TOP TEAM FOREST HOLIDAYS
embraces the forest, with the fully glazed frontage. The other, angled volume houses the service areas, like the bathrooms. There are two roofs, the one over the service area is lower, which makes construction more cost-effective. The two volumes are connected inside with a full height wall, either housing a wood burner, or a wall-mounted television.
What are the sustainable elements? Gamble: They are made from FSC- sourced timber, locally-sourced, where possible. The foundations are special: we created a small bore mini support- ing a subframe, with a cassette floor which fits on this, which the timber- framed superstructure can be built on. This means the cabins hardly touch the forest floor and there is no excavation needed. They are code 4 level sustaina- ble homes, but the latest ones at Hampshire are now reaching for code 5, since they will incorporate bio- mass heating, which will be fuelled by wood chips, sourced from the Forestry Commission coppicing programme. The cabins use a stack ventilation system. Careful orientation and solar shading avoids overheating. They are extremely well insulated: the floors have 10 inches of insulation.
What are your favourite features? Hoehenwarter: The windows from the living room, and the shape of the liv- ing room and kitchen. We managed to create a design with a character and ethos which can’t easily be changed, with lots of charisma. They are much nicer in real life than I ever imagined. Gamble: I like the way that when I walk in it feels immediately comfort- able and warm. They embrace the forest and are cosy, yet dramatic. I love that we have designed something which makes me feel like that. l
"The UK short breaks market is a large and growing market supported by a demand for easily-accessible holidays and authentic trip experiences" Martin Draper
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The forests feature a range of walking and cycling paths Richard Palmer, Development Director, Forest Holidays
What is your career background? I’m a chartered engineer by trade and started off working on power stations before spending 12 years in the Navy, after which I did an MBA at Warwick University. After that, I worked in vari- ous engineering and manufacturing positions across Europe before joining Forest Holidays in 2006.
What is your day to day role? Obtaining the planning permissions and overseeing construction of the new sites. I am also the key liaison with the Forestry Commission.
What are the main challenges of your job?
The main challenge is that we build in sensitive locations. We take this very seriously, working closely with the Forestry Commission and other stake- holders to make sure that we deliver in an ecologically sensitive way. Not only are the cabins ecologically sus- tainable, but the forest thrives around the cabins thanks to the planting and other ecological work which we do.
Blackwood Forest, Hampshire is your current project. What will it offer? Sixty cabins, roughly 70-80sq m in size. We have one, two, three and four-bed cabins, as well as copper, silver and gold specifications. Copper is the mar-
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ket entry cabin and gold has the most goodies: a log burner, hot tub, more bathrooms and more luxury touches with the fixtures and fittings. We also have a central facility where you check in and out and get local information, and a Retreat grocery store.
How have the sites progressed? We have a 'lessons learned' process from every site, which we take to the next, so each site is slightly different. But, on the whole, if you look at the original site in Yorkshire and the lat- est site in Hampshire, there isn’t a huge difference. The main difference is that in Hampshire, we are looking to introduce a bio-mass heating system using wood pellets, which is more eco- friendly, This site is close to London and a shuttle bus will run from the local train station, so we believe this will be popular for people wanting to get out of London without a car. l
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