Common House – heart of the Bridport Community
By Maria Krupa
Earlier in October I visited the Bridport Cohousing site to see the progress of works on the common house building. The single-storey timber frame structure sits in the middle of the site of 53 affordable homes and will be the final built element of the project and an essential ingredient of the cohousing community.
Floor layout – planning proposal
The building will act as the focal point of the communal life and provide a range of indoor and covered outdoor spaces for the residents and wider community to gather, cook and eat together, work and hold events.
pic. 2&3 Exposed straw bale walls before the lime plaster course
Timber and straw for the structure and clay for the plasters were sourced from the local area
It has been a truly communal and collaborative design and build process - it took a team of residents, designers, carpenters, educators and volunteers to get to this point. The low carbon, energy efficient building is being delivered under the lead of designers Georgina and Jack from the Bridport-based Local Practice.
The timber structure was prefabricated by local carpenters and volunteers and erected on site. School of Natural Building led an on-site series of sustainable building techniques courses – including concrete-free foundations, straw bale walls, lime plasters and clay plasters (due).
Materials sourcing map and building section drawings by Common Practice
Building completion is planned for the spring 2024. Barefoot Architects have been involved as the project architect working in close collaboration with the cohousing community up to the concept design. We then assisted local designers Common Practice with the planning application and remained involved as the principle designer during the post-planning stages.
We can't wait to see the common house occupied and celebrated by the cohousing residents!
Bridport Cohousing Community Land Trust website: https://bridportcohousing.org.uk/the-common-house/
To register for the clay plastering training course visit: https://bridportcohousing.org.uk/courses/
For more information and pictures of ongoing works visit Common Practice site: https://commonpractice.io/COMMON-HOUSE