A – Structure

The approved documentsThese are a part of the Building RegulationsThese are the legal regulations which govern how a house is constructed. (not to be confused with Planning Permission which is about whether you are allowed to build the house at all or what it might look like) see Building Regulations) which ensure, if you [...]

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 [...]

Insulation and wall thickness

With increasing levels of insulation, the total thickness of a wall becomes an issue in relation to land values, especially in densely built urban areas where space is restricted. The total footprint of the external walls of a house can easily be around 15 – 20% of the ground floor area and this becomes significant.

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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 [...]

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 [...]

Rowangarth

October ’09

Jim and Jo Monahan are nearing completion of their passive solar house in Spinningdale, Sutherland. This is a timber frame house which utilizes roundwood for many of the structural members. This is a way of using timber at its maximum strength because it is not cut across the grain. The timber framing [...]

McIver House

Evanton, October 2009

This passive solar, larch clad timber frame house has recently been completed. It is highly glazed on the south elevation and has a concrete floor slab for thermal massthis is about how much heat something can absorb – so it involves its specific heat capacity and its volume. It can be [...]

Kirk Park

Aberfeldy, October 2009

This is a timber frame house of 76 sq,m. built in 2001. In terms of heating it benefits from its 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] [...]

Kashentroch, Banchory

October ’09

Home of Alexander and Vinny Burnett, Kashentroch is an elegant and spacious open plan timber frame house in a beautiful setting close to the Dee. The original part of the house (with the pitched roof on the right of the picture), built about 5 years ago, has recently had an addition of [...]

Houses by Ecos

ECOS, (formerly known as the Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development) is a charity which has been behind several green house building initiatives. Although not self-build, their houses are excellent examples of what is possible and are open to viewing on certain occasions. At present there are two schemes which are complete or nearing completion and [...]

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 [...]

SIPs

Structural insulated panels have been around for decades but have only recently achieved the interest they deserve. They are large factory made panels including walls floors and roofs and are fixed together on site. A lot of the kit houses in the UK are based on SIPs.

Several factors distinguish them from traditional building [...]

Walls

The main types of walls

Regardless of the type of wall construction, all walls have certain functions to fulfil and certain challenges to contend with. From a green perspective, three of the most important aspects of walls are their insulation values, the embodied energythe total amount of energy it takes to make a material [...]

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 [...]