fold

Architecture and interiors, Copenhagen.

Work House

Orchard House

Svendborg, Funen. 2026. Under construction.

A tall timber stud frame with horizontal bracing and a steel beam, standing against a pale blue sky.

The north wall in frame, with the first-floor beam in place. The studs are spaced at 600 millimetres.

The house is built in the open, on a plot that was an orchard until the 1970s. The frame went up in nine days. Completion is planned for spring 2027, and this page will be updated as the walls close.

The frame

Orchard House is a timber stud frame, cut in a workshop in Odense and assembled on the plot in nine working days. Every external wall is 45 by 220 millimetres at 600 millimetre centres, which is deep enough to take 220 millimetres of wood-fibre insulation without a second layer.

Using one stud size everywhere is a decision about waste. The builder orders one length per wall and cuts nothing on site that was not already in the drawing.

The frame of a house porch and the first lengths of roof truss, with a temporary fence in front and an oriented-strand board wall on the right.
The porch frame and the first trusses. The board on the right is the racking panel that stiffens the wall.

The grid

The plan is drawn on a 600 millimetre grid, so that every door, window and cupboard lands between two studs. The windows are the size that falls out of the grid: 1,200 millimetres wide, or 1,800, or 2,400. There are no special sizes and no cut-and-fill around an opening.

The family asked at the start whether the grid would make the rooms feel rigid. We think it makes them feel calm, and we will know in a year.

A two-storey timber frame with a complete roof structure and scaffolding on the upper level, seen from the street, with pallets of bricks in front.
The frame from the street after nine days, with scaffolding up for the roof underlay.

The trees

Thirty-eight apple and pear trees stand on the plot. We moved six, in January, with a tree spade, and the house is placed in the gap they left. The remaining trees will be pruned by the family and will shade the south terrace by the second summer.

What comes next

The roof underlay is on and the roof tiles are ordered. Windows arrive in November, and the interior boarding begins when the house is airtight, which will be tested with a fan before any board is fixed.

  • Three builders working on a timber floor deck and the first posts of a wall frame on bare ground, with a grey sky and bare branches above.
    Day one. The floor deck is on its piers and the first wall posts are being plumbed.

Drawings

Plan of Orchard House Ground floor plan, drawn on a 600 millimetre grid. Scale 1 to 100. Rooms: Living and dining, Kitchen, Utility and pantry, Hall and stair, Study, Workshop. Living and dining 69 m² Kitchen 23 m² Utility and pantry 18 m² Hall and stair 23 m² Study 11 m² Workshop 11 m² 16 m 9.6 m 5 m N
Ground floor plan, drawn on a 600 millimetre grid. Scale 1 to 100.
Cross section of Orchard House Cross section through the living room, looking north. Scale 1 to 100. The roof is a gable, with the eave at 5.6 metres and the highest point at 8.4 metres. Levels: Ground floor, First floor. Ground floor 0 m First floor 2.9 m Span 9.6 m Eave 5.6 m Ridge 8.4 m
Cross section through the living room, looking north. Scale 1 to 100.

Materials

What the building is made of, where each material is used, and who supplied it.

  • Close photograph of pale oak veneer with a fine straight grain.

    Oak

    Floors and the stair, from windfall trees on the plot

    Ravnkilde Sawmill

  • Close photograph of a warm beige plastered wall with a soft hand-finished texture.

    Lime plaster

    Interior walls over wood-fibre board

    Skovlunde Kalk

  • Close photograph of corrugated zinc sheet, grey with a soft sheen.

    Zinc

    Chimney cap and window sills

    Vesterhav Zink

Credits

Architect
Fold
Structure
Holm Ingeniører
Frame
Fynsk Træelement
Builder
Tre Mand Tømrer
Arborist
Frugthaven Træpleje
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