The Dean Garden Room & Pond Cabin

Well the new classroom and lab buildings are now finished and we're looking forward to their formal opening on 11th May when the Lord Mayor of Bristol will be opening them with many invited guests. We didn't want to simply call them the classroom and lab as we expect a variety of user groups to enjoy using them ranging from parent and toddler groups to corporate training groups and even wedding parties.

With that in mind we would like to introduce you to "The Dean Garden Room" above. It is a beautiful timber construction with many eco features including low energy use and a wildflower meadow roof. Natural lighting is provided by large bifolding doors and roof lights and heating is from a fully automated wood pellet boiler system providing renewable energy heating from sustainable sources.

The roof terrace above allows students to view the living roof and the habitats it provides. It will be part of a series of orientation activities that allow students to learn about the sustainable features of the buildings and their place within the environment. The panoramic views of the village and Centre gardens are even better than we expected and no doubt it won't be long before a small group choose to have their picnic lunch up there! We'll certainly look to Blog the first bride and groom wedding photo!

Inside the building we have created a comfortable meeting area at one end. Later this will be separated from the main part of the building by a retractable partition once the timbers have settled and this can be installed.

The building of course has a disabled toilet but we've also included a shower and baby change table to cater for the possible varied use of the building.

We've decided the kitchen is better than most of our kitchens at home! You can certainly make a couple of tea easily enough but we think it is spacious enough to provide catering for an evening group and also use as a bar serving area.

The picnic tables on the deck under the canopy have just been used for the first time by our resident group who enjoyed their lunch there.

"Pond Cabin" is our wonderful new laboratory poised on stilts over the pond. It has already been well received by several groups of students doing their stream studies. The wet room floor makes it easy to wash any sploshed out welly-water down the central drain hole!

Inside it is surprisingly spacious and when be using by some users will make an excellent 'break out room' for group work for up to 20 people. We will be able to put our microscopes and charts etc. away in the built in cupboards and provide a meeting room with a difference.

We particularly like the design and shape of the ceiling.

The views out of the window aren't bad either and the pond has now got a resident pair of ducks who have taken up residence.

Roundhouse Receives International Acclaim!

The new Roundhouse has now been used by Forest Tots for the last two Fridays. It was particularly popular on Fri 12th April when a very heavy shower of rain had people scampering inside to keep dry.

Both Fridays new parents and toddlers have turned up for the first time and the Forest Tots organisers are planning for a busy summer. If the weather's anything like last summer they will certainly be glad of the roundhouse to shelter in at times.

The local paper (The Forest of Dean & Wye Valley Review) featured a nice 1/2 page article in last weeks edition and the Forest Tots Facebook page has been going viral with comments about the roundhouse with 'likes' being posted in America and other countries.

Tony Wrench, the Roundhouse Course Trainer, has just put a video up on YouTube about how to build a roundhouse that features our roundhouse. So if you want more information about how to build a roundhouse than shown in our last Blog post then have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42xQNov9qA

Roundhouse

For the last year we've been planning to build a roundhouse in the Centre Garden. It will provide a great shelter for Forest Tots - the Outdoor Parent and Toddler Group who visit every Friday - see Blog post March 12. We also intend to use it as a shelter when running bushcraft sessions. 

So How Do You Make a Roundhouse?:

1: Find someone who is an expert at making roundhouses - Tony Wrench

2:  Recruit lots of enthusiastic people who want to learn how to build a roundhouse. Provide warm and comfortable accommodation for them.

3: Source lots of wood. The majority of our wood was sourced within 50 metres of the build site. Additional wood came from the offcuts from a local sawmill and also scrap wood from the classroom build.

4: Mix ingredients 1-3 together.

6: Simmer on a low heat - averaging 3 degrees Centigrade! for 5 days

7: At this point you will have got the skelton of a roundhouse - a wooden henge and reciprocal frame roof.

8: Rest for two days so that you are ready to continue with renewed vigour

9: Clad the roof leaving a hole for light that you later cover with a recycled van windscreen to keep out the rain.

10: Cover with old carpet and then a waterproof membrane before cutting turfs 20 metres away to put on as a living roof.

11: Mix a cob from clay, sand and water to bind the log round wall together.

12: Add some magic in the form of recycled bottles that glow in the sunlight.

13: And put in a few port holes at toddler height made from old washing machine doors.

14: Feel a sense of satisfaction with a job well done.

15: Have an opening ceremony the next day with one of the main user groups - Forest Tots and find out what they think about your wonderful creation.



16: Well we think that's a thumbs up from the toddlers.

17: What a fantastic achievement from a great bunch of people in only two weeks that will give great enjoyment to many people for many years to come.

Nearly There!

We're on the home straight with the classroom construction and they've even started work on the landscaping outside. 

 

The deck now has a large canopy over much of it.

The Wood Pellet Boiler has been installed and is due to be commissioned next week.

And our new Field Study Laboratory poised over the pond is coming along nicely and already getting some very favorable comments

We've clad it using recycled cladding from the old classroom. The phoenix rising from the flames!

I expect our next Blog post will be to show you the completed works!

New Food Server

We have upgraded some of our kitchen equipment for the start of this year. We have a new hot cabinet for warming plates and a new hot food counter. They look great and the kitchen staff are really pleased with them.

The hot food server looks even better with food in it!

And even better still with our lovely friendly catering staff behind it!

We do a weekly roast dinner and the students, as ever, are very happy with it as well.

Classroom New Build

Snow is presently delaying the external finishes to the classroom build, but progress has been made since Christmas.

Fortunately the roof insulation and second weatherproof coating went on before the snow arrived!

Inside the electrics have all be installed. The roof lights are providing good internal light to the building in addition to the large glazed doors

The deck now has most of the ballustrading up and if you look past the snow you can envisage a group sitting there in the summer eating a packed lunch and looking out over the grounds to the climbing tower and zip wire!

The foundations have now been laid for our separate Laboratory building. This will be an octagonal structure poised over the pond on stilts with a decked bridge leading into it.

The posts, as seen above, are made of a special wood called Green Heart that doesn't decay in water. Once the snow goes this building should go up pretty quickly and we look forward to posting a photo of the finished product with the pond beneath. It will make a very apt place for students to study under a microscope the creatures they have found in the pond and stream.

The Roof Is On

The new classroom is now weather tight and has the first layer of roof covering on. This will later be covered with insulation and a wild flower meadow to finish. Standing up there you get a good view over to the main Centre building, seen in the photo above and also to the station and surrounding forest. This will be a view that all can share as there will be staircase access to the roof and a viewing platform! More info about this in the future. The two roof lights will bring more light into the interior of the building meaning low need for additional daytime lighting.

Another key design feature which is looking great are the 5.5m bi-fold doors that open out on to the deck. This really will open the inside into the outdoors and vice versa. The deck will become an extension of the inside space and will later have a canopy installed.

The log cabin style wall and ceiling shown above is the both the structure of the building and the final interior finish to the room. We think it looks great and gives a Scandinavian feel to the building whilst also reflecting the use of the trees and forest that surround the building.