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How Roundwood
frame Straw walls
Straw floor

Timber Frame

The frame is
constructed from quite
wiggly round oak logs
5"-10" in diameter. All of
these were selected
and felled from the
surrounding woodland
as part of an ongoing
program of thinning to
allow selected trees
space to grow on to
maturity.

The basic construction

is a series of vertical
posts in an oval, the
tops of which are
connected with
horizontals. This ring of
horizontal pieces
makes what is
conventionally refered
to as a roofplate or
wallplate. The
horizonals are
'tennoned' into the
posts although a
simpler alternative is to
'half lap' the horizontals
and use a metal bar /
big nails to fix the joint
on top of the post.

Please note that all of

the frame was made
with the bark left on.
Better practice for
longevity is to remove
the bark. I like to use a
 spade and sharpen it
up a bit.

Reciprocal Roof

Once the posts and

wall were up, a
reciprocal roof was
built on top. The
reciprocal roof is fun
and easy to make and
ideally suited to round
wood construction with
a minimum of
woodworking and
structural complication
(It doesn't push
outwards on the walls
and doesn't require tie
beams). It also looks
damn fine. Getting your
head 'round it can be a
bit tricky so i'd
recommend having a
go with a few small
sticks before trying the
real thing.

To make a reciprocal
roof, the first rafter is
propped up temporarily
(as in picture above).
The next rafter is then
laid so that it sits on
top of the first one. The
third is then laid so it
sits on the 2nd a little
way down from where
the 1st & 2nd cross.
each rafter sits on
another rafter below
and has on sitting on
top of it. This process
continues all the way
'round until the last
rafter just slips in
underneath the first.
The prop is then
removed so the first
rafter sits on the last
one. Finally the rafters
are fixed where they
cross.

How to Make a
Reciprocal Roof : A bit
more detail
Basically, you just
temporarily prop up the top
of the first rafter a little
(=radius of central ring: see
formulae) off the centre
point of the essentially
conical roof. When you are
happy, lay the second rafter
on top. Then lay on the third
and so on. The distance
between intersections or
crossing points can be
worked out (see formulae
below) and also can be
better checked by keeping
the points where rafters
touch all in a level plane, as
you work round. The rafters
should be fixed temporarily
as you go. Nailing 2-3 foot
of something between the
rafter and the one previous,
a little way down from the
top seems best to me.
When you get to the last
one you should find just
enough gap to squeeze it in.
If its not quite right you
should be able to jiggle the
last few rafters a little to
adjust the size of the gap.
Once they are all in you just
need to take the prop out
from under the first. This is
the exciting bit. Hopefully
you hear a creak and the
inner ring drops by about
and inch or two. I would
strongly recommend doing
this with a lorry strap or a
good rope tied round the
outside of the inner ring and
left there until final fixing is
complete. Though it barely
needs it, fixing the rafters
together is recommended. I
used inch diameter wooden
pegs although rebar,
nailtape, 6 inch nails or cat
gut are all good
alternatives.
Some useful formulae
for reciprocal roofs
Gradient = vertical dist. /
horizontal dist. = tan (pitch)
Wall post height = height of
central ring - (dist. from
centre x gradient)
Distance along rafter
between previous and next
crossings in the central ring
= Diameter of rafters at
central ring / gradient
Diameter of central ring =
(No.of rafters / 3.14) x
Distance along rafter
between previous and next
crossings in the central ring

In this case, the

reciprocal roof is made
on an oval, rather than
circular wall. The centre
is also offset to allow a
higher wall on one side
whilst keeping the
same pitch on all main
rafters (see elevation).
This allows the building
to more naturally follow
the line of the hillside
and is in keeping with
trying to maximise
diversity of the internal
space. Wall posts were
located where equal
angles from the roof's
cente point crossed the
desired wall line. Post
heights were then
calculated from the
measured distance to
the centre point and the
desired pitch or
gradient.

Lean-To's

After making the roof

we added 3 lean-to
covered areas againt
the sides of the building
where there were no
windows or doors.
These fullfilled 4
functions:

more covered space

(indoors outdoors)
aesthetic (house built
into the ground look)
sheltering the house
from weather
structural strength (not
really necessary but
always good)

In their simplest form

these were just made
by fixing more logs
from the top of the wall
plate down to the
ground where they sat
on slightly dug in
stones. At the front of
the building they were a
little different with a
section of posts and
beams as per walls. At
the door this joined into
an arch made of two
curved logs.
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