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Week 5 still just drains: look at this photosynth on your iPhone / iPad for 3D

Photosynth Week 5

drainage collage

the last few days have been taken up with looking for existing drains, which seem never to be where they are meant to be on paper: this included digging up the neighbour’s garden (with permission, obviously) and of course the usual divining rod, as well as a technological version (which didn’t seem nearly as effect as the old hazel twig, or could have been willow or peach. In the end the thing that worked was just digging up lots of earth until we found them, and of course now that we are actually building on the site, this is something that we can do, and is in fact what we will be doing for the next few months! So now I am looking down at our newly installed drainage, thinking that this is the system that will take away all of our family’s ablutions for years to come (not to mention that it looks capable of serving the whole of Portobello!)

steel frame

Guest Blogger Ian McMillan: The first issue of the steel contractor’s drawings have come in for checking after only 22 Formal TQ’s and 14 phone call queries (whilst on holiday in Cheltenham).  There are one or two minor issues we’ve picked up from the drawings – as usual it’s cross bracing (engineers like a lot of this and architects never want any) and connection details.
We had looked at a timber frame, with steel sections – which became a hybrid solution which started to become overcomplex, so we investigated an engineered timber solution which couldn’t be guaranteed to achieve what we needed, so we had to bite the bullet and go for a full steel frame.  It’s not so uncommon on mainland Europe where steel and in particular concrete framed solutions are the norm – but then again they do expect their housing to last more than 25 years.
There are 8 tons of steel being used, which is much more than you would normally expect for a new build this size.  The primary reason is that the ramp cuts through most of the structural lines, and the extend of glazing and large open plan spaces which we needed to do in order to maximise the daylight and spatial flow and connectivity within such a small plot size.  Then when you have a steel frame you might as well use it to its full potential – and introduce cantilevers.

One of the most important things about designing our accessible family home, was that it should be a place that belongs to the children as much as it does to us; the best way to ensure this is to include them in the design process

Greta’s bedroom

space for my toys

Bee making sure her bedroom is her bedroom

Bee’s fimo Chambers McMillan family

Bee describing the house

Bee looking in

T looking in

Greta red-lining plans