Also in Kalk Bay, Cape Town (and a few other places in Cape Town) I saw tables like this one, where beach drift wood makes up the below glass texture.
It’d be nice to slowly collect driftwood from Perranporth beach and make one.
Tag Archives: ideas
Artwork idea – cut outs from rusting metal sheets
I saw these in an art gallery in Kalk Bay, Cape Town.
I like the idea of taking an old sheet of rusting metal. Chalk (or something) drawing on some shapes, cutting them out and then ending up with the cut outs to perhaps put in the house and the sheet with it’s holes put in the garden or some such.
Maybe dolphins, fish and flying fish ?
Property Adaptations for Dogs
Dog bowls integrated into the kitchen island.
Bone handles in the drawers above the dog bowls, where dog stuff goes.
Make the stairs close together, so smaller steps, which makes it easier for dogs.
Garage door poster ?
These “stick on” the garage door.
https://www.style-your-garage.com/en/Garage-poster
These stick over your garage door.
First a “customer pic of one” and then a few I liked:
OR ?
Get some local graffiti artists to paint the door and wall ?
OR ?
Cool wellie rack
The NASA Design Process
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/plantgrowth/reference/Eng_Design_5-12.html
STEP 1: Identify the Problem — Students should state the challenge problem in their own words. Example: How can I design a __________ that will __________?
STEP 2: Identify Criteria and Constraints — Students should specify the design requirements (criteria). Example: Our growth chamber must have a growing surface of 10 square feet and have a delivery volume of 3 cubic feet or less. Students should list the limits on the design due to available resources and the environment (constraints). Example: Our growth chamber must be accessible to astronauts without the need for leaving the spacecraft.
STEP 3: Brainstorm Possible Solutions — Each student in the group should sketch his or her own ideas as the group discusses ways to solve the problem. Labels and arrows should be included to identify parts and how they might move. These drawings should be quick and brief.
STEP 4: Generate Ideas — In this step, each student should develop two or three ideas more thoroughly. Students should create new drawings that are orthographic projections (multiple views showing the top, front and one side) and isometric drawings (three-dimensional depiction). These are to be drawn neatly, using rulers to draw straight lines and to make parts proportional. Parts and measurements should be labeled clearly.
STEP 5: Explore Possibilities — The developed ideas should be shared and discussed among the team members. Students should record pros and cons of each design idea directly on the paper next to the drawings.
STEP 6: Select an Approach — Students should work in teams and identify the design that appears to solve the problem the best. Students should write a statement that describes why they chose the solution. This should include some reference to the criteria and constraints identified above.
STEP 7: Build a Model or Prototype — Students will construct a full-size or scale model based on their drawings. The teacher will help identify and acquire appropriate modeling materials and tools. See the design brief for a sample list.
STEP 8: Refine the Design — Students will examine and evaluate their prototypes or designs based on the criteria and constraints. Groups may enlist students from other groups to review the solution and help identify changes that need to be made. Based on criteria and constraints, teams must identify any problems and proposed solutions.
I like the splash of blue on white
This idea and these colours could be used for both the kitchen and the coats etc. store area.
Colours wise, it seems to tie in with this property that I feel has a nice coastal look and feel through the materials and colours:
Having the kitchen island a stand out colour:
Interesting, how in this picture the white becomes the stand out item.
– I’m thinking the colour being the lower volume item(s) will work better at Silver Spray.
I must dig out the information I found on kitchen tops that are made from recycled materials.
- Wood looks great, but you have to look after it, for it not to slowly not look as good.
- I’m not convinced by marble. I’ll have to look at a few.
- This kitchen with light grey floors and wooden tops seems to work well:
I’ll have to get some designer, friends and family input on something this modern or a more traditional look such as:
Layout wise, still stuck on whether the island should have the cooker +/or sink +/or water source.
If it does, then this kitchen extractor hood looks great.
Hot tub ?
mmmmmm
It seems my friends are more inspired by the house having a hot tub than anything else!
Yes, it would be great fun, to sit in a hot tub outside the lounge or on the balcony at the top by the study. BUT can I find a way to be a bit eco about how to heat the water ? (Lets face it, having a big body of heated water outside, can’t be that efficient). So, ideas on the best way to achieve the idea:
- Use hot water that is heated by the solar panels and a back burner on the fire?
- The Scarlet Hotel hot-tubs aren’t metal as I thought, but made out of Glass Fibre Polyester. Looking at the Website of the Dutch firm that makes these log fired hot tubs, you can use a hose to fill them. So maybe you could use the house hot water tank to pre fill the tub with the 800 litres of hot water. Then use the fire to keep the water warm.
- These tubs are 170 x 260 cm wide (specification),
- “The weight of the Dutchtub can reach 1400 kg / 3000 lbs, a small platform under the tub can spread the total weight on more square meters than just the four legs of the tub.” (Safety).
- The English agents are www.BigFire.co.uk
Sea facing windows
I was talking to Malcom who built the end house and he said his top tip would be to not only “over spec” any windows and doors that face the sea, but also to make sure that they are installed in a way that when it’s windy the external weather pushes them tighter shut, rather than blowing them to create a gap through which wind +/or water can come.
He has since sold the house, but when he lived in it, he said you could see the windows flexing inward when there were strong winds and you could see and feel the whole house flexing. It was a timber frame construction and in order to keep as airtight a house as possible, this re-enforces the idea of going for brick or a steel frame.
A steel frame could then have panels between the steel made with wood, and sheeps wool or similar insulation to off-set some or all of the CO2 impact of the steel and other less eco building materials. The steel frame could be in such a way that, when the house is altered or taken down, it can be taken apart and recycled.
- I’ve since this post been told by an architect (who’s done enough projects to know) that a house that flexes this much is more likely down to the building specification and construction than the materials. That you can make a solid timber frame house.
Steel frame with Adaptahaus
This is a follow on from posts about perhaps constructing the house with a steel (and not wood) frame to give better rigidity, given the exceptionally exposed site location.
- Steel (not timber) frame ?
- I’ve read a report that shows we should expect an increase in weather severity (magnitude and frequency) in the SW of the UK, over and above global trends in that direction.
Alan at Adaptahaus have got back that yes, we could work with them to:
- Liaise with local architect / planning consultant, which would let us carry on in that direction re ideas and the general space etc.
- Liaise with local builder for the groundwork’s / foundations.
- Attend the site to inspect and install anchor bolts into the cast concrete foundations.
- Arrive on site with the steel frame + all external panels + floor panels + roof sections.
- External panels to have external larch cladding, windows installed, insulation and waterproof and breather membranes in place, a services void behind the inner wall face (this inner face to be Fermacell board which requires no plaster skim) and a services connection route at the sides and bottom of each wall panel.
- The floor panels to be prefabricated timber framed cassettes (ground floor complete with insulation and first floor complete with ceilings beneath) and these to be dropped into the spaces between the steel joists of the steel frame.
- The steel joists (accessible between all floor cassettes) are hollow channels to provide conduit routes for all services
- The three roof sections with zinc cladding over insulated timber framed panels and Fermacell ceilings to the underside to be installed on to the top of the steel frame of the house. This to complete a weathertight and secure, lockable building shell.
- This would be the end of the Adaptahaus stage of the build.
- Your local (partnering) building contractor to now take over the shell and discuss and agree with you the final location and configuration of your internal room layout. We would probably stay connected with this process and provide computer modeling of the internal layout to help assist the decision making. NOTE, no other build system will allow you to delay the final choice of internal layout until the house envelope is complete.
- Once your room layout is agreed the local building contractor to install all of the services using the conduit routes throughout the whole building leaving tail ends to suit the fixtures and fittings that will be positioned in those places once the internal walls are built. The conduit routes then to be closed over with cover strips
- The floors to be laid (possibly with underfloor heating if chosen)
- The internal walls to be built and doors fitted
- The fixtures and fittings to be installed and all commissioned.
So it looks VERY interesting and something we should come back to as we move the project along.
I don’t like the in floor coverings to the channels as per the picture below:
So I asked about this and got the reply that:
Thanks for your reply and, yes, the floor covering can be continuous. That is what I have suggested in the proposed build procedure. The conduit access throughout the building would give good access for a speedy installation of the services but all the finished floors would be laid over the covered over conduits once the services were installed.