversion was part of a five property farmstead conversion we worked on for this client.
The brief was to turn the oast into a five bedroom property with open-plan living area to the ground floor. The oast itself was a mixture of ages. The two kilns were Victorian but had been ‘truncated’ i.e. their characteristic conical roof and white timber cowls had been removed and replaced with a flat felt roof. The rectangular stowage had been rebuilt in the 1960s to an unusually high quality for the period incorporating large open spaces on both floors.
The project took 14 months from starting on site and completed in May 2023.
There were two key design challenges. The road, although very quiet ran very close to one side of the building which meant it needed to be accessed through the kilns. This created the opportunity for a dramatic entrance hall with curved staircase and landing. The other challenge was the missing kiln roofs which needed to be replaced with something taller in order to create habitable rooms on the first floor.
There were a number of photographs of their original form and the conservation officer was happy to support their reinstatement despite the site being in Green Belt and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The standout achievement of the project is the two new kiln roofs topped with their white cowls turning in the wind as they would have done throughout their hop industry days.
Inside the round entrance hall is inviting and leads to an open plan kitchen / dining / family room. The dramatic stairwell allows access to the generous five bedroom layout upstairs.
The project was even used for marketing by the timber frame window supplier.
“This was an enjoyable project to be involved with and the end result is a generous and warm family home. Having been in a much diminished state, the Oast is now a striking feature of the landscape and blends its traditional form with modern openings and full height window designs.”
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If you have documents - previous designs, plans or photos, please send them to us via email: enquiries@vernacularhomes.com
