Refectory Kitchen

An ongoing architectural relationship between the studio and friend of the studio; owner and founder of the Refectory Kitchen, in the historic city of Canterbury.

Our response is a convergence of varying reference streams; that of immediate context, refectory-related etymology and both ergonomic and programmatic requirements.

Installations reflect and reference the skeletal or unadorned nature of the grade II listed building they inhabit – exposed timbers with brick infill, historical timber wainscotting, original timber floors and a rich, characterful, inglenook fireplace. Much of the new has been toned to reflect the ‘brickiness’ and general colouring of the environment.

The result is a system of vertical timber fins and horizontal threaded steel rods with precast concrete shelves and storage between. The new servery continues this visual language of timber skeleton with interest-added infill. These infills pluralistically make reference to nearby historical context and religious confessionaries – the Barista as modern day absorber of life's ebbs and flows. Here we refer to both the romanesque, and by narrowing the panel, the perpendicular style of nearby Canterbury Cathedral.

These acts reinforce the Refectory’s role in being the place in which you explore from, and consciously seek to remind you of the wider context in which it sits.

Of note, and characteristic of the studio's output in general, is the adoption of modern methods of construction. Here, its use virtually eliminated downtime for the café with all items previously assembled and tested off site, prior to an efficient installation over four evenings.