Timber frame

overview

‘Timber frame’ has several meanings:

Platform frame where walls are assembled on site into storey[for the purposes of part B (fire) of the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations] this means a. any gallery[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – A raised area or platform around the sides or [...]

Lammas eco village

summer 2011

The Lammas project at Tir y Gafel, Glandwr, Pembrokeshire, is Wales’ first collective initiative based on what is now the (TAN)6 national planning guidance for sustainable rural communities. (One Planet Development).

Planning permissionthe legal basis for being allowed to do some form of development such as building a house. (not to be [...]

Larch and Lime passivhauses

Larch house entrance

Although not self built, the two passivhauses at Ebbw Vale may be very relevant to many self builders. Built in 2010 as show houses mainly for the attention of housing associations, they are attractive and innovative while being relatively modest. The 3 bed Larch House is clad with a locally sourced [...]

Van Midden House

The Van Midden house is at the Lembas Organics farm at the Bridge of Muchalls, Stonehaven. It is a very low energy house due to high levels of insulation and the use of timber I beamsprefabricated timber beams with a web of OSBOriented Strand Board and softwood flanges. They are very light, efficient and [...]

‘Under the Sun’, Birmingham

Bringing existing houses up to a high standard of energy efficiency is a much greater challenge than with new ones.

This particular example of eco renovation is outstanding because of the way it will achieve a net zero carbon rating while at the same time reaching CSH Code for Sustainable Homes. A standard for [...]

Tressour Wood

This timber post and beamSubstantial, usually horizontal structural member. house in Aberfeldy pioneered “breathing construction” in the UK.

Designed by Gaia Architects and built in 1992 this well insulated passive solar house also has a wood burning stove and stack effect cooling for summer. The building materials used were chosen for being non-toxic [...]

The Tree House

The Tree House in Clapham, London is a recently completed and very elegant example of a self built detached house. It has, on occasion, been open to the public as part of the London Open House programme. Situated on a small urban plot of land dominated by a large sycamore tree it has [...]

Passivhaus at Denby Dale

the front of the house with double storey[for the purposes of part B (fire) of the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations] this means a. any gallery[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – A raised area or platform around the sides or at the back of a room which provides [...]

Parramatta

This 122 m² passive solar house in Montrose was the winner of the Angus Design Award 2006. It is a post and beamSubstantial, usually horizontal structural member. structure of Douglas fir and has larch cladding with breathing walla bit of a misnomer. A better term is ‘vapour open’ because it is not air [...]

Orkney straw bale

October 2009

Set on a windswept hillside overlooking Scapa Flow is what is probably the UK’s most northerly straw bale house. At the stage of being wind and weather tight but not yet plastered internally, this is an example of a building with very low embodied energythe total amount of energy it takes [...]

Timber

January ’13

Advantages of timber

Constructing with FSCForest Stewardship Council (who accredit timber) timber (or another accreditation organisation such as PEFCProgramme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. See their web site) is potentially one of the greenest ways of building for several reasons.

Timber itself captures and locks up CO² as it grows and keeps [...]

Joinery / fixed furniture

sourcing timber

Sourcing sustainably produced timber and manufactured timber building products requires checking the following -

Was the timber sustainably grown? How far has it travelled? Does it contain chemicals such as adhesives or timber treatment?

The FSCForest Stewardship Council (who accredit timber) Woodmark or the PEFCProgramme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. [...]

Decorating

There is a line of thought that says that if beautiful basic building materials are used sensitively and creatively then there is less need for decoration, in the same way you would probably not want to paint over stylish tiles or a hardwood floor. The paint stripping industry is witness to this. This is all [...]

Designing with timber

timber house in the Field of Dreams, Findhorn FoundationThe Findhorn Foundation is a large community near Inverness. There is a strong emphasis on sustainable building and living.

See some of the wealth of interesting UK timber designs here.

advantages and drawbacks

Timber can provide some of the greenest solutions to house building for several [...]

Cohousing

Lilac nearing completion, April 2013

 

One of the most recent cohousing schemes to get off the ground is LILAC in Leeds. They are committed to ecologically sound building and have an interesting ownership structure,

See the comment below from Martin about a possible new scheme in the Wye Valley

The Lancaster Cohousing, [...]

Green Design

October 2011

Background

If you are thinking of building a green building then it pays to be aware of where this whole process is going

Eco-house design is a fairly recent development which started getting off the ground in the UK during the mid 1990s.

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Although you will probably end up using [...]

Window design

There are many purposes a window can serve and several of these have important ecological considerations:

Letting light in Collecting solar heat Providing a view Acting as a door The visual character of a house

Windows may have associated drawbacks to consider:

They may let in too much light at certain times Too [...]

Healthy buildings

The concept of ‘sick building syndrome’ has now moved from speculation into widespread acceptance with several well designed studies showing how people can react badly towards certain aspects of poorly designed buildings. This subject has several partly overlapping areas

air quality problems associated with dampness microbe allergens poor ventilation chemical pollution pollution from [...]