Visitors to the Surface Design Show held at the Business Design Centre, London, Wednesday 7 February 2018 will be able to hear about The County Down Barn – a stunning home designed by architect Micah Jones and featuring PEFC-certified cross laminated timber (CLT).
The project was featured in the latest season of Grand Designs and Micah Jones and Gareth Mason of CLT supplier Stora Enso will provide an overview on this contemporary take on a traditional barn conversion formed of a one-storey CLT structure installed above a restored stone agricultural building. Built on a limited budget and timescale and located on a tight site with stunning views across the Mourne Hills of County Down, the building features a complementary material palette of CLT, stone and concrete to produce an elegant, yet comfortable and robust family home.
There were several reasons for the specification of CLT including the material’s enhanced thermal and airtightness performance – a major benefit as all the insulation on the house is external. Other key considerations were CLT’s structural ability to achieve the clean, long spans the architect was looking for and the material’s high quality finish which was important because internally the CLT has been left exposed throughout. The County Down Barn is Micah’s first project using CLT and he has pioneered this method of construction in Northern Ireland. “CLT is a new product in Northern Ireland,” says Micah. “I had tried previously to move forward with it and not got very far so I’d had to look at other options, but I kept going back to CLT. The most important thing to do if you want to build your home with CLT is to work with a quality manufacturer and an experienced and reputable CLT installer.”
Micah made contact with CLT manufacturer Stora Enso UK who introduced him to G-frame Structures, one of their UK delivery partners. “It was fantastic working with them and G-frame. I now have a deeper understanding of what can be achieved with CLT in terms of structure and design.”
Gareth Mason, UK Business Development Manager for Stora Enso said: “The County Down Barn is a great example of what can be achieved with CLT from a structural and aesthetic viewpoint. The finished home is stunning and the innovative over truss solution and full length roof panels have optimised room space, taking full advantage of CLT’s engineering capabilities. We are very proud to be involved with and supply sustainable projects such as this. The timber used comes from responsibly managed PEFC-certified forests, and more buildings like this will help combat climate change, as well as creating beautiful projects.”
PEFC UK’s Executive Director Alun Watkins added: “It will be fascinating to hear about the approach to the use of timber in creating this wonderful home. Not only does it look great but it a sustainable, low-carbon building that has used PEFC-certified timber as a key element. Responsible sourcing of timber products within the construction supply chain is vitally important, so this high-profile statement proves what can be done.”
You can hear more about this interesting project from Micah Jones at the Surface Design Show, Business Design Centre, London, Wednesday 7 February 2018.
