Contents

Design and materials

We started with a full 3D design process that was shared on a virtual whiteboard for John and Laura to share their cabin ideas and us to share our design drawings. This is an occasional cabin used for morning yoga, children’s study and hang-out.

The exterior showing the larch cladding with an aged, silvered, look

The finished cabin - front

Our visualisation of the interior finish

The finished interior before occupation

The finished cabin - rear

Throughout the design and construction of the cabin we focussed on selecting materials that met the following criteria;

• Follow our Responsible Design Principles.
• Can be sourced as locally as possible to support local small and medium sized businesses. This is part of a social pledge within our business principles.
• Create minimal non-recyclable waste (more on this later for your project).

Groundwork’s

The cabin is located between two large mature copper beech trees with an extensive and sensitive root system. This is why we chose ground screws to support the cabin structure.

Soak away

The soak away for the grey water from the cabin sink is buried to approximately 60cm deep down the central path behind the cabin. We buried a soak way plastic crate and covered this with type 1 aggregate and re-laid the path on top. The crate is specified to withstand 10,000 kg of direct even distributed weight.

Osma Black Aquacell Eco 1000mm x 500mm x 400mm Unit - material recycled polypropylene

<aside> 💡 The crate is only 10cm below the path level. Be mindful if you ever re-lay the path and raised beds

</aside>

Weed barrier

We used an sustainable weed barrier, Hytex eco-tex mulch mat, made from PLA [polylactic acid], a natural and renewable material made from starch rich vegetables. This was fixed down with biodegradable plastic pegs.

Foundations

Fifteen galvanised steel ground screws were used to create a stable base for the cabin. There are a number of reasons we used ground screws;