For 10 years, Ben lived in tents and caravans in a wood in West Sussex. As a woodsman, he needed and wanted to live among the trees, but now he wants a house for some creature comforts. Ben has invited volunteers to help him build a sustainable house by hand, from the materials growing around him.
Ben owns a third of the sweet chestnut woodland and rents the rest. The house he has designed is to be made almost entirely of wood, with an A-shaped timber frame made of tree trunks, a wooden platform for a floor and locally sourced wooden shingles on the roof.
All the timber will come from the surrounding trees - sweet chestnut is a strong hardwood, ideal for this kind of building.
Because Ben coppices trees instead of removing them, roots and all, new growth will quickly replace the trees he uses.
The house will comprise a single large living room rising all the way to the roof, including a kitchen area; one bedroom on the ground floor, and a bathroom. Ben came up with some simple drawings and appointed architect John Rees to advise him.
Volunteers have been invited to come and stay in the woods and help build the house, in return for food and drink and some tuition from master-carpenter Viv Goodings. With no builders' wages, and the wood being free, Ben aims to build the house, complete with sun- and wind-powered electricity, for just £25,000.
Building begins in May, and Ben's ambition is to move in by the time the winter weather sets in. The hand-crafted approach means taking time over details. For instance, much of the wood is being left in the round, as nature intended. This means that it keeps its natural beauty and strength, but special joints are required for fixing curved surfaces together. And the pace of work needs to be constantly altered according to how many volunteers turn up on any given day.
The A-frame goes up in just a day - an extraordinary feat, involving hand-winching pairs of 30 foot (9 metre) tree trunks. But filling in the frame with floors and a veranda, and adding rafters and internal walls, involves slow and steady work that lasts months. Then there's the small matter of the 12,000 oak shingles, all hand-cut by Ben, which need to be nailed on to the roof by hand.
In autumn, recycled newspaper insulation is installed under the floor and into the roof, and oak-edged boards are fitted on to the outside of the house. Then straw bales, which have been bought from a neighbouring farm, are stacked in between the timber frame and the internal stud-work to create thick walls. Ben installs a wood burning stove, bath and hot water cylinder, and starts sleeping indoors for the first time.
Cabling, wrapped in copper to protect it against fire and rodents, is run through the straw. Using clay from his pond, Ben builds a fireplace and covers the internal walls with clay plaster. Finally, glass is installed into the windows, the straw bales are covered with lime plaster, and the house is weatherproofed - just as the November storms arrive.
The house is a hymn to wood. Inside and out, wood displays its beautiful variations of size, colour and texture. Pieces are fitted together with hand-crafted pegs. The oak shingles of the roof ripple with natural curves. The big arched window echoes the shape of house.
Light floods in and shadows of beams move across the walls. Eventually, storage platforms will be installed high up at either end of the house.
The living room walls, covered in lime plaster, are a gentle yellowish-cream. Lime wash mixed with iron oxide and turmeric has turned the bedroom walls red-orange. Some surfaces are curved, where the straw bales beneath the plaster have been shaped with a chainsaw by Ben.
A tall, curved clay fireplace mirrors the shape of the arched window. Curved niches for candles are set into the chimney breast.
Bathroom and kitchen have all Ben needs in the way of luxury. An enamel bath connects to the hot water cylinder. Iron pots hang above a black Rayburn stove.
The house runs entirely off natural energy, and even some of the technology has recycled parts. Solar panels previously used in the Big Brother house provide electricity, which is stored in second-hand submarine batteries. Together with a few wind turbines, they will power Ben's lights, stereo and laptop. Rainwater and a nearby spring supply the taps. Soon the composting toilet will arrive.
Use our service to find a reputable local builder, based on the ratings of their real-life clients
Our presenter could be popping round to your house for a consultation and a cuppa
Get advice on all of those DIY jobs from the experts at B&Q
.jpg)
Your Comments
Post your comment
Please note: In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in to Channel 4:
Sign In Here or Register Here
Comments closed
Comments are closed at the present time
Comments
Thank you for your comment!
Your message will be reviewed and the best ones will be published below.
If you intended to make an official comment to Channel 4 please contact us.
Comments