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Invisible Studio and Mole Architects have designed a simple yet flexible ‘big roof’ to provide an affordable work and storage space for charity forest school camp
Rich peat soil stretches out. In the distance Ely and its cathedral stand on an elevated site, while nearer, the black barns add scale to the moorland, broken up by occasional dykes, ditches and causeways. We’re looking for rare trees on the property, which begs the question why the charity Forest School Camp (FSC) is based here.
The answer lies in its history. The charity was originally a school, but after losing its home during the Second World War it abandoned the school element, retaining the tradition of a two-week summer camp that emphasized children’s self-sufficiency and independence. Each year, about 1,200 children set out in open fields to pitch tents, light fires, cook meals for the tribe’s camp, and return home muddy, tired but happy.
Kits are returned at the end of the summer camp in Cornwall, Yorkshire or the Hebrides. The heavy-duty Department of Defense-issued tents, some with the date 1945 stitched on them, need to be dried, patched and stored for use next year. Damp, smelly waterproofs and sleeping bags lent to children in need must be sorted by size, and large pots in the camp kitchen must be sanitized for next year.
In the 1970s, the FSC found a cheap pig farm as a store, and here the process took on mythical status as FSC staff (as volunteers were called) spent their weekends in or near Hut 42, rat-proofing Metal office cabinets filled with kits, refurbished pans, and huddled around to plan and share. They planted dozens of native saplings and hung canvases from dodgy timbers, the buildings twisting and deforming as they slowly sank into the luscious peat.
By the time the FSC called in the architects, the structures had already been condemned. A feasibility study conducted by Dinah Borat of ZCD Architects showed the possibility of replacement. Invisible Studio (which was invited to participate) and Mole Architects (based nearby) won the four-month selection process. The idea was to build a simple single volume and use a reusable steel structure for the large roof. When funding becomes available, FSC could work to create an insulated, heated space inside or set aside as a barn.
There are only two highlights: an open corridor connecting the spaces and a lantern hall with vents on the roof to ventilate damp tents and gear. These elements, along with the indoor-outdoor nature of the project, reflect Invisible Studio’s Piers Taylor and Mole Architects’ Meredith Bowles’ interest in Australian architect Glenn Murcutt and the pragmatic country home they built for themselves.
But the architects—including project architect Alice Hamlin, of Moore, who lives in Erie—were only a small part of the team that brought the building to fruition. Twm Ford, one of the FSC volunteers on the store committee, first attended summer camp as a child. Another committee member, Sophie Fraser Hafter (also an architectural designer for BDP Part 2), had a relationship with her pregnant mother, Caroline Fraser, before she was born. Fraser) came here together. Caroline Fraser, a volunteer and retired landscape architect, is the project leader. All have been camping and volunteering for years. That’s it. This builds deep loyalty and a sense of FSC’s mission. This has led to divisions over capital projects that inevitably only serve to shore up the camps themselves.
Since the decision was made by consensus, this was an important strength of the project. The team initially set a budget of £600,000, but the architects knew this would be almost impossible. “There were great ideas, but no money at all,” Taylor said. “You have to start a conversation,” Powers noted, and Fraser added: “There’s enough money for structural and plumbing construction.”
The £1.2m building required additional funding but also lost some corridors and steel framing. “Once you get a steel frame, it becomes expensive, and FSC becomes more aware of the carbon impact of steel,” explains Taylor. Powers also pointed out the complexity of the plan: steel is purchased to be reused in quantities that would be appropriate, while the shell must also be determined during planning. Other solutions were found for steel frames: low-carbon alternatives to wood. In order to decide on the 15m span as the choice for the timber truss frame some investigation was required. “It’s a lot more work to get something cheaper,” Powers said. “It’s hard to find people who are interested in something simple and cheap.” Engineer Steve Atkinson of Building Engineers took the lead, taking the concept design to the manufacturer and doing the calculations to take advantage of standard dimensions of cheap wood.
Open trusses bring life to an uninsulated storage room where kayaks are stored atop tent racks and plastic bins. Fiberglass skylights and sliding doors bring in light and open to allow loading and unloading of goods directly from the van – block floors on concrete beams and concrete ring beams are set above the ground to reduce lifting. In the repair room, huge sewing machines sit majestically, waiting for their voluminous tent gowns. The kitchen is designed to cater for a large volunteer weekend.
Taylor described the building as “ordinary.” Its corrugated black fiber cement cladding looks unremarkable from a distance, but the sliding fiberglass doors, wide gutters, and, most importantly, the rising lantern lobby demand a second look. This transformation adds character to what could have been a basic storage building. This is also a bright, airy, dry hall that houses the tent, which is raised using a crane typically used to lift theater stage sets. Doors on both sides are open, with blinds channeling the prevailing winds. The core of what Taylor calls the “big roof” is centered around activity for social interaction—although on a cold winter day when I visited, everyone was happy to move into the warm gathering space next to it.
Forest School Camp encourages learning by doing. This building has the same spirit – it is a storage building where people work. Its architecture effortlessly makes this easier.
From a numerical perspective
total contract cost £1.21 million
Cost per meter2 £1,611
GIFA 745m2
potassium carbonate2electrons/meter2 RICS Modules A1-A5 (building structures, excluding timber storage) 226.8
production staff
client Forest School Camp
architect Mole Architects and Invisible Studio
structural engineer construction engineer
Electrical and Mechanical Engineers ALH design
contractor milkcam
quality standards Sheriff Tiplady
supplier
sliding door gear Henderson
layers Introduction to Eternit 6
Louvre Museum pony
fiberglass skylight Brett Martin
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