Reciprocal Roundhouse, Hawkwood College
An eight meter reciprocal roundhouse to be used as sheltered fire pit and kitchen as part of the Outdoor Classroom setup for Hawkwood College Community Space. The atrium is a glazed above a green roof. The Roundwood Timber Frame is all made from local Larch. Thanks to to everyone on February Build Camp who put up with biblical weather to get the framework for this building up. The space is available free to the local community for charitable or not for profit events.
Cruck frame, Ben Law's House
One of the nation’s favorite Grand Designs episodes. Adrian worked with Ben on the Woodland House for about six months in 2002. Cruck frame buildings with a shingle roof have become very popular as a result. The walls can be timber-clad, hempcrete, or lime-plastered straw bale. This is still a must see episode if you've not see it do.
Kevin McCloud's, 'Man Made Home'
In December 2011, Channel 4 asked Adrian to project-manage Kevin McCloud’s build. The resulting TV show, ‘Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home’, is a four part series for Channel 4. The temporary nature of a building on wheels can in some situations make planning statues a lot simpler. The timber frame is made from Oak and Douglas Fir with hand made Oak shingles. Kevin McCloud collaborated with us during the design process and his passion for design and ecological principals made this an easy partnership. Construction notes for the self-builder can be seen on our blog.
Fully insulated roundhouse, Organiclea
A new teaching space for Organiclea Workers Coop in the woodland glade. Fully insulated with thermafleece and triple glazed. The building will have a sedum roof, internal compost loo, electrics and disabled access. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch. A real joy to support the amazing outreach projects that flourish here. If you live in london and are interested in growing food this is the place to learn, or to buy your veg from. An incredible fifty people came to learn whilst helping to build this structure during Build Camp. We are now in the final stages. Thank you everyone.
Outdoor Classroom, Farms For City Children
Wholewoods started developing the outdoor teaching buildings at Farms For City Children in summer 2016. The big roundhouse is used by children from city schools to learn about nature, farming and story telling. This design features our signature 'Oakey Cokey' reciprocal ring beam. The walls are in filled using a variety of different techniques; cordwood, wattle and dauble, and rendered straw. The eye hole is left open with a shingle cladding. The green roof is looking good. We left it to wild seed which is an on-going experiment. The floor is of pitched bricks in concentric circles. The Roundwood timber frame is made from Larch. This charity is offering amazing experiences for urban children, please support them if you can. Thank you to everyone who joined Build Camp to make this happen.
Craft Barn, Hawkwood College
The new Outdoor classroom at Hawkwood College, Stroud. A longhouse design featuring an incredible 7mtr natural arch which was hand hewn. Also a double helix carved center pole. This building is to be available free to the local community for charitable or not for profit events. The building is set on the foot print of a medieval cow byre with a cobbled stone floor. This was a real challenge slopping in two directions. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch and Sweat Chestnut and the cladding is Redwood. Thanks again to the Build Camp team we had a real blast building this. Phase2 outdoor kitchen, compost loo & sheltered fire roundhouse is now under way.
Cruck Frame Bothy (in-progress)
Brown wood, timber framed bothy/sauna constructed around a crack frame which will have a shingle roof and be fully insulated.
Cleft Oak and Chestnut Bridge
Crossing the moat at Farms For City Children our bridge is a sculptural journey in timber. Each upright is carved by a different trainee and all the hand rails are hand carved to follow the natural form. An oak plank walk way sits on a solid oak-trunk beam. All the uprights and rails are cleft chestnut.
Compost loo, Hawkwood College
A two chamber compost loo. Built around a Roundwood Cruck Frame. A Sweat Chestnut timber frame with hand hewn larch beams. The roofing material is a lightweigh onduline.
Roundwood framed barn.
This is the new Bug Barn. The building has an invertebrate roof. This pioneering idea is the next step on from green roofs. A super charged green/brown roof which is a cross between a wildflower meadow, a deserted brownfield site and a wildlife garden. Different habits mixed up for local invertebrates, a sort of intelligent chaos.
Farm Shop, Spitalfields City Farm
Our roundwood cruck frame building at Spitalfields is the farms new shop. Spitalfields City Farm is an amazing oasis for the community near the centre of London and the staff are also doing vital out reach work with schools in the area. We erected the frames and cut in the additional components on-site. Shingles for the roof have been made on-site by volunteers and corporate groups. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch.
Agricultural Barn
We build large pole barns for agricultural or educational use. An attractive, natural and craftsman made space as an alternative to the ubiquitous steel frame barn. We built this barn using large dimension Larch and Chestnut trees used in the round. Unlike the conventional pole barn we sit the posts on pad stones rather burying them in the ground which means the posts won’t rot. The frames of this barn is shingles but our other pole barns can support mono-pitch roofs. Our pole barns can be timber clad and have the option of a tin or shingle roof. If you’d like to talk to us about building a Pole Barn get in touch.
Forest School Roundhouse, Brixham
We built this roundhouse as an outdoor classroom for the school's forest school sessions. They keep the sides open to the elements and for natural light. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch.
Forest School Roundhouse, Queens Forest School
Our open sided, 'soft top' roundhouse is used as an outdoor classroom for forest school lessons. We took classes of children to help with this project during design and technology sessions. This process really helped all the teachers and pupils take ownership of the space whilst being a great one off opportunity for all. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Sweat Chestnut and Lawsons Cyprus.
Studio, London
Our first turf roof building. A wattle and daub walled artists studio in a back garden in North London. The walls are lime rendered clay plaster. The floor is a polished natural clay. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Sweat Chestnut.
Toilet and Shower Roundhouse
A twin toilet and shower facility at the outdoor learning area of Farms For City Children. We fitted this building with a circular timber clad wall, and a skylight. This design features a fan shaped reciprocal roof which could also be turf rather than tin. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch. The building has three doors is divided into two separate toilets rooms and one central shower under the skylight.
Insulated Roundhouse, London Wildlife Trust
The new outdoor teaching space at Westberry Wetlands site in London. We built this roundhouse for London Wildlife Trust using timber sourced from one of their local sites. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Sweat Chestnut. During the project we trained volunteers and staff who assisted on the build. This building has since won a design award. A fabulous nature reserve and real oasis for people in north London.
Pizza Oven, Farms For City Children
Project awaiting further funding - A roundwood Cruck Framed pizza oven with clay tile roof. The Roundwood Timber Frame is primarily Sweat Chestnut and features hand carved king pins.
Green roofed, shingle sided bike shed
A splash of green adding colour and nature to the street. This smallest of our constructions is a green framed shed clad in larch boards and sided with hand cleft oak shingles. We are currently experimenting with different crops on the roof.
Community Home, Devon. Hogan
We built this traditional Hogan roundhouse as a small off grid, low-impact home. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch.
Yoga Studio Roundhouse, Cornwall
We built this roundhouse as a frame only and the clients then completed the rest of the build. The space is used for retreats and yoga on a rural small holding in South Cornwall. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Sweat Chestnut.
Map Room, Wales
This interesting turf roof structure is used as a map room and rain shelter at the public foot path entrance point to a private woods in Wales. We built this structure during a natural building event. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Douglas Fir.
Bothy, Highlands
This is a re-creation of a period croft dwelling in the black house style. It is build on the footings of an old croft and is now a bothy. The Roundwood Timber Frame is made from Larch.
Scrapwood Roundhouse, The Woodyard
Project in progress. A scrap heap challenge roundhouse. This building is build entirely from scrap, unwanted or abandoned materials. Larch roundwood timber frame, scrap slab wood roof with reclaimed onduline sheeting. The top lantern is reused weather boarding with scrap rubber coat awaiting shingling.
Community Furniture Building Project
Chunky bold furniture project build with local volunteers for a public wildlife garden in Stroud. Organised by SVP and taught by Wholewoods. These have be very popular and we've installed three at different sites around Stroud. The bench is made of milled oak.
Community carving project
A group carving project for public community space in Stroud. Organised by SVP and taught by Wholewoods working with local volunteers. Carved in Welingtonia and planted in the sensory garden at Stratford Park
Welingtonia feasting table - the Woodyard
A 3mtr rustic table for the Woodyard. A protoype with Lawson's cypress slab wood legs and bench
Design & Build Course, Bath University
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Annual design and build project at Westonbirt Arboretum. An annual five day project for 3rd and 4th year Architecture students. We help the students work through the design process and finally guide the actual build. All the wood used is harvested at the arboretum. Over the years Wholewoods have run many educational sessions on natural building for organisations and local groups, including: Oxford Brookes University; Falmouth University; The Green Building Council; BTCV; Eon; London College of Communication; Wateraid; Peter Bedford Housing Association and various City Farms.