the staging post

An authentic log cabin restaurant, The Staging Post, has been built on land next to the theatre, situated in the grounds of Kilworth House Hotel. This unique facility provides corporate hospitality for up to 70 persons.

The Staging Post may be hired throughout the year for a drinks reception or dinner and provides the perfect way to entertain your VIP guests on a beautiful summer’s evening.

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the construction of the staging post

The Staging Post is the first log cabin of its kind in the UK and is unique in its design, size and wonderful build quality. The creation of such a beautiful and remarkable building has been achieved by the exceptional collaboration, expertise and skill of a dedicated team of professional craftsmen - a team which has really appreciated the opportunity to work on such an innovative project.

The shell of The Staging Post was constructed by the Scottish based company Highland Log Homes to a design by Corporate Architecture Limited of Leicester. An assembled international team of log builders consisted of four Scotsmen, two Polish, one German and two Englishmen to create this handcrafted full scribed log building. The construction technique used is the traditional 'Full Scribe' method using a specific notched corner system. The lateral part of the logs are scribed together to form an air tight join. This method has been used throughout the world for some 800-1000 years.

 

Highly-skilled craftsmen have been hand-crafting this style of log home for many years. The method of handcrafting a log home results in the logs retaining their unique character and each log is naturally tapered. The materials have not been milled to conform to a uniform shape and thickness, which is the case with modern milled or engineered log home styles.

Each of the logs used in the construction of The Staging Post were cut some 23 metres long, with an average diameter of nearly half a metre. The Douglas Fir trees were originally grown for their strength and straightness to supply the masts for tall ships. The trees, which were planted in 1927,were selected from a forest close to the shores of Loch Ness. During the new moon they were carefully felled, ensuring there was little disturbance to the surrounding trees, (The new moon is the best time to fell, as there is minimum growth to the timber).

Once felled the logs were taken from the forest under police escort to the Highland Log Homes yard in the highland village of Carrbridge in the Cairngorms.

The felled logs were then hand stripped of their bark using a traditional two handled draw knife and cleaned with a pressure washer. This aids in the drying process and eliminates potential blue stain problems common with log construction. The next step in the construction is integrating the prepared logs into the 'log work shell’.

The craftsmen work in 'rounds' starting with two half round wall logs and two full wall logs. Visual inspection of The Staging Post clearly show that the logs have been installed using the natural taper of the logs. Each log is individually scribed, then, working to a pencil line's thickness, the lateral groove in the log is created using chainsaws and hand tools. Once the log has been cut it will be fitted into position,

Fitting the logs into position is where the skill is required. The scribing method requires the log builder to scribe the upper log to exactly match the shape and profile of the log below it. This enables the notching of each log to be visibly air tight. No nails have been used in the construction of the log shell. This scribing technique used by Highland Log Homes is almost a lost art. Handcrafted log homes give a more natural appearance than milled or engineered logs often seen in many European timber homes.

The handcrafted logs have no milling marks and are full length, not pieced or butted together in the wall. The longest logs used in the construction of The Staging Post have a final worked length of 18 metres long and weigh just over two tons each.

The inevitable settlement of log homes has been considered throughout the design and construction and in particular the detailing of the windows, doors, internal walls and the fireplace. At the head of the windows and doors you will note larger sections of vertical timber allowing the logs settling space without crushing the installed windows and doors.

Once the log shell was fully constructed within the Highland Log Homes yard and inspected by Mr & Mrs Mackay and Corporate Architecture it was carefully disassembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle and loaded onto three lorries to make its long journey south to Kilworth House.

Following delivery of the disassembled log cabin into the wooded site the log shell was re-assembled by Highland Log Homes onto prepared foundations under the project management of Corporate Architecture Limited.

Once the log shell had been re-assembled the programme allowed five weeks to complete the rest of the building working in close liaison with the architects and R Bartlett & Sons, the contractors. The choice of finishing materials have been carefully selected to complement the environment that The Staging Post sits within and the natural shell itself.

The roof has been designed with oversized oak roofing rafters to complement the size of logs used. The cedar shingles and cedar soffits complement the rich colours of the logs. All of the timber selected, as with the main building logs, has come from sustainable sources.

The log home of The Staging Post will weather and change colour over the years, copper gutters have been selected which will gracefully age over time to a dark copper colour with verdigris green accents.

In addition, a natural stone fireplace has been constructed using stone specially selected from a now redundant quarry in North Leicestershire. The fireplace has been constructed in a simple shape but substantial form in keeping with the overall aesthetics of The Staging Post.

This description of the construction of The Staging Post has been prepared by Brian Grant of Highland Log Homes and Richard Coppock of Corporate Architecture Limited, June 2007.

for further information

For further information on the construction of The Staging Post contact:

Corporate Architecture Limited
35 Leicester Road, Blaby, Leicester LE8 4GR
Tel: (0116) 278 9257 Fax: (0116) 2789259
Email: office@corporatearchitecture.co.uk

Visit the Highland Log Homes website www.highlandloghomes.co.uk