The Cabin in Harmony Woods , Andover Trees

The winner CPRE Hampshire Countryside Awards , Sustainable Communities Award , sponsored by the Newbury Building Society , is the Cabin in Harmony Woods.
Andover Trees have been working on an ambitious project to build an off-grid, sustainable classroom and field study base at Harmony Woods, a community woodland in Andover. The cabin has been carefully crafted to fit in with its landscape and be sensitive to its surroundings. This versatile facility will transform the community-planted woodland, making possible forest schools, training programmes, craft workshops and importantly, space for volunteers.
What the judges said
This is an excellent application well aligned with the aims of the sustainable community award. It is a well thought out project, using locally-sourced materials, involving the local community in its creation and in its build, and with long term benefit to the local community. The organisers have been imaginative in involving the community in its construction and in using this as an opportunity to teach new skills. The use of hyper-local materials and low impact building techniques is impressive as are other sustainable aspects of the build such as rooftop solar and water capture and storage. The supporting letters from local schools support the long term community benefit of this scheme.
Find out more about Andover Trees: Andover Trees United