About JarkLife.com and Jark the eco-camping and Glamping solution

How it all started - Jason Wise, the founder of JarkLife.com and inventor of the Jark eco-camping and glamping solution, is a Chicken Farmer. His chickens have always been well looked after, well fed, free to roam and above all, happy. Jason however, was not happy with the way chicken farmers where being pushed to produce larger and larger volumes of chicken to supply the market with low cost and frankly low quality poultry. He was worried that it would lead to taking short cuts, which would ultimately effect the level of care he was able to give to his stock.

Even though he had invested a great deal of time, money and effort in the farm, he took the brave step of moving against the tide to concentrate on the poultry he was happiest producing. Jason set up the Chicken Shack Farm Shop at Roosters of Babylon, Silverton. This meant that, whilst he was still able to supply high quality Ark Chicken to some of the country's top chefs, he could also sell direct to the public. A success story in it's own right.

However, Jason had a problem. Having reduced the number of birds and concentrated on the slower growing breeds he no longer needed the large modular sheds he had designed and built to support the larger numbers of birds. Jason had designed these arks to be modular and mobile. These arks were steel framed, insulated, bolted together and could be lifted into place with a tele-handler. His chickens didn't need them anymore and he didn't want them to rot in the fields, so some serious head scratching was needed. He didn't want to sell them to other farmers as they would only be doing the sort of high volume chicken farming he didn't like. He had 57 sections and not a clue what to do with them.

This is where, in the movies, the star of the film would snap his fingers together and say "I've got it". Well it did't really happen like than, but Jason found inspiration at the bottom of a glass of local cider (only one of course). "I know" he said "I'll make camping huts out of them!". Well this was before the term Glamping had been heard of, and more than one person has laughed at the idea. But Jason was determined to follow this idea. An idea which has seen to date, three designs, the hiring of an award winning designer and support from many collegues, friends and family.

The Ark Hut - Inspired, Jason started on the production of the Ark Hut. For this product Jason installed a floor, stable door and clad the walls of the modular chicken ark section. A little rustic, but with the true spirit of recyling, the Ark Hut is 10ft tall, 14ft wide and 12ft deep. Plenty of space for a home office, or a double bed and a set of bunk beds. Plus with the insulation enjoyed by the chickens, it was warm and dry, even in the winter! Jason was happy, he had a product which was really useful, recycled and could make a lovely space for someone's garden or even rented out by a campsite. However, the Ark Hut's steel frame proved to be a little heavy and a number of like minded farmers where keen to purchase the inovative ark sections for small holdings. Whilst the Ark Hut provided many of the features Jason wanted to see in his eco-camping solution, now that the steel frames were not really an option, he decided that more head scratching was required.

Jark - the first true eco-camping/glamping solution from JarkLife.com - Jason decided he wanted a higher quality product to help the eco-camper/glamper really enjoy their experience. He also wanted to deliver the product flat packed. Needing some help he sought the advice of the MAS (Manufacturing Advisory Service). They put him in touch with Oliver Blackwell an award winning designer from Exmoor. Jason and Oliver hit is off straight away and Oliver really understood what Jason was trying to achieve. They had a number of meetings which went on late into the night before a final design was agreed. A number of changes had been made, the design tweeked and more consideration paid to the look and feel of the product as well as it's eco credentials. Not only that, but a product name was needed and the Jark or "Jason's Ark" was born!

The Jark's new design features included a steel skid, to give the Jark mobility e.g. it can be dragged behind a 4x4 or tractor. There was lots of glass to provide more light and connection with the outside space. The roofing material had options; Oberon 25% recycled tin, faux grass or cedar shingles. The insulation provided by local ewe's wool and barley straw, electricity supplied by hook-up or solar pack, plus all the timber was FSC certified. Gone however, was the flat pack design as following discussions with potential customers it turned out that they would prefer a complete and ready solution instead of putting the Jark together on site.

This product, whilst being the first Jark it was actually the second eco-camping/Glamping solution from JarkLife.com so was called Jark 2.

Jark 3 - ready to go to market Following it's very successful unvailing at the Mid Devon Show (July 2010) and further discussion with a now widening customer base, Jason and his entusiastic and fully commited side kick Adrian Gray, felt that Jark needed another step up in quality of finish and an increase in size. Consulting Russel a local carpenter and joiner of high repute, Jark has been re-designed (although only materially) to now be made of hardwood, with cedar cladding and bamboo flooring, still with the multiple roofing options and the unique steel skid, keeping Jark mobile. Jark 3 is still constructed from FSC certified timber, has plenty of light and can be extended from it's Family (2.4m x 3.7m) and Luxury (2.3m x 4.9m) sizes using the unique canvas extensions. Like the roofing materials, the insulation is now optional i.e. none - 1 season, ewe's wool - 2 season and rock wool/celotex - 3 to 4 season full insulation. Jark 3 is also coated in nanoShell, a fantastic eco-friendly water deflector to extend Jark's life and reduce the impact of our wet British climate.

More information and pictures of Jark 3 will be coming to this site very soon.

Jark - the future - Jason and all involved in the concept and construction of Jark and JarkLife.com are really excited about Jark 3 and are looking forward to working with lots of customers who we know are going to be knocked out by Jark 3!