Sunday, December 05, 2010

Armadilla




The Armadilla is a garden office designed by Archie Hunter and his son Ross which they say combines traditional boat building techniques with state-of-the-art modern methods of construction: all timber is sourced from sustainably managed forests in the Scottish Borders, steamed and then shaped in special moulds to create the eyecatching Armadilla look (which reminds us slightly of the Archipod). "The use of timber helps to sequester the CO2 naturally present in the wood and helps makes a reduction in the output of greenhouse gasses," they add.

The whole thing is built on a steel base which can be lifted by forklift, crane or helicopter and sited on level ground, gravel base, bark or even on the beach should you so want. Some more details:
A breathable waterproof membrane is attached internally and then 50mm of Thermafleece sheeps wool insulation from British flocks is fixed in place before the internal lining is installed. Externally, the timber is coated with Osmo, a natural oil wood treatment. Units can be fitted out with a 240 volt system (with underfloor heating if required) or have a 12 volt system powered by PV cells for off grid situations.

There are various sizes of Armadilla all of which would be useful for shedworking or co-shedworking and indeed they have built more than 150 Armadillas. You can see lots more photos, interior, exterior and of the construction process at their Flickr site here.

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