MUCH LIKE THIS PAGE, THE COMMON HOUSE PROJECT IS STILL ONGOING. PLEASE ENJOY SOME PHOTOS IN THE MEANTIME. PROJECT IS SCHEDULED FOR COMPLETION EARLY 2024
THE COMMON HOUSE
Early in 2023, we began discussions with Bridport Cohousing, a Community Land Trust of 53 affordable and sustainable homes, around the design and build of their Common House, a central gathering space to cook and share meals together, hold sociocratic meetings in and invite the wider community to as an events space.
What followed was the proposal for a timber frame system utilising Douglas Fir with a hybrid of load-bearing and infill straw bale walls. As much as we were designing the building itself, we were also designing participatory construction methods alongside local material supply chains.
We started the pre-fabrication in July 2023 at our workshop with a small team of skilled carpenters and many volunteers. In August 2023 we moved on site assembling and erecting the structure.
We’ve also partnered with School of Natural Building during the build to offer a series of on-site training courses on low carbon sustainable building techniques. Courses have included concretless foundations with used racecar tyres, straw bale walls , lime rendering and in due time clay plastering, which has been sourced from spoil created in the construction of the houses adjacent.
The barley straw for the inuslation, the Douglas Fir for the frame and the clay for the plaster have all been sourced within a 10 mile radius of the site.
Design Team
Georgina Bowman and Jack Cardno , Common Practice [Design Lead]
Finbar Charleson, Sylva Studio [Architectural Consultant]
Ciaran Malik, Studio Dash [Structural Engineer]
Barbara Jones, SNaB [Straw and Lime Consultant]
Maria Krupa and Rob Hankey, Barefoot Architects [Principle Architect]
Construction Team
Georgina Bowman and Jack Cardno, Common Practice [Construction Lead]
Charles Couzens, Edward Coe, TOR [Principle Contractor]
Andy Moore, John Stocks, Choon Yuan, Benze De Ream, Tom Rowell, Alfy Fox, James Marston, Joseph Thompson, Daniel Swarovski [Site and Pre-fab Carpentry]
With extraordinary thanks to the members of Bridport Chousing who have volunteered in numerous capacities to support this build.
Thanks also to the tutors of School of Natural Building Barbara, Salli and Rae, and the course participants for spreading these learnings further afield.
What followed was the proposal for a timber frame system utilising Douglas Fir with a hybrid of load-bearing and infill straw bale walls. As much as we were designing the building itself, we were also designing participatory construction methods alongside local material supply chains.
We started the pre-fabrication in July 2023 at our workshop with a small team of skilled carpenters and many volunteers. In August 2023 we moved on site assembling and erecting the structure.
We’ve also partnered with School of Natural Building during the build to offer a series of on-site training courses on low carbon sustainable building techniques. Courses have included concretless foundations with used racecar tyres, straw bale walls , lime rendering and in due time clay plastering, which has been sourced from spoil created in the construction of the houses adjacent.
The barley straw for the inuslation, the Douglas Fir for the frame and the clay for the plaster have all been sourced within a 10 mile radius of the site.
Design Team
Georgina Bowman and Jack Cardno , Common Practice [Design Lead]
Finbar Charleson, Sylva Studio [Architectural Consultant]
Ciaran Malik, Studio Dash [Structural Engineer]
Barbara Jones, SNaB [Straw and Lime Consultant]
Maria Krupa and Rob Hankey, Barefoot Architects [Principle Architect]
Construction Team
Georgina Bowman and Jack Cardno, Common Practice [Construction Lead]
Charles Couzens, Edward Coe, TOR [Principle Contractor]
Andy Moore, John Stocks, Choon Yuan, Benze De Ream, Tom Rowell, Alfy Fox, James Marston, Joseph Thompson, Daniel Swarovski [Site and Pre-fab Carpentry]
With extraordinary thanks to the members of Bridport Chousing who have volunteered in numerous capacities to support this build.
Thanks also to the tutors of School of Natural Building Barbara, Salli and Rae, and the course participants for spreading these learnings further afield.
01: PRE-FABRICATION
02: SITE CONSTRUCTION
03: BUILD FEST
