The new year

Despite plenty of rain over the Christmas break, the site is intact and work has resumed early this morning. Thermal mass block walls for the living areas are starting and next week, the steel portal frame will be craned in, enabling the upper floor framing to start.




Main level deck framing is in place with recycled hardwood joists. All steelwork is hot-dip galvanised for longevity, despite the additional cost.

The courtyard water storage (with a permeable top) has been covered by silt dug from footings to the retaining wall. The green lid in the foreground conceals the primary water filtration for all of the downpipes draining into the underground storage which removes the need for unsightly first flush and leaf eater divertors.

Formwork has come off the suspended slab for the Dining (winter Living) Room and the light slot through to the cool Store /Media /Music Room below provides perfect natural light for these purposes.


The last section of floor framing to the main level is being fixed in place (recycled laminated hardwood) to the Kitchen area.

The light-coloured (and light-reflecting) concrete was poured last week for the Dining Room, Gallery, Study and Laundry. This pale colour comes at a financial cost so the lower part of the pour (footings) used grey Portland cement.








Both concrete mixes contained recycled elements to improve properties and reduce embodied energy.

Taking shape

Formwork for the thermally-massive living area floors is ready for a pour tomorrow, weather permitting. The ply underlay to the rear wing will provide a safe working platform during construction and provide added thermal and acoustic insulation on completion.

Hardwood framing

Foreman Oliver Bergel on the job
Seasoned (40-60 years?) recycled hardwood framing is heavy work but will provide a rock-solid structure to the house and keep the carbon safely stored for another 100 years or more, we hope. Batten screws are the only fixings that can be used as the timber is so hard.

Courtyard water storage

26,000L of rainwater storage will sit beneath the central courtyard, collecting water from the rear roofs and through the soil. The excavated site is lined with plastic, filled with modular polypropylene units and covered with geofabric, then sand and soil. All three elements have 100% recycled content. The water will be used for garden irrigation and swimming pool top up. The installation of this water storage will be completed this afternoon and once covered, will be fully trafficable (though in reality, only foot traffic will pass over it when the building is complete).

There will still be another 46,000L of rainwater storage beneath the front driveway dedicated to household supply.

Walls

The recycled hardwood studs are beginning to stand up. The steep rake of the north-facing roof is angled to optimise solar energy collection.

Visible progress

Waterproofing to subterranean walls is almost complete, the bluestone wall marches on and the floor platform to the front bedrooms, supported on recycled hardwood joists (see September 25th 2008). The ply floor will now enable the construction of the walls above and the cool shaded garage beneath will provide welcome relief to the building team to retreat to from the hotter sun.