It is currently 29 Mar 2024, 08:07

Keep this one to yourselves.

This is where we don't want anything but evidence of your finest wood butchering in all its glorious, and photograph laden glory. Bring your finished products or WIP's, we love them all, so long as there's pictures, and plenty of 'em!

Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 14 Jul 2015, 20:02

Some while ago I mentioned an unusual house I am designing. Well, here it is.

This is the concept model:

Image

Image

Image

The rationale is that the site had a windmill on it many years ago (there is no sign of it now), and the owner wanted something that rotated, and reflected the idea of the windmill. Well, that's a bit too literal for me, so I came up with this turbine-like shape which implies rotation but without actually looking like a windmill or turning at all.

The site is in what is colloquially known as green belt (protected from development). There are only very limited things you can build on protected land, one of which is the so-called paragraph 52 development, for "innovative and exceptional" houses. These have to be virtually self sufficient on the site to start with, but also have to be extremely special houses. You can't just stick up a grand pseudo-Georgian mansion under this rule. It is so rare that this local authority have never done one before, and had to consult with other authorities to understand what is involved.

Anyway, the client and local authority liked the concept model, and a structural engineer got really excited (curved in 2 dimensions glulams are extremely rare), so we are pressing on. I've drawn it on the computer in 3D, but this isn't an awful lot of use to anyone. I couldn't get access to a 3D printer, so I retired to the workshop for a couple of days to make a better model.

The big curved glulams are the difficult bit. Curving in 2 dimensions means it is very difficult to keep a reference when trying to cut them out. I laminated some ply, cut the top shape, and then stuck a temporary platform over that with the plan shape glued to it:

Image

After each cut, I glued everything back together again with hot-melt glue, then took another cut:

Image

Image

Image

Image

In comparison, the central ring was dead easy. In reality this will be 4.8 metres in diameter (16 feet or so). This model is at 1 to 50:

Image

Then I made the basement and the site (the plot is about 20 metres wide and about 200 metres long in reality, so the model only covers the part of the site with the building on it):

Image

But fouled it up completely, and remade it:

Image

With the ground floor in place:

Image

With the glulam sole-plate in place:

Image

A bit of cardboard and hot-melt glue for the ground floor plan:

Image

Then it was time to assemble to frame:

Image

Image

But there's only 3 legs, Mike. Yep, that's because I'm a clumsy bugger:

Image

There'll be 4 when the glue dries. I then glued those legs to the sole plate:

Image

Note the very different shape to the original concept model. I have made the ribs a quite different curve, so that they get up higher quicker, giving the building greater capacity, particularly upstairs on the 1st floor (I'm not sure........do Americans call upstairs the second floor?). I have also simplified the internal walls because everyone kept telling me that curved internal walls would mean spending a fortune on hand-made fitted furniture (.......yes, and......?).

More tomorrow, I hope. This is why I have nothing to report on my house build at the moment, but this project is important, might end up on TV, and you have to earn a crust. :D
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby tracerman » 14 Jul 2015, 20:34

Mike G -
1) Crikey .

2) Do we sense Kevin McLoud somewhere here ?

Steve
tracerman
Sapling
 
Posts: 343
Joined: 12 Sep 2014, 15:16
Location: southampton , hampshire, UK
Name: Steve

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 14 Jul 2015, 20:49

There'll be a serious discussion about Grand Designs once we have Planning Permission.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Rod » 14 Jul 2015, 21:51

Interesting stuff - is it going to be covered with some sort of fabric?
How will it be insulated etc?

I watched one of those GD programmes that built a house according to Paragraph 52 - very difficult to comply with it.
They managed to reach the required no. of points by doing some "green" landscaping.

Rod
User avatar
Rod
Old Oak
 
Posts: 4471
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 21:34
Location: Winchester, Hampshire
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Robert » 14 Jul 2015, 22:05

I watched a BBC programme about Frank Gehry a few weeks ago and his designs with nothing straight and using aircraft design software to cope with the curves.

Hope your software is up to this design. Most impressed. I've done difficult 3d curved shapes in sheet metal in the past, sometimes taking on work our competitors baulked at so I know how hard it can be to get things right when complex curves are involved. Looking forward to the grand designs episode one day.
Robert
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2490
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 19:31
Location: Woodford Green
Name: Robert

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby RogerS » 14 Jul 2015, 22:20

Image

In awe.
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
User avatar
RogerS
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 13291
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 21:07
Location: Nearly finished. OK OK...call me Pinocchio.
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 14 Jul 2015, 22:26

Rod wrote:Interesting stuff - is it going to be covered with some sort of fabric?
How will it be insulated etc?


Thanks Rod. The initial conversations were around covering it in sheet metal....zinc or copper, but I have come to the view that it will be better covered with plain tiles, and with major copper highlights (like a capping over the ribs, and around all the windows, plus the rainwater goods). One of the problems with trying to cover in a sheet material such as zinc or copper is that they need a ply substrate, and trying to cover that building with ply will be a real test.

It can't be done in a tensile material because of the valleys. Well, let's rephrase that. It could be done, but it would cost a small fortune.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 14 Jul 2015, 22:28

Robert wrote:....Hope your software is up to this design. Most impressed......


Thanks Robert. Yeah, it's laborious in Autocad, but it is do-able. I'm quite good at 3D modeling.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 14 Jul 2015, 22:28

RogerS wrote:.....In awe.


Cheers Roger.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Wizard9999 » 14 Jul 2015, 22:49

Any thoughts on the build cost Mike?

Terry.
Wizard9999
Old Oak
 
Posts: 1409
Joined: 08 Aug 2014, 11:51
Location: Eversley, Hampshire
Name: Lord Radford

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 14 Jul 2015, 22:52

I told the client to have a million pounds available. The basement alone will cost more than £200,000.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby chataigner » 15 Jul 2015, 07:51

Once again I'm utterly dumbfounded. Firstly by the vision and creativity, but also by the knowledge that the architect is quite busy with another project at the moment !!!

Hope it comes to fruition, it looks amazing.
Cheers !
Chataigner in Périgord-Limousin National park
http://www.rue-darnet.fr
User avatar
chataigner
Old Oak
 
Posts: 1063
Joined: 23 Jul 2014, 08:02
Location: Périgord-Limousin National Park, SW France
Name: David

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 15 Jul 2015, 10:06

Thanks David.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 15 Jul 2015, 21:42

I got a few hours in on the model this evening. First, I did another 4 curved-in-two-dimensions glulams. The upper photo shows the pieces prior to the final cut:

Image

Image

The area below the glulams will be glazed:

Image

These secondary timbers took forever! Each one had to have a plumb cut and a seat cut, and an angle to one side or other of the plumb cut.......and had to be adjusted multiple times to get the length right:

Image

Image

Image

Image

You'll note that I only did alternate ones on the left hand side. I was getting short of time, and I'll fill in the gaps tomorrow.

Image
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby DaveL » 15 Jul 2015, 21:58

Well this looks good, but you will definitely need help building this, unlike your current project. :lol:
Regards,
Dave
My tool kit is almost complete, only a few more to get.
User avatar
DaveL
Old Oak
 
Posts: 1918
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 21:07
Location: Sudbury, Suffolk
Name: Dave

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 16 Jul 2015, 19:16

I finished off the rafters:

Image

It took some while to work out the shape of the upstairs floor, but having done that, it was only a few minutes with a glue gun and knife and we had an floor layout done:

Image

It's handy to have a bed to scale to give a sense of the size of the rooms.

Next came the solid oak stair :) :

Image

Image

Image

The last photo shows that I cut a front door through the sole plate.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Pinch » 17 Jul 2015, 06:49

This is very cool 8-) Right up my street - no puns.

Looking forward to seeing this one develop Mike - exciting! 8-)
In my previous life, I was a tree.
User avatar
Pinch
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2808
Joined: 22 Jul 2014, 21:59
Location: Shropshire.
Name: Paul

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Wizard9999 » 17 Jul 2015, 10:09

Mike G wrote:I told the client to have a million pounds available. The basement alone will cost more than £200,000.


Mike

So, based on my rule of thumb for Grand Designs that the actual cost comes in at twice what the architect says at the outset, that'll be two million then. I am sure that this tendency has nothing to do with architects wanting to get their wonderful creations built and therefore don't want to scare clients off with two big of a cost to start with. ;)

Terry.
Wizard9999
Old Oak
 
Posts: 1409
Joined: 08 Aug 2014, 11:51
Location: Eversley, Hampshire
Name: Lord Radford

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Rod » 17 Jul 2015, 11:09

Twice as much and twice as long - but that's mainly when the Client manages the project themselves?
I'm sure it won't happen if you keep control Mike.

Rod
User avatar
Rod
Old Oak
 
Posts: 4471
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 21:34
Location: Winchester, Hampshire
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 17 Jul 2015, 18:35

It's rather the other way with me, Terry. I would rather scare them off starting something they can't afford.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 17 Jul 2015, 19:13

I built the dome quickly:

Image

Image

I think it's probably too tall, but it's good enough for the purpose of discussion at this stage.
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby RogerS » 17 Jul 2015, 21:58

I preferred it without the dome, TBH. Looks a bit like a modern cathedral now, IMO.
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
User avatar
RogerS
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 13291
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 21:07
Location: Nearly finished. OK OK...call me Pinocchio.
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 17 Jul 2015, 22:50

Yeah, I'm going to have another go at that........
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby chataigner » 18 Jul 2015, 17:37

RogerS wrote:I preferred it without the dome, TBH. Looks a bit like a modern cathedral now, IMO.


:text-+1:
Cheers !
Chataigner in Périgord-Limousin National park
http://www.rue-darnet.fr
User avatar
chataigner
Old Oak
 
Posts: 1063
Joined: 23 Jul 2014, 08:02
Location: Périgord-Limousin National Park, SW France
Name: David

Re: Keep this one to yourselves.

Postby Mike G » 18 Jul 2015, 20:53

I had another go at the dome. It's better, but I think I'll end up with more of a lens shaped glass clover over the occular.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
User avatar
Mike G
Sequoia
 
Posts: 9835
Joined: 30 Jul 2014, 22:36
Location: Suffolk
Name:

Next

Return to Projects & WIP

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Andyp and 18 guests