2010 is going to be an interesting year.

This is the year we will need to prepare for 2011. The year in which we start building.
Now, when people ask when we start building, we can say.., “next year, we start building next year”.

So, what are the plans for 2010. I’ll sum them up to give an overview:

• Find an (Belgium) architect
• Submit for a building permit
• Sell the house in Rotterdam
• Move to Belgium
• Set up a temporary dwelling on our land
• Build a shed

Besides these actions we’ll need to learn (better) French, find suppliers, keep and find volunteers and keep working throughout everything to make money.

Wauw.., if you put it like that than 2010 is going to be a very interesting year indeed.

Architect

We need a native Belgium architect. One who speaks French as well as Dutch. This makes communication so much easier. It would help if he/she is from the south and had some dealings with our local government before.
Now, we did, or rather Laila and Lotte did speak to a potential and we hope that his price will be less enthusiastic as he was. As soon as we can agree on a price than we get cracking.
We need a somebody from Belgium because only Belgium architects can apply for building permits. Lotte would not be able to apply. A bonus is that a local architect can also help, a lot, with local contractors, and we’ll need all the help we can get with that.

Building Permit

In the talks L&L had with the architect he was very positive about the design (of course). He also suggested that it would not be a problem getting a permit on the design. Now, that is the design Lotte graduated on, it has slightly changed (see pictures).

Selling and Moving

These are a few issues that go together well. Selling the house, moving to Belgium, buying a (big) caravan and make Chenogne our home. This is also one of the most dramatic actions we will ever take in our lives and will definitely be the most dramatic move we’ll make this year.
Making a home in Chenogne will be tough, it has to be a temporary place, easily placed and maintained. But we’ll need (warm) water, electricity, something to cook on. All we have now is some grass, that’s it. A challenge to be met I’m sure.

Design

Last but not least. The house itself. Lotte has been creative again in providing solutions for our minor dilemmas.
Now, obviously all the ins and outs of the house will pass through this blog at some point, so I’ll leave you with just these images.

design and artist impression by Studio Middelkoop

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend

3th November 2009 was a day which might be considered the second milestone in the project that’s called “Four Elements House”.

Of course.., the first milestone was buying the land. But on 3th November  Lotte graduated as a Master of Sience from the Technical University of Delft, with a whopping 8,5. And she did it on the FEH design.

Below is a clip which illustrates the effort that went into creating the final presentation.

Building a model of a house takes effort.., and time. To have enough pictures for a presentation also.., you have to go.., uhhh.., one step beyond.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend

Last Thursday we visited the local government in Vaux-sur-Sure. These are the people we have to convince that we have a good idea . We were a bit nervous about the whole thing, it was our first talk and everything hung in the balance, they could say no to pretty much every idea we had.., they didn’t.

Shed

The main thing we wanted to ask was, if we can build a shed before we build the house. Normally this is not done, but because we’re such nice people we can. Condition is that we put the shed into the final drawing, we will.
The only thing is, we have to build within the building zone, we wanted to build it in the agricultural zone, but hey, who’s complaining. 

So, for now it seems that the shed build for August is still on!

Design

Lotte’s design of the house is also on par. There should not be a problem. Just a few minor alterations, but mostly, the design stands.
The alternative materials, extra windows for sunlight and solar panels are not a problem, either. Just as long as the house fits in the neighborhood and is finished within 2 years.

Windmill

This is the only thing we have to drop. We cannot build a windmill (or turbine) in the agricultural zone. The highest, and clearest, part of the land is in the middle. But, we can only build in the building zone and a 6 meter high windmill may not have a building within a radius of 6 meters… on top of that, the turbulence of the building would render the windmill practically useless.

Good Start

We are very relieved that the first talks (which were in English by the way, not French), went so well. Nice and helpful people.
We still have a green light on the project. Now, for building the shed, our second challenge (finding the land being the first).

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend

As our architect continues her study, writes her thesis and builds the models, we get a first glimpse of how the house might end up. As we’re told upfront, this is, by far, not the final design. But this will illustrate the concept. Of course, during the coming months the design will be altered to our wishes, or to fit in certain necessities or by the judgement of the architect.

So, what do we have. Well, I’ll sure try and make some sense of it.

The idea is that every room, or space in the house has a function and contributes to the whole. Lotte has designed the concept in such a way that it not only follows purpose, but it also suits our personal needs.

What you see above is the front of the house, the street side. The right half houses a workshop, storage, bedrooms and at the back a studio/office.

In the middle is a kitchen and bathroom. This is good, it’ll keep the waterworks concentrated. The left side is a living area.
And the back (left side) is a winter garden (orangery) where we can keep our exotic plants and it also provides a buffer zone for retaining heat. The living room looks out over the orangery/greenhouse.

Split Level

The house has various levels and stairs are never higher than 1 meter. The studio, bedrooms and bathroom are low, then the living area, and the kitchen is the highest. We recon we spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. It will be the heart of the house and it will have a view of the entire garden/land.
Also, the kitchen will open up onto a terrace, which is above the studio.

The orangery opens up onto a terrace on ground level, at the back of the house, from which we can go into the garden.

Now, we still have a lot to do, we’ll have to give the systems a place in the house and we need plenty of storage.
The design is not finished, but the concept is clear and we love it.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend

I wanted to share this with you. It’s a plausible design of Our Earthship. It is not perfected of course. This is just a way to visualize how we want to end up.

It is based on the Earthship build in France. The one we visited before. Advantages are that I have seen the Earthship and the plan is available on the internet. This is, of course, not set in stone. But it keeps one occupied.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend