Roundwood Timber Framing

Building Naturally using Local Resources

Ben Law

In the opening to Ben Law’s new book he describes the journey he has made in self-built dwellings: from bender- the simplest, almost stone-age dwelling made by pushing both ends of long hazel poles into the ground, making a domed space which is covered in a tarpaulin; evolving next into a yurt, a more sophisticated structure using a hazel or willow lattice as walls, with straight roof-poles slotting into holes around the crown or “wheel” at the top of the roof; to finally a roundwood timber framed house made famous in the Grand Designs program, and in his earlier book, “The Woodland House”.

This is a journey I have followed in a similar fashion myself, although my roundwood timber reciprocal frame hut is barely a hovel compared to Ben’s woodland palace, it was in fact partly inspired by him: I met him briefly some 20 years ago at the then young Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, where he was building a reciprocal frame, the first time I had come across the concept.

Since then Ben has resurrected the place of the small-scale coppice worker in Britain and developed out of the woods a a method of timber frame construction using roundwood poles that he feels fulfills the natural builders’ need for creativity and organic shapes in building with the regulators stringent requirements:

Hand selecting trees with form and character that have their own intrinsic beauty and follow their own lines, rather than those that have been forced upon them by saw and right-angle, allows freedom of movement in a building whilst keeping within the parameters of the drawings on the table. The building itself has life, curves and natural form, the frames often looking like they are trees growing out of the floorboards. Each new building improves on the last and each joint is developed and refined. I feel roundwood timber framing has reached its evolution where the joints are advanced, the timbers tried and tested and a range of buildings including sheds, barns, dwellings, educational spaces and industrial buildings have been constructed and passed the vigorous analysis of the construction engineers and building inspectors.

Using roundwood poles has several practical advantages: they do not require milling and planing the way sawn dimensioned timber does, and thus have a lower embodied energy; and they are structurally stronger than sawn timber of the same dimensions because the natural flow of the fibres in the tree remain intact.

The method of building lends something to Scandanavian and North American log-cabin style construction, but requires far less poles and is best combined with infills of natural materials such as straw-bale or cob.

Roundwood construction requires a close relationship with the different tree species, as well as an understanding of coppice management, which are both covered in the book. The third chapter gives details of 10 tree species suitable for roundwood framing; Ben lives in a sweet chestnut coppice, and rates this species very highly as a coppice tree and for this purpose; for those less fortunate to have access to such a resource- sweet chestnut is rare in Ireland for example- soft-wood poles such as larch or Douglas Fir will probably be more readily available. Of particular interest to start growing is Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia which is a very durable tree that coppices well, currently uncommon in the British Isles.

There follows chapters on Tools for Roundwood Timber Framing; Construction, which describes in detail all the joints used; beyond the Frame- looking at shingles for the roofs, and wall and floor options; and finally a chapter with case studies of Ben’s roundwood timber builds, including the recent Lodsworth Larder, community owned village shop.

Roundwood timber framing requires a degree of specialist tools and skills, and while the process is described well in the book, only an experienced builder with good practical skills already would be able to go out and start building with these methods just from the book. Ben does also give courses and offers apprenticeships. There is also an accompanying DVD.

The star of this book is the photos. They are absolutely stunning: of trees, woods and coppice, tools and buildings. All mouth-watering, and worth buying the book for those alone. You might not be in a position to go out and start roundwood timber framing yourself immediately, but you will certainly be inspired to dream and who knows one day those dreams could become a reality.

Roundwood Timber Framing will find an essential place in the Green Builders’ library, and provides a wonderful way of linking together trees, woods, humans and their dwellings.

Reinventing Collapse- The Soviet Example and American Prospects

Dmitry Orlov

New Society 2008

When I met Bill Mollison at the International Permaculture Convergence in Croatia three years ago, all he wanted to talk about it seemed was cannibalism. He had traveled in Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union and told me that, in Moscow, the joke was, if you go to the provinces, be careful what they serve you up for meat.

There had been widespread hunger and general hardship, resulting in a dramatic decline in life expectancy, an underclass of the homeless and unemployed and those unable to care for themselves, and a loss of hope in the future.

Despite this, things could get much worse in an even more energy dependent USA.

“Reinventing Collapse” is perhaps the most important and disturbing- as well as amusing- peak oil book you will read. A Russian emigre who had the opportunity to observe the collapse of the former Soviet Union from the vantage point of someone living in America, Orlov sees a similar process unfolding in an America all but oblivious to how quickly things may change there. Peak oil will result very soon in the vast nation beginning to fall apart at the seams as the lifeblood of its economy drains away with no backup available. Big systems like agriculture are so energy intensive that they will quickly collapse and there is barely any resilient, self-reliant communities left.

All the ingredients are present: looming oil shortages, severe foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget and ballooning foreign debt. Add to that a humiliating military defeat- Afghanistan for the Soviets, Iraq for America- and fear of crisis- Chernobyl in the East, New Orleans in the West- and collapse does not seem far away.

Written with the satirical wit of modern Voltaire, Orlov goes where few other peak oil writers have dared to go, and his sardonic Russian humor allows a stark look at American prospects through the eyes of someone who has witnessed collapse first hand. Snapshots and stories of what he witnessed in post-Soviet Russia make for colorful reading and help fill in some of the gaps in our imagination in thinking of what may happen as the oil begins to run short.

Dmitry Orlov was born and grew up in Russia before emigrating to the US. He visited the Soviet Union many times and was able to witness both the gradual and sudden changes that occurred there during the collapse of communism. On returning to the US in 1996 he felt he had witnessed enough to see that what had happened in his home country had little to do with the failings of Soviet ideology, but was a result of Superpower overshoot- and that a similar process is likely to occur in the US in the near future:

And so I came back to the United States expecting that the second superpower shoe would be dropping sometime soon, certainly within my lifetime, and the question for me became:How soon?”

Dmitri does not answer this question directly, but instead takes on a journey back and forth between the two political Giants, and compares the standing of each one to face collapse: housing, food, money, employment and transportation are some of the areas he looks at.

The prognosis is not good for the United States: in each of these categories, harsh though it was for the Russians, the US appears to stand worse- much worse. While in Russia, the communist system had provided resilient services in terms of housing and transportation, for example, Americans tend to live in sprawling suburbs which depend entirely on almost universal private car ownership to remain viable; as oil gets scarce driving will become less and less feasible and many people will find themselves stranded.

The public transport system in Russia was reliable and few people had cars; for the most part it continued to function; likewise, most people were able to continue to live in their Soviet-issue apartment blocks, while in the US, personal debt is very high and many will have their houses repossessed as the economy tumbles and unemployment rises. This could happen much quicker than it did in the Soviet Union since Private corporations in the US tend to rely on just- in- time inventories and will liquidate their assets quickly; state bodies would be able to hold out at least in some shape or form a little longer.

In Russia, many people had always gardened to provide some of their own food. while local officials considered bread riots to be career-ending and always kept some basic food stocks; in America, a nation grown obese and addicted to fast food will not be in great shape to start fending for itself when the transcontinental trucking service stops rolling.

A lot of people, who just waddle to and from their cars, seem unprepared for what is coming next. If they had to start living like Russians they would blow out their knees. Most of them would not even try, but would simply wait, patiently or impatiently, for someone to come and feed them.

Orlov’s analysis of the different societies brings up some very interesting insights. Of particular interest to me as a teacher is his description of the education systems in Russia, and how it compares in the US. In Russia, he says, students were taught general principles which they were able to apply to any situation, and the college process involved learning how to research and learn what they needed to themselves; his experience in America was much different, where they fail to produce in four years what the Soviet system achieves in two:

“They fail to produce graduates who have adequate general knowledge, good command of their native language and the ability to acquire specialist assistance without any further assistance.”

So I feel partially vindicated in my approach to teaching permaculture- emphasize the core design principles and encourage people to use them to think for themselves and work out their own solutions to specific problems while using them.

“Reinventing Collapse” differs from most Peak Oil books not so much in its lack of analysis of the peak issue itself- there is an abundance of literature already available on this- but in the kind of advice he gives to mitigate the problems. Most entertainingly is in the satirical idea of the “Boondoggle”- a solution guaranteed to make the problem worse. Examples include corn-based ethanol, energy efficiency, hydrogen as responses to the fuel crisis. This is the kind of solution we should indeed be advocating, Orlov argues, as

“The combined weight of all these boondoggles is slowly but surely pushing us all down. if it pushes us down far enough, the economic collapse, when it arrives, will be like falling out of a ground-floor window”.

Instead of injuncting us to grow more vegetables, learn home-preserving, form a local powerdown group, and starting a car-pool scheme, Orlov takes a distinctly off-beat view of the kinds of “preparations” we might need to take. Clearly based on his own experiences of human behavior during meltdown, Orlov focuses on survival skills such as being useful and helpful to others while successfully hiding anything you may have of value; of perhaps living in two places while convincing the neighbours at each that your permanent residence is the OTHER place; of adapting the body to hardship and through necessary discomfort:

“To eliminate the need for transportation, you need to cover significant distances on foot, carrying loads, until your body adjusts by developing denser bone, thicker cartilage, stronger muscles, and a more powerful cardiovascular system”.

Orlov prepares us for a world of shadows, a world where only the wily and most adaptable can survive, where the most important skills will be to find ways to appear as little as possible in competition with others for limited resources.

Orlov brings a dose of reality to the peak oil debate in a world that has left it too late to adapt without turmoil and conflict. In many parts of the world, it has already happened, and as my neighbour who lived in Belfast in the 1970s has told me, the speed with which civil society can break down and everyone becomes someones else’s’ potential meal ticket can leave even the most prepared reeling.

It happened in Russia and it will happen in America and everywhere else as well, to greater or lesser degrees. After reading this book, only the foolish would assume “It can’t happen here”.

Right: Sustainability editor Andy Wilson hard at work

Andy Wilson’s creation of the Sustainability Magazine has been a remarkable achievement, bringing a much-needed serious journal into the Irish environmental landscape. Starting up a new magazine from scratch is no mean feat and the scholarly and well-researched articles on a wide range of topics is to be greatly welcomed. The third issue is out this week.

I also got a chance to see the recently refurbished cottage that Andy and Meetje have been renovating over the past couple of years. Now finished with new more insulation, hemp and lime plaster, skylights- triple glazed!!- ad many other improvements, the cottage is an impressive example of what can be done to improve energy efficiency and comfort in an old stone cottage and it is great to see Meetje and family safely ensconced once again under the new roof!

Andy is also an expert on renewable energy systems and contributed the most useful chapter of the booklet I wrote with Dr. Colin Campbell, Living Through the Energy Crisis in which he details how the household reduced its domestic energy consumption and now is run largely from onsite wind-turbine and PV cells:

A return to Clare Island was next where we repitched the yurt for the Clare Island Yoga Centre- surely one of the most spectacular views from a yurt anywhwere.

While on the island we stayed with Sean and Maggie O’Grady. Sean showed me around the farm he had grown up on which was a poignant snapshot of how island life has changed over the last two or three generations, from growing up in the pictured stone thatched cottage and living in close proximity with the animals to taking on the farm while his siblings left the island to seeing the end of the Celtic Tiger and a progressive erosion of farming life during the last few years as grants have disappeared, stocking levels been drastically reduced and turf cutting (for fuel) banned for environmental reasons.

“The island needs some new blood. Many islanders have land they can no longer use- why not invite in some young families from the cities who could make a new start here and reinvigorate the community? With the young people leaving the island and few young families left the long term prospects for the island are poor”.

Next we moved onto the Organic Centre in Leitrim where I gave a one-day intro to Permaculture course as last year. This was again well-attended and the feedback was excellent- it is always gratifying to see people curious and new to the permaculture concept be stirred by its power to help see things differently and provide real solutions. We also had the opportunity to work on the Organic Centre’s forest garden which is beginning to look very good.

One one of the course participants was Rebecca Hillman who blogs about her smallholding adventures on Sally Gardens and kindly invited us to pay a visit after the course.

Of particular interest were Rebecca’s Californian meat rabbits which she has recently blogged about.

Below: Meat rabbits- to cute to eat?

Thanks to Rebecca and dan for showing us around and good luck with all their future projects.

Tipi Valley had fairly strict rules about the kind of structures that were permitted- in the lower part of the village tipis only were permitted. The lifestyle was harsh and dedicated- firewood collecting was a constant chore and in the absence of roads through the settlement most people were restricted to whatever dead wood they could carry back on their shoulder each morning, cut with a bow-saw. Tipi living certainly has a beauty and romance about it; there is nothing like waking to the smell of woodsmoke and coffee as the early morning rays and a visiting robin perhaps come through the doorway of your tipi. However, I was never convinced that they were just the right structure for wet and windy Wales. Living in a tipi in such a climate is really a full-time job and requires considerable commitment. Rushes on the floor need to continually renewed to avoid damp, and although the tipi is in effect designed as a chimney, the management of smoke and the need to live literally close to the ground can be waring. In short, tipi living was a great experience and a lovely way to spend a summer or two, but perhaps not ideal for long-term comfort especially as one might grow older and require just a few more creature comforts.

Ironically given the longstanding taboo against anything other than tipis in Tipi Valley, it was actually here that I first came across an alternative nomadic structure that seemed to embody much of the romance of the tipi but offered more comfort. Some of the longer-standing members of the tipi community began to experiment with yurts and soon found that, because of their shape they were more amenable to fitting with small wood-burning stoves – an accessory that saved a lot of wooding and could add a lot of comfort. The more vertical walls of the yurt meant that more conventional furniture such as chairs and tables became suitable; and yurts also could be mounted on a raised wooden platform, keeping them much dryer. At the same time, yurts like tipis are also covered with white canvas allowing light to filter in while the frame was made of easily available sticks and poles which could be collected from a suitable wood. I havnt been back to Tipi Valley for about 20 years, but I noticed on my last visit that yurts were becoming more acceptable , perhaps due to pressure on the local firewood supply. In any case I was already hooked.

First experiments in Yurt-Making

I made my first yurt in 1998 with the help of a carpenter friend. It wasnt too successful; the 2″x 1″ lathes we used for the khana -the criss-crossed trellis that makes the walls- did not have sufficient flex in them to take the curved shape of the walls which became convex, and the wheel- made from laminated plywood- was not strong enough. Still, it was the perfect solution as a means of housing myself inexpensively, with the added benefit that I would be able to take it with me when moving on again. I lived in it for a few months until it collapsed in the big Boxing Day storm of that year (I wasnt in it at the time). By then, however, I had done a Yurt Making course- the first of its kind in Ireland I believe- organised by Mark Wilson at the Ailwee Caves in co. Clare, and had been introduced to the art of steam-bending. This involved making a sold wheel from ash cleaved by hand and steam-bent around an iron form. The khana poles were made from hazel sticks, collected ideally from a properly managed coppice woodland. The following year I was asked to do a yurt-making demonstration at the mallow Garden Show; and the year after that the now famous CELT Weekend in the Woods events started, which I have been doing the yurt-making courses at ever since. On these courses participants get to make and take with them their own steam-bent yurt wheel, and learn everything else they need to make the rest of the yurt frame.

In all I lived in a yurt in different locations in Ireland for 5 years. I was certainly glad to upgrade to the roundhouse once it was built but yurts served me very well for the time I was in them, providing a rent-free roof over my head, and I have many happy memories of the time spent in them living close to the earth.

In the summer I make yurts to sell. I am making a new page on this site with photos and instructions for making a rustic yurt. See the courses page for details on yurt courses this summer.