– It helps having a building like this, one of the farmers add, it appeals to people interested in organic produce, and those are the ones we sell to.

To use national pinewood turned out to be more of a challenge than we first thought, as its quality is much lower than the expected and not at all in line with its price. Of course, the design of the doors, following the geometry of the inner arches and therefore with a quarter circle part, was already a big challenge for newbies!

The last week of the workshop, and plenty of things were completed. We started and finished laying the cordwood floors, using the cut up oak. All the walls were completed, all with its own pattern.The eastern wall made up by the windows placed as a V, and walls filled by chopped birch wood and debarked oak logs. Above the windows we made the wall fillings by recycled wood

The third week started with making the first cordwood wall, starting with the southern facade. It was exciting to finally see some results from processing of the material. The roof was completed to the point of having a covered structure. The layers for planting will be done at a later stage.

The 2nd week started with a lecture by Cordwood DIY builder Olle Hagman, taking us through the history of cordwood building, the development of the technique and how it’s being used today. Olle also joined us on site with some valuable advice.

The first week of LearnBIØN course #3 Design and Build with Cordwood started on the 1st august with an introduction in Järna. The team was gathered with participants from 9 nationalities, all with unique skills that each one brings to the project.

Design and Build with Cordwood is a 4 week building workshop. During the workshop we will build a cordwood building to suit the needs of the newly established organic farmers in Östertälje.