As mentioned in our last two Newsletters, Cintia and I are up in Queensland working on an affordable housing project. This week I thought I’d share a few images to show you what we’re aiming for and how far we’ve got.
Below is a screenshot of a 3D model which gives an idea of what the house will look like from the street.
3D model as viewed from the street (NE).
It’s a simple house of about 100sqm with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a deck and a carport. We aren’t doing anything special to make it energy efficient like we did with the Greeny Flat because the climate up here on Russell Island is so mild all year round. The main consideration in terms of staying comfortable is summer shading and cross ventilation. Whenever it gets warm in summer a beautiful, cooling sea breeze comes in from the east. The following floor plan shows how this house has been designed to allow the breeze to cool all the rooms, even if the bedroom doors are closed.
Floor plan showing how the house is designed to make the most of the summer sea breezes.
We had a bit of a slow start to the building project but we’re making some good progress now. Our trusses and frames were delivered last Friday.
Getting deliveries across to the island adds an extra layer of cost and complexity.
Our three wonderful framing crew got the walls all stood up Saturday.
Standing wall frames is FUN!
And we got the trusses up yesterday.
Trusses are fantastic pieces of structural elegance. Incredibly light, strong and easy to install.
We’ve now got lots of bracing and tie-down details to complete before we can put the roof on, hopefully towards the end of next week.
Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted with our fingers crossed for good weather in the meantime.
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