Natural building projects

Having drawn inspiration from many sources, including Lloyd Kahn, Christopher Alexander, Christopher Day, and Simon Dale, we have been involved in a number of natural building projects:

  • Our own classroom, which is a timber frame with strawbale infill, strawbale insulated green roof, earth plaster and larch cladding.
  • Reciprocal frame roundhouse barn with loadbearing strawbale walls and green roof, here at Lackan.
  • Our own earth bonded stone cottage renovation, using  natural materials such as hemp-lime plaster, sheepswool insulation and natural paints.
  • Birch cottage renovation here on site, experimenting with a wide range of materials – woodfibre insulation, wood-wool board, lime insulation
  • A  roundhouse with reciprocal roof and composting toilets at the Quarries Farm in Bangor.
  • Pallet porch build using entirely reclaimed materials here at Lackan
  • Truck refit using reclaimed and natural materials.
  • A short spell volunteering on the Community Hub at Lammas Ecovillage in Pembrokeshire.

The ethos is simple – use natural materials where possible, with low embodied energy; and use materials sourced as locally as possible – on site where at all possible. Typically we use straw, timber and clay, and upcycled pallets are a favourite ingredient in many projects.