Kiln Annex

The yard behind a potter's studio, hard against a brick party wall.

Archive no.: 012
Program: Wood fired kiln, drying loft, and a covered stack for two winters of fuel
Area: 96 m²
Status: Under construction
Drawing set: 2 plates at 1:50

Site north
351° off sheet

PLINTH PRACTICE ARCHIVE · NO. 012 · SHEET 1 OF 2 Scale 1:50

FIG. 1 EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC. RED MARKS EVERY JOINT THAT CARRIES FIRE OR LOAD.

PLINTH PRACTICE ARCHIVE · NO. 012 · SHEET 2 OF 2 Scale 1:50

FIG. 2 SECTION BB THROUGH THE FLUE. DRAWN AT 1:50 BECAUSE THE KILN FORGIVES NOTHING.

A kiln is a building that tries to destroy itself twice a month, so the annex is drawn joint by joint. The exploded axonometric is the contract document here: the roof lifts off the frame, the frame lifts off the plinth, and every connection that carries load or fire is filled red so the builder cannot miss it. There are eleven red moments in the drawing and eleven site visits in the fee.

The kiln itself is the client’s, built by her hands to her own firing schedule. Our work is the still air around it: a drying loft warmed by the flue, a fuel stack sized for two winters, and a brick screen that keeps the party wall at a neighbourly temperature. The flue section is drawn at 1:50 with the mortar joints counted, because at 900 degrees a generous tolerance is a crack.

First firing is scheduled for the autumn. The drawing set will attend.