What are the advantages of round buildings?
For those of you new to this style of building, here are the core benefits of building in the round:
(a) environmental
(b) aesthetic
(c) psychological
(a) From an environmental perspective; round buildings reduce the amount of resources required due to the the simple fact that a circle encloses the largest area for a given amount of perimeter, reducing the amount of material needed (circa 30%).
Given that the planet is being depleted of resources (most notably timber which is the second most highly traded commodity, second only to oil) at an astonishing rate, felling trees to build corners for the sake of it seems illogical to us. This, in turn also makes it the most energy efficient form we could design given that the external surface area of round buildings is greatly reduced. Furthermore, the interior of round buildings boasts fantastic thermal dynamics. (Warm air rotates upwards and drops down in a central column beneath the cool roof light dome independently circulating and maintaining it’s temperature).
b)Aesthetically, curves and circles are a central and distinguishing feature of the natural world and circular buildings are incredibly fitting in a rural or forest environment. Round buildings are in prefect alignment with the current trends of the rural leisure and tourism industry, and satisfies the current demand for more integrated and natural structures which echo the sentiments of luxury glamping sites and holistic enterprises.
The interior of a Round building is spellbinding; the naturally oiled British timber-beams which frame the ceiling panels ascend up at a 20 degree pitch to a 1m wide double-glazed circular roof-light dome which is just not achievable with a rectilinear building. The building is perpetually flooded with natural light which is a distinguishing feature of the Rotunda.
(c) On a psychological level, the circular space is hard wired into our DNA since our ancient ancestors commonly resided in round buildings. As a social or workshop space the circular form is ideal for group work and the gathering of people. Environmental psychologists have been writing papers for decades about the effect of our immediate environment on our well being and we have come to recognise that a Roundhouse is a supportive cognitive environment which seems to connect people to each other and inadvertently, to the roots of our civilisation.
Are you like us? Do you worry about the environment, do you wish to solve a problem, connect people together or do you work as a healer?
As we see it; the box serves as a metaphor for our contemporary society with all of its flaws (resource depletion, separateness and over-commercialisation) whereas the organic and humble form of round buildings reflects upon the early days of humanity and hunter-gatherer communities. Living at a point in time when we are fighting to reverse the damage already inflicted on our planet through deforestation, climate change and the loss of communities it makes sense for us to trace back to our roots and re-discover our passion for the natural world. As a buildings manufacturer we see this as our responsibility; much in the same way that designers and manufacturers work to achieve solutions to problems through their work in other industries.
If you are searching for a building which will serve you in more ways than one please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can chat about how we could work together to assist you with your plans for future expansion.
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