our design process

James:- Our design process has involved much research, plenty of imagination, probably too much discussion and thousands of dollars. The final submitted plan is a highly tailored version of our first scribble that we can (hopefully) afford to build; will satisfy the building inspector and retain as much of our original thoughts as possible. We have avoided an architect, but worked very closely with a wonderfully patient draughtsman; have had to pay for engineering expertise (as i believe everyone does in NZ for seismic, wind and snow loading calculations.); employed a great little consultancy to oversee both the strawbale and the clay plaster systems; paid for thermal modelling and throughout the whole process involved Greg, our cornerstone who has been brave enough to take on not just this project but us as well!

In retrospect would i change anything.....................perhaps not going down every avenue that i did to build, in my mind, the perfect house. I could have pick 'my battles' a bit more carefully and possibly saved a few thousand; but on the whole i feel my pig headedness will have paid off. The major battles i lost:- an affordable masonry stove with a wetback (long story that one!) and rubble trench foundations (involvement of US engineers, seismic loading issues, i'll let someone else pay for that first through the councils!).

Where did we start.........i wanted to incorporate a castle turret, a mongolian ger and a medieval gallery. Nicky wanted a pantry and a toilet separate from the bathroom. We both wanted an open plan kitchen/eating area with an 'island' as opposed to worktops around the edge. Rudolf Steiner apparently thought that children should have compact sleeping areas but big communal play area, so that sounded good. We chucked in a bit of Feng Shui; incorporated passive solar heating design; kept the house dimensions to loosely fit the 'golden ratio'; utilised some classic natural build recommendations; rattled on about 'Passive Haus' and then repeatedly had to tear the design apart and reconstruct it to satisfy everyone else's requirements!

My thoughts on the process:- Nicky attending a BBE (Building Biology and Ecology) 'design your own eco-house' course was invaluable. EBANZ conferences/house tours were educational. The cost of the design being thermally modelled was offset by the reduction in the glazing area as a result. My bloody-mindedness has retained much of our original ethical rationale; such as no treated timber (i'm only mentioning this because if you stick to your guns, continually ask 'WHY?' and talk through even the craziest ideas, a lot is achievable). Employing experts for crucial elements might seem expensive initially but when the xxxx hits the fan, they're worth their weight in gold.

Talk to everybody you can. Raid the library of all its architecture/building/design books, especially ones with loads of photos. Immerse yourself in information if that's your thing (i tend to). Take photos of anything and everything. Invite yourself round to other peoples houses if they have used similar materials/techniques, the same tradesmen. Bore friends and family with you plans; it's amazing how i've overlooked the most obvious design fault to them. Listen to people when they say that 'it's too expensive'; i'm learning they're often right! Walk around new housing estates, old areas of cities, gold mining townships, docklands, museums; it's amazing where ideas can come from.

I've bored you all enough; i'm outa here