Products from Roundpole

• Building Construction

  • Public Buildings
    These buildings have all been designed to deal with the use of roundpole at large spans. A wide diversity of solutions are presented despite the perceived inherent limitations of the material.

  • Housing
    All of the buildings shown here are either houses or of an equivalent domestic scale.

  • Farm Buildings
    Three examples of roundpole use for  contemporary agricultural buildings are shown together with two traditional Finnish styles.

  • Large Bridges
    Whilst the use of roundpole for bridges is fairly uncommon, the examples on this page show the variety of types and scales of use where it has proven to be able to make a valuable contribution.

  • Building Elements
    The research has highlighted opportunities to replace existing standard building elements with roundpole equivalents.

• Landscape Elements

  • Paths & Bridges
    Many volunteer bodies such a the SCP (Scottish Conservation Projects) and the Forestry Commission have been using Roundpole for many years, for a variety of purposes including construction of paths and small bridges.

  • Fencing
    Traditionally Finnish and Norwegian Fences are timber intensive - whereas Scottish ones are sparing of a relatively meagre resource.

  • Shelters
    Traditional examples of buildings for human habitation made out of roundpole.

  • Playground Equipment
    There has been a significant tightening of regulations on wooden play equipment recently. This means that designs must comply with European legislation which limit hazards associated with trapping fingers and picking up splinters, etc. Some examples are shown.

  • Street Furniture
    The use of Roundpole is often seen as a “rustic” or rural technology, however there are examples of its use in urban contexts such as the new Oslo airport car park entrance where it has been used precisely for it’s high quality artistic finish.

   

• Common Factors

  • Foundations
    Across the Northern Periphery of Europe the use of foundations, and in this case of roundpole foundations, is split between those areas where permafrost exists, and where it doesn’t.

  • Joints
    Many of these elements (Informal and Tourist) will be assembled by amateurs and volunteer. A wide variety of options are shown but these should always be checked/discussed with an engineer.

  • Glues
    It was decided at the outset that this project would seek to avoid the use of toxic glues and treatments wherever possible. To this end a study was defined in order to investigate the appropriate response to any projects proposing glues as a part of their structural strategy.

  • Treatments
    It was decided at the outset that the projects should all seek to avoid, wherever possible, the use of toxic treatments in any roundpole structures.