Five Favourite Curvy Glulam Constructions
BACK TO BLOG MAIN PAGE
Buckland are particularly fond of curved designs as they stand out from the crowd.
We make our curved beams by clamping glued lamella around an arrangement of clamp frames bolted to the floor, and then differing radii are made by adjusting either the clamp layout or thickness of timber used.
Watch a timelapse of a curved beam in manufacture
Making a build unique to you is all part of the fun when designing a project; here we share five of our favourite curvy constructions.
1. Holiday Pod, Cynefin
We designed and supplied these tight radius British grown larch glulam pods to be used as mini holiday homes.
We get quite a few requests for bespoke, curved glulam beams, but this one was a little different as we were asked to supply the structures in once piece.
The structures arrived on site with the floor and roof beams incorporated together, for quick and easy installation.
- Client: Cynefin Retreats
2. Hertfordshire House
This curved oak glulam roof was designed for a luxury house extension in Hertfordshire.
It was unusual as the curve was on plan, and the glulam beams had to be machined to a very high tolerance to perfectly match the curved double glazing. Precision design and engineering at its finest!
- Engineer Haskins Robinson Waters
- Architect David Kohn
3. Blackdown Hills
A British grown larch glulam project, this house was featured on Grand Designs.
The complex geometry included an ever increasing structure of curved beams, so no two were the same.
Designed and made by us, the design was based on the Fibonacci sequence, yes really!
Buckland had early input into the design, suggesting a cost-effective glulam rib scheme which helped get the project from the drawing board to reality.
- Architect Sadler Brown
4. Pencuke Farm Holiday Let
Another smaller project, this curvy design was about adding warmth and character to a dutch barn conversion holiday let in Cornwall.
The client used curved glulam beams to create a ceiling structure, keeping them visible to add interest.
The glulam beams and columns form a portal frame structure that replaces an old steel frame farm building and is now a holiday let.
5. Pret a Manger, Heathrow
This tree like structure was designed, supplied, and fitted by Buckland.
The design used spruce glulam with internal steel flitch plates to create an open canopy structure providing plenty of light, but also defining a space within a space.
This is one of our favourite projects as the biggest challenge was not the design, but how to get all the pieces of the design to the site via a 3.4 metre lift space!
