Unique Circular Garden Rooms, modular school buildings and lodges - Handcrafted in the UK
One definite perk of investing in a Rotunda Garden Room is that you have the opportunity to create your own unique space from the moment that you start engaging in conversation with us! The creative process behind each and every Rotunda is unique and this is one of the elements our clients most enjoy about the sales process. Not only do we sit down and plan each and every detail around you and your garden (position of the light switches and electrical sockets/window position/door opening/layout…etc!) but your paint finish is customised too! If you love a particular colour shade in your house, we’ll match it! If you have a painting which inspires you, we’ll pick a colour from it! A completely unique and creative customer journey which we doubt you’d find with any other garden room manufacturer. Interestingly, no two people are ever the same and as a direct consequence each Rotunda is completely unique! A couple of weeks ago we built & installed a Rotunda internally finished in a deep soulful red; this week we’re off to Hertfordshire with a blue Rotunda! (Interior, of course!) Other colours coming up on the Summer installations spectrum range from a dusky green to a bright daffodil yellow! What does the colour you choose say about you and the space you’re creating? It’s fascinating to think that the colour we surround ourselves in gives off a different vibrational frequency and affects our mood and activity within our garden building. Here are a few guidelines on colour and how it affects our psychology! (Information extracted from http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours)
RED. Physical Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, ‘fight or flight’, stimulation, masculinity, excitement. Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain. Being the longest wavelength, red is a powerful colour. Although not technically the most visible, it has the property of appearing to be nearer than it is and therefore it grabs our attention first. Hence its effectiveness in traffic lights the world over. Its effect is physical; it stimulates us and raises the pulse rate, giving the impression that time is passing faster than it is.
BLUE. Intellectual. Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm. Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness. Blue is the colour of the mind and is essentially soothing; it affects us mentally, rather than the physical reaction we have to red. Strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication.
YELLOW. Emotional Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity. Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety. The yellow wavelength is relatively long and essentially stimulating. In this case the stimulus is emotional, therefore yellow is the strongest colour, psychologically. The right yellow will lift our spirits and our self-esteem; it is the colour of confidence and optimism.
GREEN. Balance Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace. Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation. Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful. Being in the centre of the spectrum, it is the colour of balance – a more important concept than many people realise. When the world about us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water, and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green, on a primitive level.
VIOLET. Spiritual Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality. Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority. The shortest wavelength is violet, often described as purple. It takes awareness to a higher level of thought, even into the realms of spiritual values. It is highly introvertive and encourages deep contemplation, or meditation.
ORANGE. Dynamic. Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun. Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity. Since it is a combination of red and yellow, orange is stimulating and reaction to it is a combination of the physical and the emotional. It focuses our minds on issues of physical comfort – food, warmth, shelter etc. – and sensuality. It is a ‘fun’ colour.
It’s a worth having a think about the type of experience you’re looking for when you’re looking through the colour chart and envisioning spending time in your Rotunda – i.e. green = relaxing garden room, blue = garden-office or studio, red = music room, violet = meditation/yoga room! Just another little thing to get excited about!
The history of the Yurt
The Mongolian yurt, or ger, is a round, self-supporting structure. The word Yurt is Russian for ‘Dwelling’. It is a nomadic shelter lived in for thousands of years by tribes from the near East and Central Asia. It does not rely on ropes or stakes to hold itself up; rather, the walls, rafters, roof ring, and tensioning bands all work against each other to keep the structure standing. Because the rafters bear the weight of the roof ring, no centre pole is necessary unless the yurt is very large. The Mongols would build their cooking fires in the centre of their yurts, opening a smoke hole for the purpose.
Yurt: (ger) Ancient Nomadic Shelter. Nomadic people viewed their shelters as a sacred spaces, and within all cultures the circle remains the symbol of unity, representing the wholeness of all things and our interconnectedness with nature.
Even though the original design of the Yurt goes back over 2,500 years, the basic construction of a yurt remains the same: a portable dwelling consisting of a folding lattice wall, with radial roof beams all leading to a central circular ‘crown’ or dome. As a self- supporting system, the design is so simple yet can provide a magical form of shelter for nomadic communities and, most recently, tourists all over the globe seeking an authentic and connected experience.
The beauty of the yurt is of course the simplicity of it’s shape, the round, of which we are so passionate; symbolises unity with nature and with eachother.
Those of us, the hardened yurt-enthusiasts love not only the simplicity of the structure itself but everything that it represents. The history of our ancient people and the symbolism of the circle itself.
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This photo courtesy of http://www.ernak-horde.com/ shows a Mongolian wooden ger (yurt). Common now in North America and Canada, wooden yurts are gradually repacing the canvas structure as a more permanent dwelling.
For those interested in reading more about the spiritual and anthropological significance of this humble structure in human history, there is a beautifully illustrated and passionate article written by Candace Rose Radon which must absolutely be your first port of call; link here:
The history of the Yurt is a deep and engrossing subject which has consumed the time and thoughts of many writers and historians. A fascinating book on this subject is:
Simple Shelters: Tents, Tipis, Yurts, Domes and Other Ancient Homes” by Jonathan Horning
Further sources on nomad tents – courtesy of Ernak-Horde | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The best source of information about any type of steppe nomad tent is Felt Tents and Pavilions: The Nomadic Tradition and its Interaction with Princely Tentage by Dr. Peter Andrews. This book discusses the variety and design of tents and carts that were used throughout steppe nomad history. The book also discusses how the camps were set up, organized and even some of the titles of camp officers and their duties. Here is a link to Dr. Andrew’s web site where you can find his publications and his curriculum vitae (qualifications, education, field work experience, research positions, etc.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.andrewspeter.info/index.html | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Below is a link to a review of his book. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.andrewspeter.info/files/Allsen.pdf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here is a link to an interesting article on tents in the Mongol Empire by Caroline Stone, who is the senior researcher of the “Civilizations in Contact” project for the University of Cambridge. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
A few more books of interest:Circle Houses: Yurts, Tipis, and Benders by David Pearson Mongolian Cloud Houses by Dan Frank Kuehn Caravans to Tatary by Roland Michaud Tents: Architecture of the Nomads by Torvald Faegre |
Living in Yurts – the very first Prefabricated Houses
Living in Yurts – the very first Prefabricated Houses
Recently I’ve been chatting with friends who live in a ‘yurt’ about my desire to make the transition myself and naturally I find myself drawing comparisons to our lovely Rotundas – weighing up the pros and cons of a simply canvas cylinder or a timber framed circular dwelling.
Our British climate mightn’t be particularly well suited to perpetual canvas living but a few hardy folk do indeed live in yurts through all seasons and are seemingly very happy. Since my very first introduction to circular buildings several years ago (and my ongoing passion for living, working and relaxing in the round) I’ve been fascinated by the history and the flexibility of the yurt. For those of you who aren’t overly familiar with the yurt, it’s a Mongolian structure (Genghis Khan and his horde used them) built primarily from latticed wood (to produce the cylindrical wall system) held together by a wooden band with a roof which is formed by long poles which extend from the top of the walls to arrive at a central point called the “crown” (which is a small circular opening, traditionally was used as a smoke hole) which provides both natural daylight and a beautiful focal point. The Yurt was born into existence by nomadic tribes who needed a house that could be easily constructed and moved, built with materials they had on hand (wool and wood) which was lightweight enough to be carried by a couple of horses and would be comfortable enough to withstand the winters but provide a cool retreat in the summer.
Estimated to have been created about 2,500 years ago, this central Asian design is still being used today as living spaces and quirky holiday retreats for the people all over the UK and I can see why.
An Eco-friendly round living space has enormous appeal for many of us and maximises the greatest use of floor area, is a natural and unobtrusive structure with minimal impact to the surrounding landscape and ground it’s sited on, they’re quick to erect and dismantle and they are warm and cosy when the fire is lit. The downsides, as far as I can see are that the yurt itself, being a central Asian design, isn’t particularly in-keeping with the British Countryside; there are very few (if any) windows and those that do are invariably old UPVC units from a brick-built domestic house, there are no electrics (so, no hair-dryer ladies I’m afraid) nor is there insulation and they need quite a bit of maintenance such as re-waterproofing the canvas and tightening the ropes. In fact, most UK holiday sites are required to take their Yurts down during the winter period which only really brings them revenue during the summer months.
Although I have a strong attraction to the traditional yurt I do firmly believe that after 2,500 years the yurt is due for a significant upgrade. Whilst in the process of looking for some land so my family and I can live off-grid and in greater harmony with nature, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Rotunda is in fact the modern (and upgraded) equivalent to the Mongolian Yurt, and it’s not a moment too soon. Our current civilisation (although many of us keen for a more sustainable living arrangement) has a requirement for a supply of electricity for modern day appliances and would expect to have a structure which mightn’t need to be removed and reassembled numerous times as the Mongol travellers did. Our climate can be bitterly cold in the winter months and thus, it would be advantageous to have a fully insulated building which would retain the heat and not lose it all though a single layer of canvas. Most notably, the Rotunda is a timber-clad building making the most of the British Larch which we source locally. A design which is more in-keeping with the British countryside but is also reminiscent of Swedish log cabins, traditional barns and lodges which provide more stability, durability and the option of modern day appliances and in-house entertainment (which could of course be powered by alternative energy sources)
So, thank you Yurt for the beauty and joy which you’ve provided for 2,500 years but personally I’d place my bets on the new equivalent which is much more suited to our climate, addresses our need to conserve energy and provides a more long-term living arrangement.
Yurt, my friend, you have evolved.
Blogpost written by Gemma Roe.
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