A structure simple enough that school children could build it

One of the Peter Smith‘s priorities for the design of the COP26 House was that the house should be simple to build, using standard materials and skills readily available today.

And an inspiration for this simplicity in build was the Roderick James Architects’ School House project – a structure simple enough that school children can build it.

About the School House Project

The School House was a vocational project that enabled pupils to build their own sustainable timber house at the Burlington Danes Academy in London.

The pupils gained invaluable hands-on learning throughout a year of building a house from scratch. Students learned about design, foundations, carpentry, insulation, plumbing, walling, roofing, and many aspects of sustainability during the construction phase.

The design and choice of construction methods were influenced by input from the students, ability for elements of the build to be broken into component parts, cost, and availability of material contributions.

The short film documentary was produced by Optima Film during the process. It was developed as inspiration for other schools and academies across the country, and to give to students as a record of their achievement.

Overall project direction, design, planning application and Building Regulations for the project was provided by RJA at no charge. Roderick James himself directed the project and was actively involved at all levels at no charge. The generous and enthusiastic support of many other companies and people helped to make the project a success.

The collaborative approach adopted in the School House project is also something that has been embraced in the COP26 House project. More than 24 companies have come together from across the home building sector to develop our zero carbon timber frame house, as part of Beyond Zero Homes.