The collaborative project between CSM Forest School, Forestry England and Material Cultures – a not-for-profit research and design studio working towards a post-carbon built environment – questions and responds to the impact of monoculture plantation woodlands on our landscape.
The partnership addresses the UK biodiversity crisis by experimenting with alternative uses of biobased materials from the forest so a wider range of trees could be used in construction in the future.
Forestry England are responsible for more land and trees in England than any other organisation in the country. As the country’s largest supplier of homegrown, sustainable timber, their approach to managing forests has a significant influence on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Historically, timber producers such as Forestry England have taken a monoculture approach to forestation to produce specific types of wood in response to market demand. Monoculture plantations often involve the extractive forestry practice of clearfelling; where most or all trees in a forest are uniformly cut down as part of a careful forest management lifecycle. Clearfelling leaves ecosystems vulnerable to disease and negatively impacts biodiversity and soil health.
Forestry England have been investing in diverse, resilient future forests that are responsive to climate change to protect nature for the next generations and beyond. This includes diversifying tree species to better protect from pests, diseases, and climate change for healthier ecosystems and to ensure sustainable timber supplies.
They are currently testing and implementing a continuous cover system to preserve ecosystems which is an alternative to monocultures.
The Clearfell House is an innovative demonstrator building in Dalby Forest, Yorkshire, England. This experimental timber structure is a tangible outcome of the ‘Constructive Land’ collaborative research and innovation project with CSM Forest School and Material Cultures, funded by the SOM Foundation European Prize. This funding facilitated the CSM Forest School to deliver impactful knowledge exchange with partners to benefit both industry and the public through in-curriculum activity delivered in collaboration with CSM students. The CSM Forest School is a cross-disciplinary platform for journeying into the forest to discover, learn and re-form not only the practice of architecture but of living together responsibly within ecological and planetary systems.
Summer Islam and Paloma Gormley of Material Cultures teach on the CSM MA Architecture course led by Andreas Lang, founder of CSM Forest School. The funding for this collaborative project allowed them to work with Forestry England to examine the potential of forestry practices for the British landscape, exploring materials and building systems for a new model of regenerative land management. Constructive Land was showcased at the Central Saint Martin’s Lethaby Gallery in 2022, and the full Constructive Land research report is available online.
Together, Material Cultures and the CSM Forest School explored and tested regenerative construction and resilient forestry practices with 33 CSM postgraduate M-Arch architecture students. Under Summer and Paloma’s design and innovation direction, the students experimented with affordable, low carbon biobased materials and fabrication, testing under-utilised tree species for the timber structure.
Forestry England opened Clearfell House to the public in Spring 2025. Made from ash and larch – diseased timber that is often overlooked but has unique qualities – the house exemplifies regenerative construction methods and is available for members of the public and industry groups to use the space for activities and to learn about woodlands and the thriving wildlife and habitat in Dalby Forest.
The immersion of this exemplary building within the forest will highlight the stresses our forests are under due to climate change and what resilient forest systems could look like in the years to come.
Hazel Stone, the National Art Curator for Forestry England anticipates that Clearfell House will increase ‘dwell time’ in Dalby Forest, which is a key target for Forestry England to increase visitor engagement with the Forest. The aim is to use Clearfell House as a positive example of public engagement intervention and encourage more architecture commissions to feature across Forestry England locations.
Specialist timber construction contractor 'Yorkshire Oak Frames' reflected on how the project had changed their behaviour and construction business practices:
“It certainly opened my eyes and I’m just one person in the project. I’m sure that you know, the amount of foot traffic you’ll get through here (Dalby Forest) with the general public and school kids, students [that kind of thing] it can only get better.”
“I’ve got a project not more than twenty miles from here of my own where I’ve started to incorporate these kind of materials in. I’m thinking of using the wood wool which we’ve used in this (…) Inspired a little by Material Cultures and others (sic) that I’ve discussed this since we started, using hemp as well.”
Material Cultures have since gone on to lead Mosaic Landscapes as fellows of the Future Observatory at the Design Museum. This is an extended applied research project exploring the broader relationship between treescapes and landscape regeneration.
Summer Islam, Co-Founder and Director of Material Cultures remarked on the outcomes they experienced from this partnership in generating further collaboration and impact across the built environment and construction supply chain:
"The project opened up and supported us into dialogue with foresters, ecologists and sawmills that have led to long term partnerships and collaborations in both our teaching, and our design practice. It was a formative piece of work that has changed both how we practice at Material Cultures, and how we teach at CSM.”
In May 2025, Clearfell House won the Architects Journal AJ Small Projects Award 2025. As part of this, the project will be published and printed in the Small Projects special issue of the Architect's Journal.
Clearfell House was supported by Forestry England, and funded by the SOM Foundation and the Forestry Commission’s Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Fund.
CSM MArch Students: Antonio Abreu, Zahra Ghizlene Badaoui, Elise Blackmore, Cameron Carrington, Zhonguang Chen, Can Danisman, Lucy Daw, Samuel Fraquelli, Leo Hui, Eleanor Johnson, Harry Kendall, Emilia Kepista, Irmak Kuzu, Emily Llumigusin, Amadeo Martini, Joy Matashi, Hannah Millett, Michael Parish Dominica Piatek, Hannah Robinson, Leyla Salih, Dilushanan Selvarajah, Sabina Shaybazyan, Rowan St John, Adam Standford, Humzah Uzzaman, and Elliot Wedge.
If you are interested in collaborating with the CSM Forest School contact CSM Innovation.