Company logs on to houses made of trees (From Gazette & Herald)

Company logs on to houses made of trees

An innovative Ryedale building company which works entirely with wood has completed an ambitious project on home turf.

Treehouses Ltd may sound like fun, but it is the name of a serious and successful Settrington-based construction business.

Last year, it built a brand new surgery for the Battle Flats Veterinary Practice in Stamford Bridge. Working with the architects Bramhall Blenkharn, it combined different mediums and built a wooden upper-floor on a brick lower floor.

However, most of the company's work is done entirely using wood. "They are, put simply, houses made of trees," said owner David Harrison.

The timber is bought, made-to-order, from the Finland-based company Timber Hirse.

"The buildings are made in Finland, but design and planning stages take place with the customer, and the construction is all done on site," said David.

He is enthusiastic about the product, a genuine alternative to conventional building work. "I've always enjoyed working with wood and what impressed me about this was the speed of building, the environmental benefits, the fact you can build anything to any shape, and they are also attractive and warm," he said.

Treehouses Ltd has also designed and patented a foundation system which means they can be built without forming a solid concrete base - which is expensive and environmentally unfriendly.

"Ours cost a quarter of the price and it incorporates a plinth which is bolted to the underside of the logs," said David. "It means you can carry the foundation on to the site without having to dig or excavate."

All the materials come from sustainable forests and the company is very hot on renewable resources.

"Cement is seen as a big problem as it gets harder and harder with age, to cut it out is great," said David.

He is keen to point out the difference between the Treehouses buildings and some so-called log cabins.

"The term log cabin has been misused," he said. "There's a difference between what people have come to regard as a log cabin and a building built of logs.

''In our buildings, a log is a major structural support, carrying weight from the roof to the floor, whereas in a lot of timber-form buildings the wood is no more than a cosmetic effect."

He is pleased to have such an up-to-date example of their work so close to home at Stamford Bridge, but Treehouses is a national company, with scope think bigger.

"It is irrelevant where we do the work since we import all the materials anyway," said David. "We have just had inquiries about a European contract, so there really are no limits."

Updated: 11:46 Wednesday, March 22, 2006