Hi all!
My architect, Marc Schepens, has finished the first impression of the groundlevel!
I met Marc a few years ago and I was impressed by his unusual architecture and interests… Allot of his buildings are organic or seem to be inspired by nature.
As I have always been a big fan of organic architecture it seemed almost inevitable to contact Marc and ask him to design my little house. After the first meeting allready I knew I made the right decision.
I explained Marc my goals with the project and what kind of building I would like to realise. Together we made some quick sketches and discusses what is important and what’s not.
Offcourse the most important issue is the environmental aspect. This means also thinking about placing the house on the right spot and positioning it in the right direction. I’m not going to explain everything right now, but I’ll put the picture of the groundlevel up first and gradually (in time..) explain why we made some decisions…
by Marc Schepens
The bottom is South and the top is North.
As you can see allot of the windows are directed Southward. However there is a large roof overhang above the terrace. This allows sun to enter in winter, when sun is low. And protects the house from heating up in summer.
You can also see two different kind of heating devices. One of them is an Aga.. this is a kind of stove you can cook on. The other will be a finoven or tilestove (still deciding what will be the best sollution).
The aga could also provide warm water for the bathroom and kitchensink. It’s very important that kithen and bathroom are close to one another as these rooms require water. As the ground is sloping slightly downwards towards the east, it’s also very convienent to have the “water cell” on the highest part of the house, this way it’s more easy to drain the filthy water towards a purifying pond and still keep it close to the surroundings.
Another benefit is that the current bedroom is located in the east, wich makes it very nice to wake-up with the early morning sun. I’m not sure, however, if I’m going to keep this room as a bedroom. it might be more convenient to put the bedroom on the upperlevel (under the roof) and have this room as a big storage closet.
In the North, the house is protected and “insulated” by a little hill. This hill will also capture the sun heat (warmth inertia). However, because we are building with strawbales there will be only a very small amount of heat transfering from the hill to the house. Strawbales are known to be very isulating and this works (sadly enough) in both directions.
At least, in winter, the difference in temperature between the interior and exterior will be diminished by putting ground all around (60cm below groundlevel, the temperature never drops lower then 3 to 5°C). I’m also thinking it might be possble to integrate a grid of tubes which collect air from the outside, transfer it through the hill to the interior of the house. This might be a good way to warm up incoming air in winter and cool down incoming air in summer. This system is allready used in modern, high-tech ventillation sollutions… Might be fun to make my own low-tec sollution 
Well… I have lots more to tell you, but for now time is running out… So i’ll continue later on!
Right… where were we?
Oohyeah! I had a selling agreement on the ground in Stekene. My notarian phoned me last week to inform me that finally all the paperwork is done and we can arrange a meeting to transfer the ground from the former owners to me… that also involves paying for the ground.. aawtch…
Just so you know.. it took the notarians (one of mine and one of the previous owners) 5 months to finalise the job! This is almost twice the legal term !!!! Take this into account when you are buying a ground !!!
I was also breaking down the chalet and shed and well.. I still am!
The reason why it takes so long is because I have been busy informing myself on building with wood and also because I was moving from the farmhouse in Zottegem back to my parentsplace in Mechelen… Officially I still live in Zottegem, but nowadays I’ll be more in Mechelen than in Zottegem… I’ll probably stop renting the place in Zottegem real soon!
I want to re-use allot of materials from the chalet and shed for the low-impact building. Untill now I was storing all my wood and stuff in the shed. BUT! Because the roof is made of plates consisting asbestos, I really want to get rid of it. Untill this same year I can bring the plates to Antwerp for free. Next year however I’ll have to pay for it (and it will be allot!). Because the year is almost over I have to hurry to complete this operation. The problem however is that when I take of the roof I’ll no longer have a waterproof place to store my wood and other materials from the demolition.
I will also need a place where I can work with wood for the post and beam construction of the house. It has to be safe and not too far from the ground. At first I was thinking of putting up a tent on the ground itself. But than a tent of big size would cost me about 800 Euro and it’s not really save… People could just enter and steal all my equipment.
This is why I went on looking for a cheap place where I can work and store all my stuff. Strangly it took me only two days to find this place!
Now I’m renting a 100m² working area with electricity, gaz, a shower and a toilet! I agreed upon a 100 euro’s a month with the kind lady who is renting it.
It’ located in the center of Stekene, this way I have almost no transport costs and I have a safe place to store all my stuff and to work there! GREAT!
I also went looking for equiment.. as uptill now I only had an ax and some little tools, but for preparing the post and beam construction I’ll need havier stuff! Not far from my current job there was a shop having a total sell-out… and guess what… they sell handycraft equipment!
I bought almost everything I need for about 650 Euro’s (everything at half price) ! I only need a good drill and a big jigsaw!
We’re getting somewhere now !!!!
Here are some pictures I took tday of the place I’m renting and the material I bought… More pictures of the ground and the demolition of the chalet and shed will come up soon !!!!
The workingspace
The equipment
The materials I took from the chalet and shed to re-use
OOYEAH !!! At this moment I could really use some extra hands to break down the remaining of the chalet and shed!!! So if you have some time to spare don’t hesitate to contact me!!!
Greetz