The building in the County of Kent in the center of our focus originally served to dry hop and produce malt. Today one of the stories of the vintage tower houses a kitchen with a freestanding cabinet in the middle. Country Stone Granite Company’s challenge was to mount a countertop along the lines of the outside wall.
The landlady wanted the same Indian Granite used for the cabinet console.
The art was to fit the tier-segment stone to the exact shape of wall, with special care to the outer seam and the cut-outs for sink and cooking plate.
And finally transporting the stone: no elevator could accomplish the job, so the only way up was using the stairs. What with 3 cm thick stone slabs, this was quite a task.
The front edge was worked with the aid of a CNC-machine, whereas the edge adjoining the wall required hand fitting.
„With over 20 years’ experience in the field, we’ve templated, fabricated and installed a range of worktops, but the Oast House in Kent was one of our most challenging projects“, according to the company’s webpage.
The historical Oast houses were originally used as silos for hop, stored over several stories. Warm air from the ground floor spread upward by means of convection drying the hop and lending it its typical malt flavor. If the oven on the ground floor was stoked with peat, e.g. the atmosphere became suitable for whiskey production.
Photos: County Stone Granite
(07.11.2014, USA: 11.07.2014)
