Think log cabins and you’ll probably conjure up images of heavy, rustic brown structures in alpine settings. But think again.
Swedish timber frame manufacturer Jörnträhus’s new Trend design may be log cabin in construction but it’s anything but rustic. The straight, contemporary lines, monopitch roof and large windows provide a house that would look just as at home in the wilds of rural Scotland or leafy Hampstead.
Jörnträhus has been selling its more traditional log buildings to the UK for seven years and last year the company doubled sales here. And now, with its new Trend range, which will be officially launched at the Ideal Home Show in London in March, national sales manager Pete Cossie is confident of further growth. The house will be one of three full-scale homes on show at the March 11-27 event at Earls Court.
The show home will be constructed in just three days but normal build time is around eight weeks. The speed – and ease – of assembly – makes it ideal for self-builders although Jörnträhus, or its UK supplier Scandinavian Log Cabins, can provide contractors to erect the building.
The house components, made from FSC-certified slow-grown softwood from the Arctic Circle, arrive on site usually on two or three lorries. Where access is limited, the pallets of components have to be decanted to smaller trucks or, as in one case, lifted in by helicopter.
Connections
Once the foundations are down the pieces of timber, each numbered, are just, well, clicked into place.
“It’s the biggest meccano kit you’ll ever see,” said Cossie. “The 58mm logs just snap on to each other. They interlock on the corners and any joins in the logs are dovetailed. Apart from the very first log, the building goes up to eaves height without any fixings.”
Cossie, a carpenter and joiner by trade, appreciates the exacting nature of the components. “We have a tolerance of only +/-1mm. It’s precision engineering,” he said.
All the timber is kiln-dried but the only preservative-treated timbers are those used for the rim beam and the trimmer joists which sit on a damp-proof membrane. Once three courses of the ‘logs’ have been laid and the house is square, brackets are fixed to the first course to hold the walls in position and the trimmer joists are screwed to the foundations.
The engineered floor joists are placed into position and screwed and, once the building reaches roof height, the purlins are slotted into the walls. The window and door openings are pre-cut.
A vapour membrane is fixed to the inner wall, followed by timber studs and 250mm glass fibre insulation. In Jörnträhus’s more traditional chalet designs, the interior of the walls is again lined with timber but for the Trend house, fire-treated plasterboard gives a cleaner, more contemporary finish. The exterior stain is applied once the building is completed.
WIndows
The triple-glazed windows, which have a U-value of 1.0W/m2K, add to the modern, open feel. “Triple glazing means we can have larger windows without compromising on the energy-efficiency,” said Cossie.
All the houses are fitted with a mechanical heat recovery ventilation system.
The house on show at the Ideal Home Show will be a 136m2 version and will include three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an en suite.
The Trend designs range from a one-bed unit of around 15m2 to a five-bed house but really anything goes. “We have about 10 standard designs in various sizes but about 60% of what we do is custom designed,” said Cossie. “Some customers have come up with some very quirky designs but we can do it. There’s a lot of flexibility.”
Design
Cossie believes the Trend design will strike a chord with UK homeowners looking for energy efficiency and something different from a variation on Victorian.
“We’re stuck in our ways in Britain and it’s time we moved on. The tide is turning; people are fed-up with living in boxes that aren’t very well insulated. We have a more educated public than we’ve ever had, largely because of the internet. They’ve done a lot of research,” said Cossie.
And he plans to have his own contemporary log house too soon. “I’m a carpenter and joiner by trade and I love wood, hence my passion for these houses.”
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The interiors are clean and contemporary and triple-glazing allows large windows to be used, without compromising on energy efficiency |
