Community Bunkhouse Build
You are cordially invited to take part in the building of a bunk house, which will serve as accommodation for residential courses at the Land Skills Hub at Fivepenny Farm in Dorset. The Land Skills Hub will offer courses on all aspects of farming and homesteading, and serve as a hub and resource for activism on all fronts.
We are fundraising to keep the build accessible to all. If you can, please donate here towards the costs.
The bunk house will accommodate 16 people in 8 bunks on a single story, with provision for at least 4 wheelchair accessible beds. It will be a roundwood timber frame structure with straw bale infill with clay plaster inside and lime render outside.
There are several stages to the build. Each will be run as instructional volunteering opportunities to learn various aspects of natural and low impact building. There are countless ways of creating a comfortable and sturdy building from natural materials. This is one of them. Care will be taken to explain the thinking behind each process so people can take inspiration from how we do things as well as feel empowered to try things differently. We aspire to create an environment of popular education where each person is seen as bringing valuable experiences and input to the processes. We’re not just creating a building, we’re building a community and a movement. Building skills is only one part of the spectrum of skills we need. We need social skills, facilitation skills, organisational skills, motivational skills, communication skills, conflict resolution skills, and so much more. Awareness and knowledge and lived experiences of everything under the sun is sought and valued.
Effort will be made to make the build as inclusive as possible, both financially and physically. If you have mobility issues and want to be involved please let us know how we can accommodate you. We are trying hard to come up with solutions beforehand but are always willing to make reasonable adjustments if you make us aware of your needs. We hope to make every part of the project available to both people looking for a career in natural building, as well as people just wanting to have a go and muck in.
We will be a diverse community on site during the build, aspiring to create a rainbow coalition of abilities, genders, ethnicities, neuro-diversities, socio-economic, cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. When we sleep in spaces we have designed and built ourselves, we can wake up and work for the social justice and liberation we are all dreaming of.
A brief outline of the different stages of the build:
Foundations, volunteering opportunity in rammed earth construction
25th March to 4th April
Rammed earth into discarded car tyres to form plinth foundations. This will be the most physically challenging part of the project. Core activities involve ramming earth into car tyres with sledgehammers and mallets, creating strong and stable plinths for the building to rest on. You will learn:
how to assess the density of earth in tyre
marking out accurate foundation points on a slope
levelling foundations
Tools
sledgehammer, lump hammer, water level, spirit level, laser level, string line
Platform construction, volunteering opportunity in basic site carpentry
7th April to 11th April
A level platform will be build on our rammed tyre plinths, made of roundwood girders, wooden joists, insulated and topped with a sub floor. The platform will measure approx. 6m by 12m and extend beyond the foundation points by the width of one straw bale. This is so the uprights for our timber frame sits directly above the foundations and the bale walls extending beyond them, which also serves to protect the tyres from UV damage. You will learn:
very basic roundwood framing
structural / strength considerations for given spans and timber dimensions
Tools
Chainsaw, chop saw, panel saw, drill/driver, spirit level, others.
Timber framing, taught courses - 14th April to 3rd May - 8 places each
3 separate week long courses in roundwood timber framing for the Norwegian ‘grindbygg’ system.
Course 1 (14th to 19th April)
aimed at intermediate woodworkers and professionals
covering all aspects of the process of creating a grindbygg timber frame from roundwood logs. We will construct two frames, wall plates and a set of rafters. You will leave with all the information needed to build one of these yourself, using either hand tools or power tools.
Tools
You will need your own chisel, mallet and panel saw. We will provide the rest. Useful tools to bring if you have them: spirit level, combi square, chalk line, tape measure, carpenters axe. We will teach you how to swing an axe like a Norwegian.
Course 2 (22th April to 26th April)
aimed at beginner woodworkers
covering most aspects of the process of creating a grindbygg timber frame from roundwood logs, with more emphasis on tool use. We will construct one frame and two wall plates.
Tools
You will need your own chisel, mallet and panel saw. We will provide the rest. Useful tools to bring if you have them: spirit level, combi square, chalk line, tape measure, carpenters axe. We will teach you how to swing an axe like a Norwegian.
Course 3 (28th April to 2nd May)
aimed at beginner woodworkers. As above.
Walls, volunteering opportunity in straw bale infill method
5th May to 23rd May
3 weeks should hopefully be ample time to get the walls up under our freshly built timber frame, allowing time for snags, delays and bad weather. With the rafters up we should also be able to throw a tarp over us if it rains. The roofing will happen concurrently.
We will construct a floor plate around the perimeter of the platform, and a wall plate under the rafters. The bales will be inserted between these with timbers either side of doors and windows. You will learn:
bale selection, dressing, positioning and staking
structural considerations for in-fill bale walls (and how they differ to load bearing walls.
basic carpentry to construct floor- and wall plates
how to use the grindbygg system to compress bale walls.
Tools we will use:
Hedge trimmer (to dress bales), mallet (to knock in hazel stakes), chop saw, circular saw, table saw, drill/driver
Roof, volunteering opportunity in basic site carpentry and turf roof construction.
5th May to 23rd May
Running concurrently to the bale wall construction, we will also have a team working on the roof. Work consists of putting up rafters, fitting noggins between them, attaching a bamboo roll mat trellis to the underside to give key to the clay plaster ceiling, insulation, breather membrane, battens, roof boards, rubber membrane and turf. Much of the work will be at height, from a scaffold and balancing on rafters. There will also be plenty of work that can be done on the ground, f.ex. cutting rafters and noggins and handing things up and fetching things.
You will learn
How to construct a breathable roof structure
Strength considerations for given spans and rafter dimensions
How the timber frame roof and straw walls work together
How to create a turf roof with the soil and grasses on our building site
Basic carpentry skills
Tools we will use
chop saw, circular saw, table saw, drill/driver, staple gun, nail gun, hammer
Wiring / plumbing
26th to 30th May
When the walls are in and the roof is on we will need to chase wires and pipes along and through the straw. We have not yet confirmed who will lead on this and what the learning / volunteering opportunities might be.
Internal stud walls, volunteering opportunity in basic site carpentry
9th June to 13th June
Constructing simple stud walls from 2x4s to create a small private quarters within the bunkhouse should the need arise on courses. This week is ideal for someone wanting to have experience in basic carpentry skills. You will learn:
structural and framing considerations for a simple stud wall
Some of the tools we will use
chop saw, circular saw, panel saw, drill/driver, spirit level
Plastering (scratch coat) volunteering opportunity in earth and lime plasters
9th to 17th June
Using lime externally and clay internally we will apply the first coat (scratch coat) of plaster to the walls. This involves literally massaging goey slop into the straw. It is both hugely satisfying and crucial to get right to ensure a good key for the subsequent plaster coats. It is not difficult, but important to be meticulous and conscientious when doing it. It can be done lying down, sitting, standing, with one hand and two. Join the party and get muddy (but protect your eyes and skin from the lime)
You will learn
structural and aesthetic considerations for lime and clay plasters
application methods
thermal and moisture properties of earth and lime plasters
Some of the tools we will use
Hands, gloves, cement mixer, mortar mixer, paddle mixer, spades, buckets
Plastering (base coat) professional earth / clay plaster course - 10 places
20th to 22nd June
Taught by professional earth plasterer and natural architect Maria Sanchez. This is a condensed learning opportunity for people wanting to work with natural plasters. You will learn how to choose, mix, test and apply earth plasters from the site. Application techniques and various mixes and aggregates.
Tools we will use
Hands, gloves, cement mixer, mortar mixer, paddle mixer, spades, buckets, trowel, hawk
Plastering (base coat) volunteering opportunity in earth and lime plaster
23rd June to 4th July
We will carry on the work of applying the base (levelling) coat of plaster, both internally (clay) and externally (lime). There will be less emphasis on choosing and testing plaster mixes and more on application. You will still learn loads.
Tools we will use:
Hands, gloves, cement mixer, mortar mixer, paddle mixer, spades, buckets, trowel, hawk
Plastering (top coat), professional earth / clay plaster course - 10 places
18th to 20th July
Taught by professional earth plasterer and natural architect Maria Sanchez. This is a condensed learning opportunity for people wanting to work with natural plasters. You will learn how to choose, mix, test and apply earth plasters from the site. Application techniques and various mixes and aggregates.
Tools we will use
Hands, gloves, cement mixer, mortar mixer, paddle mixer, spades, buckets, trowel, hawk
Plastering (top coat), volunteering opportunity earth and lime plaster
11th to 14th and 18th to 22nd August
We will carry on the work of applying the top coat of plaster, both internally (clay) and externally (lime). There will be less emphasis on choosing and testing plaster mixes and more on application. You will still learn loads.
Tools we will use:
Hands, gloves, cement mixer, mortar mixer, paddle mixer, spades, buckets, trowel, hawk
Join us for community build weeks
Register for timber framing courses
Register for plastering courses
WE ARE FUNDRAISING TO SUPPORT THE BUILD
Our goal is to create a space that all can use in a way that is informative, educational, and accessible to all. We are fundraising to cover the costs of materials and to pay tutors so that everyone can get involved in the bunkhouse build without financial barriers. If you can contribute anything towards this, please donate to our crowdfunder here. Please share with anyone who might want to help!
The building project will be led by Richard Andersen
With a background in natural building from the UK, Richard travelled back to his native Norway in 2019 to learn traditional native building methods, primarily log building and grindbygg. That journey led to an experiment in seasonal nomadism, commuting by sail. Rich now lives full time in Wales, but still travels extensively to teach and build on various land based projects in the UK and Norway.
