Unique Circular Garden Rooms, modular school buildings and lodges - Handcrafted in the UK
On the right footing… foundation types for garden rooms
Have you been wondering about which type of foundation system might be right for you and your garden room? If so, you’re not alone; we’re asked on a daily basis about the wide array of options discussed with groundworks experts and we have several of the preferred types to highlight for you as a reference:
Solid Concrete Slab This is the preferred option for most Garden Room Suppliers and Groundworks Professionals alike, it’s quick to prepare, it’s the most solid foundation system available and is wonderful for the Garden room installers but the one downside is that this system is not very environmentally friendly. Concrete slab foundation systems are normally formed to the same external diameter of the garden room and a minimum of 100mm thick. A client of ours has just had her slab installed in advance of her Rotunda arriving and an example of it is shown below:
Average cost for a 4.5m diameter Garden Room £1,500 – £1,950 —————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Swift Plinth and Eco-Base Foundation System
This is a neat little system which supports the Rotunda on a dozen or so ‘feet’ which are small recycled concrete ‘pyramids’ sitting on top of plastic eco-grids which are 1m x 1m in size (which are set about 10cm down in the soil and packed with hardcore or gravel) at load-bearing intervals around the perimeter to support a timber sub-frame.
I think of this eco-grid system as the equivalent to the Eskimo tennis racket shoe used to avoid sinking down into snow! This means, less concrete, less digging, less time and more flexibility (ie: each footing has an adjustable bracket). The company which provides these also create the plastic grid system which you may have seen used as temporary car-parks in fields and rural areas. The footings themselves are a little expensive though and this system does require a timber sub-frame which would elevate your building up by another 20cm or so. This isn’t the cheapest option, but is probably the most time and energy efficient.
(Average cost for a 4.5m diameter Garden Room £1000 – £2500) —————————————————————————————————————————————————–
- Foundation Block Foundation System The most commonly used system we’ve encountered to date and it comes in at a lower cost than the above options but is more labour intensive and involves a lot of digging. Essentially, holes are dug-out to a depth of between 80cm and 1 metre at regular intervals (spaced out every 40cm to support floor joists) and then foundation blocks built up with cement and hardcore to provide solid ‘pillars’ which support the building. The blocks must protrude at least 10cm from the surface area of the ground to provide air-flow underneath the building.
(Average cost for a 4.5m diameter Garden Room £800 – £1400)
All of the foundation systems mentioned above should also utilise full membrane systems both above and below the footings, to protect the timber elements of the building resting on it and to prevent growth of vegetation coming up from below.
Of course, each and every foundation system available is hugely dependent on the site location, the soil type and gradient of the land. It’d be best to check with a local groundworks contractor before deciding on installing any type of building on you property and obtaining several quotes to ensure you get the best deal. If you’re ever in doubt, feel free to call us at Rotunda (0161) 222 3350 and one of our joiners will be able to assist over the phone or pop over and give you some advice as part of our non-obligation site-survey service!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Size Matters: Tiny Houses and why living smaller is better.
Over the last few decades we have been bombarded with slogans and messages informing us that ‘Bigger is Better’ and encouraged us to believe that happiness, success and even value are directly associated to size. This thinking is also applied to our homes. We often use the size of our abode as a physical representation of our success, and forget what our actual living requirements are, for example if you live alone and spend most of your time out of your house, do you really need those additional four bedrooms?
Thankfully more and more people are starting to break the mould and a large movement has formed supporting the creation and development of Tiny House Living, which encourages people to reassess their actual spacial needs. By drastically reducing the amount of house space available, people are being challenged to really consider the design of their environment; leading to some highly creative and very clever solutions being found.
There are also a number of other benefits of swapping your mansion for a small cabin house;
Easier Maintenance
A smaller house means smaller repairs and less general maintenance and upkeep. What’s more a number of tiny houses are constructed from timber, recycled materials, or natural building products which are much easier and cheaper to repair/replace.
Less Time Cleaning
Even an empty room can get messy and dirty! A smaller space means less time can be spent on keeping it clean.
Saves Money
A smaller house is cheaper to build, cheaper to buy, and cheaper to run! Insurance, utilities, and taxes are all much lower for smaller properties which leaves you with more of your hard earn wages to spend on enjoying yourself.
Less Debt
As mentioned above, a smaller home is much cheaper which also leads to smaller mortgages, or in some cases can be built without a requirement for a mortgage at all!
More Land
Even if you haven’t got acres and acres of land, the smaller the footprint of your house, the more land you’ll have around it. This opens up more opportunities for growing your own produce, keeping chickens or bees, or even just creating a beautiful outdoor space to enjoy.
Closer Family Bonds
Smaller spaces mean more interaction between family members and strengthen family bonds. Of course it’s still important for everyone to have their own space, but with some imagination and a little bit of smart planning, the possibilities for creating a unique area for each family member are endless.
Easier Resell
Affordable houses are always more attractive to the housing market than expensive ones. With so many people struggling to find the funds for homes, being able to offer a quirky, more affordable option makes it highly desirable.
In addition there are also huge environmental benefits as having a smaller footprint also means; less resources spent, smaller carbon footprint, and less impact on the environment. Combining the small house design with an eco build such as straw bale, timber framed, earth bag, or cob is an even more sustainable option.
Tiny Houses can be made from the most unlikely of things too; from shipping containers to pre-fabricated units, metal silos to traditional wooden gypsy caravans. And just because it’s small it doesn’t mean it has to be ugly or low quality, in fact being able to spend less on the building itself means you could have extra to really splash out on the interior.
A shift in perspective…… windows in a modular building
Noun | 1. | window – a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air |
Our clients are often surprised to discover that their modular building windows are made to order, handcrafted by a local joinery firm who excel at detailed bespoke joinery and create a stunning curved sill which mirrors the external curve of the building.
Each and every garden modular building which leaves our workshop has had the windows designed to be suit a particular view or purpose, sited at the appropriate distances from each other and a specific size to suit our clients vision for a building they’ll be spending a great deal of time in.
The importance of having this option cannot be underestimated. Building in the round brings the unique advantage of being able to ‘rotate’ your Rotunda and play with the position of the doors and the windows which is quite impossible with a rectilinear counterpart.
Most contemporary square or rectangular garden rooms boast a fully glazed frontage, either bi-fold, sliding doors; or UPVC casements. This is wonderful if your garden-building is sitting squarely in the rear of the garden with no view of particular interest anywhere other than the front but what if one were siting their garden room adjacent to a field, meadow or sea-view to the rear/side or even a full panoramic setting – must they exclude certain views because these happen to be at the ‘back’ of the building? Does the door always have to be at the front? How creative can one be with a rectangle? Let’s face it, a box will always be a box.
Fortunately, for us, this never presents a problem; you see, the round is like a clock-dial. A wonderful opportunity presents itself when we can move the hands to any direction we might choose, or even better have as many hands as we like, pointing in every direction. One of our clients aligned her Rotunda with the directions of the magnetic compass points to meet her feng shui objectives. We commissioned some beautiful little ‘north, south, east & west’ carvings and positioned these little plaques along the internal roof-line to represent compass points and indicate which direction one may be facing as they move around within the building. Another client has asked us to design a Rotunda with double glazed windows positioned all the way around the whole perimeter of the building. Most of our clients have a hedge or a fence they’d like to keep out of view so we position the windows to align with the view.
Not the view aligning with the windows!
“The Burrow” a 4.5m Rotunda modular building which you can see below (currently being constructed) has just three floor to ceiling windows positioned as a bay configuration next to the door. This is just a small example of how windows can make a massive impact. Your view, your building and ultimately it should be your ideals and your vision which can be interpreted, designed, created and installed to suit your needs…… perfectly.
Below is a list of standard UK window sizes… these are a great starting point when considering what size might suit your Rotunda modular building.
• Window heights are 450mm, 600mm, 750mm, 900mm, 1050mm, 1200mm, 1350mm and 1500mm (17¾in, 24in, 29½in, 35½in, 41¼in, 47¼in, 53⅛in and 59in).
• Window widths are 488mm, 630mm, 915mm, 1200mm and 1770mm (19¼in, 24¾in, 36in, 47¼in and 69¾in).
Essentially, our ‘standard’ windows which form part of the package for a Rotunda are 900mm high and 630mm wide with the option to upgrade to full height (1500mm high) but with the right amount of imagination, you can disregard these sizes and make your own size, to suit you, to suit your garden and to suit your activities within the building.
Call us now if you have any questions relating to your preferred modular building window configuration and we’ll be happy to chat through your designs!
ps. fear not, a UPVC window, will never (ever) find its way into a natural, timber-framed Rotunda modular building.
Until then, enjoy the sun & enjoy your garden!
Blogpost written by Gemma
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.
Natural vs. Affordable – What is the Value of Conscious Manufacturing?
Natural vs. Affordable
Someone asked me recently how we could make the Rotunda more affordable for the average consumer. A crucial question, and one which has been weighing heavily on my mind for quite some time. It drove me to sit down and analyse the materials within buildings in terms of cost and how we might reduce this.
Frustratingly enough, all of the natural elements which I personally really care about are the ones which cost us the most. Hemp insulation is a big one, as are the hand-crafted Douglas Fir doors and windows, not to mention the Zero Formaldehyde Ecologique MDF & PLY components.
A friend told me yesterday that ‘Rowland Homes’ in Leyland were giving a talk to a school group on one of their building sites yesterday; a demonstration on ‘How to build a house’. Core components? You guessed it, Breeze Blocks, Polystyrene Insulation and Bricks. My blood ran cold. That’s how they build a house, driven purely by profit margins and fast build times – but to what cost? The scientific community are already aware that both formaldehyde and polystyrene are toxic to human health and are known carcinogens. And that’s just in the building, what about the manufacturing process? What about the disposal and degeneration of these materials in the landfill sites and waterways? And let’s not even talk about the embodied energy of the bricks they use and the amount of carbon released to produce them. Given that we now live in a time where the natural environment should be the primary focus of our attention (especially within education) it’s questionable that this talk is of much benefit to the next generation (who almost certainly will be suffering the consequences of such blatant disregard for the environment for the sake of profits).
Only this morning, Radio 4 were discussing the findings of the MacMillan Cancer Trust that by 2020 50% of us will have or will have experienced cancer in our lifetimes.
This only serves to harden my resolve. Yes, of course I want my business to be successful, but do I really have to utilise cheap and hazardous materials in order to be competitive in the marketplace? Or do I stand firm and stay true to my values? Where does the “value” lie exactly?
If we talk of the detrimental cost to the natural environment and our health then I’d say that it’s costing us greatly to keep things cheap.
Who’s picking up the tab here for cheap buildings? If it’s not you, the consumer, and it’s certainly not the manufacturer then who’s paying supporting that deficit? It’s the soil, it’s the local wildlife, it’s the ocean-life with the seas filled to the brim of disintegrating plastics (which is ending up in our food chain, incidentally) and it’s the waterways and our landfill sites.
The “value” then, of using natural materials is of great importance and it reduces the “cost” to our health and the natural world.
So then, this poses the question, which to we value more? Are we actually perceiving cost accurately? Furthermore, are we, as consumers (and indeed, manufacturers) truly weighing up the costs of our profit margins or underestimating the value of what matters most – our planet?
Blogpost written by Gemma Roe.
The Ergonomics of a Garden Office
er·go·nom·ics
Noun: The study of efficiency in working environments.
Let me fix my beady little eyes on you for a moment and ask the all important question… “What is a Garden Office?”
…A building at the bottom of the garden, you say? An insulated shed? (Hmm… another try perhaps…) some of you might like to think of a garden office as a high-spec modular building, the ultra modern alternative to a home extension…? Close… An eco-pod…? Well, yes; I suppose all of the above are true, because the simplest way to define it is a room or building being used as a place of work, in the garden. A garden office could be just about anything, old potting shed, an uber-modern prefab or a 30ft greenhouse (incidentally, there are some garden offices which do bear a striking resemblance a greenhouse if you’re looking for that kind of thing). With the wide array of Garden Offices available in the UK at the moment, the choice and varying specifications are staggering (granted, we’re one of the more unusual ones). So, what do you look for? What makes it appropriate for work? How can one vary so much from another? Surely they’re all meant to do the same thing, right? Not necessarily.
Any space where you will spend most of your working day or will spend your time doing those things that you plan on using your garden office for (a craft room, art studio, music studio, secluded hideaway…) must therefore be designed for that purpose. I remember installing a beautiful O-Pod in Kent for an artist who wanted a minimalist space and was absolutely thrilled with the natural daylight which flooded in through the roof-light dome, the sparse unfurnished whitewashed walls and simple engineered oak floor which gave him the perfect minimalist studio. The following week however, we designed and installed little 3m diameter classroom for a local primary school and fitted it with brightly painted floor to ceiling bookcases, low level desks, bright green 2ft high frog-themed chairs and high-level shelving which ran around most of the perimeter of the room. It was jam packed with toys and learning equipment, and it was designed to be used in this way.
One thing to consider when purchasing a garden office or outdoor home office is how you will furnish it, if the garden building manufacturer provides this service and what does it need to do to bring out your most productive side? From experience, I’ve worked in a circular garden office for several years and the energy in the space is nothing short of invigorating. It’s bizarre how busy and uplifted one can feel in a space with no corners. But don’t just take my word for it, pushing my esoteric claims aside for a moment, there IS a certain logic to using a circular garden office; let me explain why:
With a Curved Wall comes a Curved Desk
I remember reading an article by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen several years ago passionately divulging the infinite benefits of the ‘Radial Kitchen’ which held me in rapture. Such an odd concept, who’d have thought of a round kitchen…? But, it makes sense! Once you remove the corners and design your kitchen to a perfect circle, you have an astonishingly functional environment which curves around you like a flight-deck. Nothing is out of reach but nothing gets in your way. Deep cupboards make up the lost space where the corners once were and the flow around such an environment is just ideal. So incredibly functional. The same goes for a working office environment. A curved desk, along with curved shelves running above and alongside makes much more sense, ergonomically. You’re just one swivel chair away from perfect productivity!
Optimum Levels of Natural Daylight
Back in the Victorian era there were several Round Houses built in England as domestic homes for wealthy landowners who were caught up in a superstitious belief that the ‘devil could hide in corners’. As amusing as this might seem to us nowadays, there is a definite advantage to eliminating those dark shadowy corners and building in the round. Light, bright, airy spacious curves! The light simply bounces off the walls. We’ve found that with the addition of a double glazed roof-light dome in the centre of the ceiling, the natural daylight floods the room even when it’s in a shady position. This makes a circular space ideal for any creative pursuits, and will certainly save you needing to flick that light-switch on the way in to the garden office. You’ll find that as long as it’s daylight, the room will be light and airy. It’s something called ‘Solar Gain’ and my goodness, it works.
Excellent Acoustics
Whether this is due to the fact that there are no seams and/or corners which can allow for noise to leak from, or just that sound reverberates particularly well in a circular space, a round building promotes excellent acoustics and our little Rotundas are practically soundproof. We’ve tested it on several occasions, albeit not the most scientific of processes with one person jumping up and down like a crazed chimpanzee and shouting at the top of their lungs whilst several of us stand outside the door straining to hear them, but, I’m sure this goes part-way to explaining how we’ve come to this conclusion. Nevertheless, if you’ve got important conference calls which you need to make and you don’t want to be disturbed by your children playing in the garden or a Boeing 747 flying overhead, this might be something which could actually enhance your productivity.
Airflow and Energy Saving
Ok, a little more technical than the previous points but one of the most important! The ‘thermal dynamics’ in a round garden room means that the air circulates naturally and the heat is retained in the building as it rotates slowly. In essence, the warm air gently rises in the room and hits the cool surface of the roof-light dome in the centre. This then cools the air and it slowly drops down again in the middle of the space only to then circulate upwards again and it repeats this invisible merry dance, naturally. Providing you with a warm and airy environment which of course, can only provide you (and your pot-plants) with the most optimal productive garden office environment!
Fewer Chemicals in Construction
Worryingly unbeknownst to the majority of us, there are plenty of hidden ‘nasties’ out there in the modern built environment such as Polystyrene, Polyurethane, formaldehyde and other chemicals, plastics and resins which are known carcinogens. Sick building syndrome is a poorly understood phenomenon where people have a range of symptoms related to a certain building, most often a workplace, and it’s believed to be down to some of the toxins we’re breathing in though the walls, paint finishes and compounds released by everyday building materials. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the air inside your home is 2 to 5 times more polluted than the outdoors and this could also be the case with a new outdoor studio or garden office. In Australia, researchers watched what happened when a small law firm moved from their normal office building into a 5 Green Star-rated space. They found that sick leave was reduced by 39%, typing speed and accuracy improved by 9% and the lawyers’ billable hours increased by 7%. Workers also self-reported fewer headaches and eye soreness. Perhaps then, it’s worth noting which chemicals are being used inside the cavity of the garden offices that might have caught your eye? If it’s a petrochemical based polystyrene or polyurethane it might be wise to ask for a natural alternative. After all, an eco-pod or eco garden office filled with carcinogens but acclaimed for it’s aesthetics and air-tightness might be akin to smoking being hailed as ‘healthy’ in the 1920’s. We’ve still got a long way to go!
All in all, if you’re looking for a productive working environment, it’s the little things that we might overlook which could end up making all the difference. Natural Daylight, great air quality, high-performance (natural) insulation, great acoustics and curved furniture might be those little (but big) details which could make your work day in a garden office the most productive you could possibly imagine.
Blogpost written by Gemma Roe.
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