A Real Building, Not a Rendering
A Real Building, Not a Rendering
The Woodland Retreat is a natural-log home in England, UK, built from Western Red Cedar.
It also has an important place in our history. It was our first complete project manufactured using the robotic process we had developed for working with individually shaped natural logs.
From Natural Logs to Building Components
The logs were measured and manufactured into the components required for the building while retaining the natural character of the timber.
Rather than shipping loose logs and doing the difficult fitting work on the building site, much of that work had already been completed during manufacturing.
From Merritt to England
From Merritt to England
The structure was manufactured in Merritt, British Columbia, loaded into a shipping container and sent to England.
What left Merritt was not simply a load of raw logs, but a set of manufactured building components ready for assembly on site. The container photograph is a good reminder that off-site manufacturing is only useful if the finished components can also be packed, transported and delivered efficiently.
Four Days On Site
Four Days On Site
After arriving in England, the log structure was assembled on site in four days.
That four-day assembly belongs to this particular project. Buildings, sites and crews are different, so we don't use it as a promise for every project. It does, however, show what becomes possible when the difficult fitting and machining work has already been completed before the timber reaches the building site.
From Workshop to Woodland
The photographs below follow the project through manufacturing, loading, transport and assembly. They show finished components, the structure going together and the building taking shape on site.
For us, that makes the Woodland Retreat more useful than a collection of finished-home photographs. It shows the connection between the way we manufacture natural logs and what eventually happens on the building site.
