Pedram (Pedz) Paddidar is the founder of JOY (Jersey Organic Yurts) – he learnt to build yurts in Spain out of pure necessity as he needed a structure to live in. He embarked on a yurt building course with Jack Everett and from there learnt to build these beautiful structures. Fast forward several years and he returned to Jersey and developed his business, building and renting yurts, which he now runs with his wife Corrine.
Can you walk us through the process of making one of your yurts? What materials do you use?
Before any physical work is carried out Pedz will sit and do the math depending on the size yurt he wants to build. He is always innovating, using different angles to create more of a curve in the roof or higher walls etc. This is where the seeds are sewn.
Then we have to go to France and choose the wood from a mill. Our yurts are “steam bent yurts” and are generally made from ash or oak as they are durable yet flexible timbers. The wood needs to be carefully selected to avoid too many knots which causes the poles to snap when under pressure or in the steam bending process. Not all yurts have steam bent poles, the Mongolian style for example have straight poles.
Once the wood has been bent (including the crown, the wall poles and the roof poles) they are then left to sit for a month or so. During this time Pedz will make the oak frame for the door and the door itself. Then everything gets sanded and oiled, the walls get tied together in a trellis formation, the crown has willow inserted in it to gives it a dome-like shape for water to run off the roof and holes burnt in it to insert the roof poles.
Once the structure has been made it is set up and then the sewing begins, this is where I come in with the much needed assistance of my aunt Jean. The band to hold the structure together is the first thing we measure and make, then the roof which is sewn in segments, measured twice and cut once!
Then the walls and finally the hat.
These are the basic components that we make – of course there are other elements such as the base, flooring, windows etc.
How does being based in Jersey influence your work and the materials you use?
We try to use providers from as close as possible, within reason, which is why we choose France for our timber and the UK for our canvas. We also make furniture from Jersey sourced timber and use local service providers for the smaller aspects of our trade such as accessories, other materials.
We would source our timber from Jersey if it was possible however it simply isn’t available.
What does being a member of Genuine Jersey mean to you, and how has it helped your business?
We are proud to be Genuine Jersey Members as our products are entirely Jersey made and we believe this gives us an edge over other similar businesses. Genuine Jersey has been helpful in sharing our work through “Meet the Maker” videos to free advertising and publicity over the years.
We have featured in most Jersey magazines at some point over the years and believe much of this is due to our membership with GJ.
What’s the most memorable feedback or story from a customer that has stuck with you?
We love getting customer reviews and only recently we had a beautiful one which basically said they felt comforted by our relaxed, down-to-earth approach to the whole process as weddings can be daunting events to plan. We try (as much as possible) to put our clients’ minds at ease when they come to us so that we can help them achieve the day they dreamed of and not force our ideas upon them instead letting them run wild with their ideas as it’s a rare occasion.
Do you have any exciting projects or plans for the future?
We have a whopper on the burner at the moment – we finally got approval for our eco-glampsite/retreat to go ahead in St Aubin and we are working on it as we speak. It is a beautiful site overlooking the bay and will feature seven sleep yurts, permaculture gardens and a yoga space for classes and retreats which can be rented by practitioners.
We hope to have the yoga space “The Shala” up and running this summer with the accommodation element slowly being installed throughout the season as a trial. with a formal launch in 2026! Watch this space and look out for JOY Retreat in the months to come.
jerseyorganicyurts.com
