The Oakey Soakey was a shower block designed and built to support the development of a new campsite, allowing the Knepp Wildland Foundation to host an ambitious programme of events at the 3500-acre Knepp Estate rewilding project. This initiative aimed to involve the next generation of people in nature recovery projects and to contribute to the reversal of the biodiversity crisis.
The Oakey Soakey was inspired by bird hides and planned around framing a view to an oak tree on site, which only revealed itself once inside the shower cubicle, providing a rare moment of enclosure after long days working outdoors.
The block is demountable - it sits on zero-cement footings, consisting of tree trunks resting on compacted gravel pits. Reclaimed pavers are used as the shower floor, which also act as ballast for the structure.
The shower hide is a panellised system that is quick to build and allows many hands to work on it at once. The structural frame and panels have been designed around whole lengths and widths of timber in order to minimise cutting time as well as waste. We used readily available builders' merchant timber as well as upcycled plywood sheets from the film industry, supplied by the brilliant ReCollective.
We worked with Youngwilders’ community of volunteers to put the structure together over one long weekend, using basic power tools and framing techniques.