2008 Archive

Carpenter Oak & Woodland’s blogs on timber frames, building, design, architecture and timber craftsmanship.

Musings on Arts and Crafts

March 28, 2008 · Posted by Tim Burrell

I've been taking the time over the Easter holiday to do a bit of reading, and this time round it was about the Arts and Crafts movement. I love the whole ethos about this period - the teachings of John Ruskin and the architecture of Lethaby, Voysey, Webb and my particular favourite, Lutyens. (By the way, I never have understood why William Morris has become synonymous with Arts and Crafts, when probably best known for the output of Morris & Co - products mass manufactured in a factory, and anything but simple designs, but hey, what do I know?). The Arts and Crafts view that a building should be good, simple and honest, celebrating and being in harmony with nature, and built by skilled local craftspeople, is I guess why people are today attracted to building with heavy timber framed buildings. Many of their messages of environmental concern, open plan living, and celebrating the skills of our craftsmen are as true today as they were 100 years ago.

Does this, I wonder mean that this resurgence in oak framed building is heralding in a 21st Century Arts and Crafts renaissance? Well I hope not. In some quarters, oak framed buildings are seen as only very traditional - all close studded, and desperate to be painted black! - and we have been banging on for quite some time about how post and beam frames are infinitely flexible, not just as structures, but as the facilitators of every conceivable style of dwelling. It would be a shame to pigeon-hole our frames into just one style.

So, like the Arts and Crafts movement, let's not get into a design rut and insist on a certain style, but get imaginative, and celebrate the skill and craftsmanship that goes into our bespoke frames.

More blogs by Tim Burrell

Environmentally responsible building

March 03, 2008 · Posted by Tim Burrell

I've just been to the EcoBuild event at Earls Court London, where I was keen to hear of the latest thinking on Zero Carbon. A couple of things struck me.

The first, and I guess to me, the most obvious impression is that while new technologies, and new knowledge have come to the fore, it hasn't really made the route to eco building any clearer. I attended seminars where the speakers seemed to be ignoring some pretty major issues - eg concrete is good because it has high thermal mass (isn't this like saying that chocolate is a good food stuff because it's easy to carry round?!), and some speakers even seemed to be confused and contradicting themselves. What they all had in common was that they stated that this was a complex area. One speaker pointed out that while the sustainability debate had moved on from simply discussing low embodied energy to now including the importance of low energy in use as well, a whole raft of other factors such as social responsibility, damage to the wider environment, toxicity levels in the building etc had been ignored, when it's just not appropriate to do so.

My view, from attending this event, is that basically a number of vested interests have sought to make a case for their positive attributes while sweeping the negatives under the carpet (the case for concrete is a prime example). This means that if we take all we're told on face value, everything has eco credentials. From a small self builder to a specifier for a major project, at present, it's still all really unhelpful.

So here's my take. If we wanted to be ultimately environmentally responsible, we simply wouldn't build anything else, so perhaps we should just stop trying to fool ourselves and get more pragmatic here by using some simple rules:

Don't build larger than you need
Use materials that are sustainable, non toxic, have low embodied energy, and if possible from local sources. BIG HINT - USE TIMBER!!!
Design well, taking into account solar gain, proper detailing, and specify high levels of natural insulation.
Reduce your energy consumption by the use of heat exchangers, PVs, wind turbines, pellet stoves, or whatever suits your circumstances, if at all possible.

The above probably won't get you 'Zero Carbon' or Code 6, but will give you a healthy home that could with justifiably be called an environmentally responsible home. And that's far more useful than having everyone so confused by the conflicting messages that we all decide that it's too complicated and then end up doing nothing.

I'm not an expert, but as you'll probably know, it doesn't stop me giving my opinion!