The Water Tower, Castle Acre: Landmark, landscape, sculpture, home
Abstract
This paper describes the conservation and conversion of a disused metal water tower into a family home. As well as being engineering exemplars, water towers have historically been vertical and legible landmarks in the landscape. They have the capacity to reinforce a sense of place, evoking our shared industrial history and inspiring connections to our past. Challenges for the project included planning, the dilapidation of the steel structure and preserving and amplifying the character of the primary structures. The focus of this design has been to connect the hitherto mechanical structure to nature: sunlight, views, air, foreground, background, fields, trees, horizon and sky.
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Author's Biography
Anna Liu is a qualified architect with experience in architecture, art and landscape, with professional work in the UK, China, Japan, the USA where she grew up, and Taiwan where she was born. She worked for Arup Associates in Hong Kong, London and Manchester, on the Hong Kong Central Station and Manchester Stadium, setting up Tonkin Liu with Mike Tonkin in 2002. Together they taught at the AA School of Architecture for four years, exploring studies of patterns in nature and in human nature, an area further explored with students at the University of Westminster and at universities in Japan and Taiwan.
Mike Tonkin is a qualified architect and landscape architect. He established his practice after graduating from RCA in 1989, founding Tonkin Liu with Anna Liu in 2002. Mike’s professional practice has been informed by a distinctive pursuit of formal lessons observed from the natural world, in addition to an understanding of vernacular architecture observed during extensive travels around the world. In the past 20 years, Mike has lectured on subjects of vernacular architecture, as well as nature-focused, place-specific design methodology for architectural innovation, at the AA, the Bartlett School of Architecture, the universities of Cambridge, Bath, the RCA and Westminster.
Citation
Liu, Anna and Tonkin, Mike (2024, March 1). The Water Tower, Castle Acre: Landmark, landscape, sculpture, home. In the Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation, Volume 12, Issue 4. https://doi.org/10.69554/SAJQ6769.
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