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A New Approach to Mobile Homes
The Future Roots mobile home units are very unlike most people's pre-conceived idea of a mobile home or caravan. They are classified as transportable buildings and are designed to comply with the Caravan Sites Act 1968 and British Standard BS 3632. However, unlike many conventional mobile home units, they are built to last and have been developed with close attention to their environmental impact, both during manufacture and in use. It is envisaged that all homes will to some extent be self-built, or self finished, by the cooperative residents.
THE STRUCTURE
At the core of the building is a steel chassis on which sits a Douglas Fir post and beam timber frame with traditional pegged jointing. Properly looked after a frame of this nature will last in excess of 100 years. All timber is locally sourced as far as possible or otherwise is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) accredited.
The key benefit of this approach to building is that neither the external walls nor the internal walls are load bearing, therefore allowing the home owner almost unlimited flexibility.
The overall width of each unit is approximately 6m (20') and is divided into two separate modules for transportation. Lifting eyes on the chassis enable easy manoeuvring by crane.
The length of each unit can be varied by the number of 3.6m (12') bays required. Total length can be as little as two bays, 7.2m (24') and no more than the maximum of five bays, 18m (60'). Rigidity of the structure is by means of timber bracing which can be expressed with subtle shaping or kept minimal, as taste dictates.
THE SHELL
Some clients may wish to purchase the basic structure only and finish the shell and fit out the unit themselves. We are very happy to support such self-builders and provide a design consultancy service as well as a list of recommended suppliers for this purpose.
For those clients who do not want to self build, we are more than happy to complete the unit to finished shell, complete with timber cladding, your choice of roof covering and double glazed windows. Again we can offer advice on services and fit out as required to take the unit to completion.
All units finished to shell by our team will be designed and built to the highest quality and environmental standards. The specification for all units will include the following:
- Local/FSC timber
- High levels of insulation (in excess of current building regulations)
- High levels of air tightness to avoid undesired ingress of cold air
- Controlled ventilation
- Natural insulation materials and breathing wall systems
- Timber windows with Low E double glazing
- Service voids for cabling and pipe work
- Timber cladding
- Choice of roof covering
SITING / FOUNDATIONS
As our mobile home units are designed to comply with all the legislation governing conventional mobile homes they can be sited anywhere that has planning permission for a mobile home or static caravan.
Foundations should generally be of a concrete pad variety, thus requiring very little groundwork and minimal use of concrete.
Please note that our mobile home units are designed as homes, for long term, year round use, not as occasional holiday accommodation. As such, we believe that our mobile home units offer a real affordable and sustainable alternative to conventional housing solutions.
For further information please e-mail futureroots@cooptel.net