Clearfell House is a collaboration between CSM’s MArch and Material Cultures. The project questions the impact of plantation woodlands on our landscape.
Demonstrator Project
In Unit 3 of the MArch course at Central St Martin’s we teamed up with Material Cultures and produced a new building for Dalby Forest. It acted as a teaching tool, a place of learning and a great construction demonstrator project.
Uses
The building will be used as a classroom for learning about our British woodlands, and the particular ecologies and biodiversity supported by Dalby Forest.
Dalby Forest
In order to conduct site research we ventured to Dalby forest in Yorkshire, England, for a class camping trip. Here we conducted multiple tests and methods of research such as soil sampling, team building exercises, and bridge building with natural components. We were also given tours, demonstrations and lectures by Forestry England in order to broaden our knowledge on the topic. Once back on campus in London, we were each assigned in teams of 3. My group were the A-Frame team: in charge of cutting the timer down to size, prepare the joints, prepare the drawings and later lift the prepared timber to the loading truck for it to be constructed back by the forest .
Clearfell House is designed using a material palette drawn from British forestry systems. The structural frame is made with Ash and Larch, species that are both compromised by climate change and the spread of disease. The lengths of the Ash and Larch boards are limited by what can be feasibly grown within British woodlands, necessitating a splice joint between the two types of timber. Each timber is employed differently – the Ash sits under the external envelope of the building, protected by the elements, whilst the more resilient Larch protrudes from and buttresses the frame. The timber for Clearfell House was generously donated by Vastern Timber.
The hands on preparation of building components commenced shortly after our camping trip. The preparation was conducted in Central St Martin’s workshop.
Fixings
Our team conducted various strands of research for the fixings. We prototyped 3 main methods, one being hand-made wooden screws, hand-made wooden dowels and large metal screws. The timber screws proved to be the strongest sustainable option, material cultures would have selected this option had they not taken too long to make. We also did not have the proper threading equipment to hand, we actually ended up making a treading tool to fit the dowel size we had on hand, which proved to be quite the task.
Cassettes
We, the A-Frame team, also took part in assisting the cassette team in putting together the wall and floor cassettes.
All drawings created using Revit and Illustrator. These drawings were used to clarify the various connection details for the construction of the frames as well as the amount of wood needed and exact sizes of the beams.
This A frame group work was created by myself, Amadeo Martini and Can Danisman.
STUDENTS INVOLVED: Antonio Abreu, Zahra Ghizlene Badaoui, Elise Blackmore Cameron Carrington, Chen Zhongyang, Can Danisman, Lucy Daw, Samuel Fraquelli, Leo Hui, Eleanor Johnson, Harry Kendall, Emilia Kepista, Irmak Kuzu, Emily Llumigusin, Amadeo Martini, Joy Matashi, Hannah Millett, Michael Parish, Dominica Piatek, Leyla Salih, Dilushanan Selvarajah, Sabina Shaybazyan, Rowan St John, Adam Stanford, Humzah Uzzaman and Elliot Wedge