Sq M
Total budget: £
Total cost per square meter: £
New build cost per square meter: £
Refurbishment cost per square meter: £
Externals cost per square meter: £
Basement cost per square meter: £
“Under the Canopy” is our proposal for the Woodlands Trust Competition “Under the Canopy” is rooted in the instinct of a farmer building a barn or a soldier making camp: to raise a roof and take cover underneath. It begins with a broad truss of interlocking timbers, raised on wooden columns. Under this roof, the main room is an open space that gives onto the landscape. It is entirely flexible, surrounded by doors and shutters that be closed shut or thrown open depending on the weather and the many differing needs of the visitors. To the fourth side is a private, insulated block containing office, kitchen and toilets. The end grains of the timbers in the truss can be painted in memoriam. When interlinked to create the joint, they act an evocation of the strong bonds forged during the war, as well as dappling the sunlight passing through in an echo of a forest canopy. The straightforward panelised system lends itself to organic growth as needs require and funds allow, so that the building can expand and the rooms within be transformed or upgraded. Much as generations of farmers changed and repaired their buildings, these spaces will thrive with the forest.
