Month: January 2008

  • Grrrrrand Designs…

    I love Grand Designs, it’s been an inspiration to me and is at least partially to blame for this project. But the latest series has so far defined grand in terms of pounds and pence rather than any more noble or aesthetic value. So far we’ve seen rich people building rich peoples houses – grand…

  • Ecohouse 2 – A design Guide

    Sue Roaf, Manuel Fuentes, Stephanie Thomas ~ 2003, Architectural Press. This is the second edition of this book and has two introductions – one for each edition. The introductions carry the usual messages of doom regarding rising sea levels and diminished fossil fuels that pang of preaching to the converted, but sets the context for…

  • Building Progress ~ January 2008, week 4

    At the moment, my life seems to be dominated by lintels – oak or concrete, big or small. Progress is really racing along at the moment – the first floor in the main part of the barn is almost complete, the floor has been started in the smaller kitchen end and the first floor doorway…

  • Building Progress ~ January 2008, week 1, 2 and 3

    Progress has really slowed as my builder is away on holiday and left his boys finishing off another job at the start of the month. However, as I write I’m led to believe by my spy on the ground that there’s furious activity at the barn. Whilst the first floor continues to be built, the…

  • Lack of Government support for solar power

    As this project progresses certain features become core to the overall design whilst others fall onto the ‘B’ list. This ‘B’ list consists of technologies and design elements that I would like to implement during some future phase of the project as time and money allow. Electricity-generating photovoltaic (PV) solar panels have always been on…

  • Oak Beam ~ The Movie

    Inspired by my first outing onto YouTube and dazzled by the 143 people who’ve so far taken the time to watch the minute long tour of the ground floor of the barn that I’ve subjected treated them to, I thought I’d give it another go. This time I’ve gone for a more abstract yet focussed…

  • White-washing?

    One solution I’m considering for the seemingly porous stone gable-end wall is to repoint and dub-out the joints between stones where necessary then whitewash it to provide a greater degree of rain protection. What I’m wondering about this is how much work this would save over a time consuming hack out of damaged or cracked…

  • Building Progress ~ New Year 2007/2008

    The feel of the barn has moved on again as now the openings for the two windows that we’re adding to the gable end of the barn have been completely punched through. Whilst it’s hard to get a proper appreciation for the view they provide as they are currently covered with old aggregates bags and…

  • Vernacular Architecture ~ Robert Venturi

    In my haphazard stumble through the world of architects and architecture, I came across Robert Venturi. Whilst not perhaps directly appreciating his work when seen on the page in print (his emergency service building for Disney World in Florida is a Fire Department HQ straight out of a Mickey Mouse cartoon), I do appreciate and…