Studio Ben Allen revamps Kent farmhouse with playful colour scheme

London practice Studio Ben Allen has completed its renovation of A Place in the Country, a former farmhouse in rural Kent, introducing a playful colour scheme and an oak-lined library.

Studio Ben Allen reconfigured the home to clarify a series of alterations made over time, improving circulation and creating distinct spaces for entertaining, reading, work and exercise.

An entrance hall leads through to a new library at the heart of the home, characterised by its curved oak-lined walls.

The library doubles as a space for entertaining, with a cocktail cabinet concealed within the blue-stained timber walls.

"We wanted a full-height timber-lined library, but thought it would create interest to carve out niches for sitting and reading," Studio Ben Allen founder Ben Allen told Dezeen.

"This developed into an obround or pill form, and the creation of niches around it became a subtractive design exercise – metaphorically carving the niches out of the solid corners," Allen described.

To the west side of A Place in the Country, the library opens onto the original kitchen and dining space, where a new doorway has been added to provide additional garden access.

Existing kitchen cabinets, painted in a deep blue hue, have been finished with concrete countertops, contrasting with an oversized bright yellow extraction hood above the cooker.

The home's interior spaces are unified through these bright splashes of colour, with the palette mainly comprising reds, yellows, blues and greens.

"We try to group colours mainly by materials," said Allen. "Metalwork elements are powder-coated and suit bright primary colours, textiles are more subtle tones and wood is generally left as its natural finish," he stated.

To the south side of the library, a living room with dark timber beams and an exposed brick fireplace opens onto a plant-filled conservatory, providing views of the garden beyond.

Made from locally-sourced reclaimed bricks and CNC-cut birch plywood and oak, the conservatory has a pitched roof supported by scissor trusses.

"The birch plywood was stained a pale green to provide contrast to the solid oak rafters, making reference to Victorian conservatories and greenhouses," said Allen.

Intended to double as a space for exercise, the studio integrated a bright red steel pull-up bar into the conservatory's design. Extending from the conservatory is a solid oak pergola that frames the outdoor terrace seating area.

Upstairs, A Place in the Country was completely reconfigured to reduce wasted circulation space, allowing the main bedroom and study to be expanded.

Cutouts and small openings between spaces are a recurring theme throughout, including a small set of yellow doors that open from the upstairs study to overlook the kitchen below.

"Openings are intended to break down the cellular nature of the existing house – ideally to facilitate better communication, they also open up interesting views and add to the playful interconnection between spaces," Allen described.

In the guest bedroom, a bespoke rust-toned timber headboard doubles as a shutter. Tiles with red grouting are paired with a yellow-framed shower cubicle in the ensuite bathroom.

This scheme is mirrored in the main bathroom, where an oversized red bath tap emerges from the floor, with a matching red shower head and yellow freestanding tub.

Interventions designed to improve the energy efficiency of the home include the addition of a heat pump and solar panels.

Other projects by Studio Ben Allen featured on Dezeen include a house renovation with brightly coloured concrete surfaces and the revamp of the architect's own two-storey maisonette in east London.

The photography is by French + Tye.

Project credits:

Architect: Studio Ben Allen
Structural engineer: Format
Contractor: Sprinks Construction
Library joinery: Tim Gaudin
Interior metalwork: Fish Fabrications
Interior concrete: Concreations

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