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Living Remotely or Off Grid


Dougie Do'ins
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34 minutes ago, Karl_b said:

Stunning, Neko - really elegant, refined and considered homes. My own would err for more solid and less glass and push the PassivHaus standards and make them cosy little boxes that are kept warm by a candle! Slightly more Olson Kundig than Mies, perhaps. 

 

But wow, I hope it comes to some sort of fruition!

 

I want to start giving some thought to my "10 year plan" to become carbon neutral, it'll be less remote but hopefully something almost as interesting!

Just looked at Kundig’s stuff, amazing. 

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10 hours ago, neko said:

Remmie,

 

It's easier and cheaper to draw things than to build them.

 

As NP said, it's the Canadian Shield. You can buy huge tracts of lands at quite reasonable prices. Just not always easy to find. We're just lucky that our friend (who is loaded) offered to sell it to us. 

 

Living in Vancouver, owning a house bought almost 20 years ago makes anyone a millionaire. The money we would make from selling up here could easily cover building in rural Ontario.

 

The corona virus is doing its best to fuck things up though.

 

 

What an incredible project and I am sure loads of work went into it. Looks an absolute dream; stunning remote location, a blank canvas on your home. I'm supremely jealous but also know there is no way I'd have the skill and knowledge to get it right even if I had the money. 

 

Good on you. 

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20 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

Fingers crossed you get there. 
 

and remember these inspirational words and build me a house.  
 

ive a mate who works for Size Group as a QS. She’s worked on some incredible places.   https://www.sizegroup.london/   

Involved in lots of high end residential? It's never been a sector I've got involved in, I don't have the stomach for it.

 

I get to work on some interesting projects, to be fair, and have had a varied and interesting career to date.

 

I tend to work on HE buildings (ha, not any more!), including big academic facilities, energy centres, a medical school (seeing bodies is fucking creepy) and research facilities, so have lived off that bubble for the last 5 years or so. We'd started to move in to other things, acknowledging that it doesn't last forever, but I've realised how much I miss working on housing, particularly social housing. I'd love to be doing Kundig-esque stuff but actually I'd be most at home trying to achieve even a fraction of what these guys do:

 

http://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/housing

 

Proper, community-lead housing with quality, robustness and decency. 

 

I'm off topic here.

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32 minutes ago, Karl_b said:

Involved in lots of high end residential? It's never been a sector I've got involved in, I don't have the stomach for it.

 

I get to work on some interesting projects, to be fair, and have had a varied and interesting career to date.

 

I tend to work on HE buildings (ha, not any more!), including big academic facilities, energy centres, a medical school (seeing bodies is fucking creepy) and research facilities, so have lived off that bubble for the last 5 years or so. We'd started to move in to other things, acknowledging that it doesn't last forever, but I've realised how much I miss working on housing, particularly social housing. I'd love to be doing Kundig-esque stuff but actually I'd be most at home trying to achieve even a fraction of what these guys do:

 

http://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/housing

 

Proper, community-lead housing with quality, robustness and decency. 

 

I'm off topic here.

Some interesting buildings there. Most look 'out of place' within those neighbourhoods from a visual perspective as I'd have sworn they were not in the UK if I only looked at the building itself. The white houses in Hackney look like they belong in Southern Spain due to a mediterranean/moorish influence from first viewing.

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Thanks all for the compliments.

 

I didn't really want to take over the thread with flashy, expensive house designs. As with the original idea of the thread, we have an opportunity to do this, and I think the challenge is quite exciting. Having a bit of money helps, but it's not the point.

 

It's well outside our comfort zone, and there will no doubt be loads of hard lessons learned, but I'm up for it. We don't want a boring, predictable retirement. With all that is going on in the world now, it just makes even more sense.

 

Karl - big Kundig fan as well.

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The manager at my friend's lodge just sent me an update on the duck....

 

Hi Paul,

Hope all is well with you!

Just wanted to let you know that your friend still comes to visit.

Shes discovered I am at the lodge now so she comes to see me every couple days lol

Today she bathed in the sprinkler before she came for her breakfast. What a silly duck she is.

Ellen

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Agree those designs and the area looks astonishingly beautiful. I'm wondering about the logistics of it all, it doesn't seem like the easiest of places to get to or get heavy machinery etc. into. How will all that work? Can you sail it in or?

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7 minutes ago, neko said:

The manager at my friend's lodge just sent me an update on the duck....

 

Hi Paul,

Hope all is well with you!

Just wanted to let you know that your friend still comes to visit.

Shes discovered I am at the lodge now so she comes to see me every couple days lol

Today she bathed in the sprinkler before she came for her breakfast. What a silly duck she is.

Ellen

 

Did you neg her for the use of "lol"?

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7 minutes ago, DJLJ said:

Agree those designs and the area looks astonishingly beautiful. I'm wondering about the logistics of it all, it doesn't seem like the easiest of places to get to or get heavy machinery etc. into. How will all that work? Can you sail it in or?

very good question.

 

definitely not the place for concrete trucks or other large machinery. Even putting shipping containers up there (which everyone suggests) requires 80' of straight line unloading, which is impossible.

 

foundations are just concrete piers with reinforced steel rods drilled into solid rock. the structure will likely be wood, rather than steel. modular panel design for ease of transport/construction (could be built off-site).

 

of course, almost all the work i used to do was in steel and concrete

 

a helicopter would be great $$$$$

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21 minutes ago, Dougie Do'ins said:

So what's the best timescale scenario between starting construction and completion for the whole build.

 

I too am extremely envious. 

I think the guest cottage could be finished over a summer, easy. Just not this summer <shakes fist at sky>

 

The main house is also designed in a way that certain sections could be finished and closed off while others remain incomplete. Not ideal to work that way, but in case of delays (like window package) it is possible to live in the 'domestic' wing without the 'entertainment' wing being complete. 

 

I am still optimistic that you could finish it over a summer as well, but it isn't happening until we retire (five years or so).

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On 16/06/2020 at 14:22, neko said:

Latest guest cottage design (I've got a few). Idea is to build this first, learn a lot of lessons about living off-grid before committing to the main house. Then you have a spare cottage for guests.

 

Logistics of placing the two houses close enough to share services (septic/road access/solar/water) without being too close. Location of guest cottage and main house would be along the ridge at the top of the existing trail. I don't want to bulldoze the forest for any new roads. From the top of the trail you would see the guest cottage to your right, and would follow a trail for a few minutes to get to the main house (I'll add a site plan).

 

Extra mark for anyone (other than Karl and Cochyn) who can recognize the design reference.

 

YTw58Vb.jpg

 

tkUMemS.jpg

 

2YQzGld.jpg

 

uNV2h6L.jpg

 

 

 

Does drawing the curtains take hours though?

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1 hour ago, neko said:

Do you really want me to teach you how to do it in 3D Studio Max ?

 

It's actually really cool, and not difficult. My classes are all online now.

 

Or just watch a youtube tutorial.

 

The place looks awesome, looking at Melwel lodge I'm presuming you've basically bought a plot more or less directly south of that? When I grow up I want to be neko!

 

Weirdly I was actually telling some a couple of days ago about you recreating Albert Speer work for Man in the High Castle, then today I've been telling them about the stuff you've posted for the house. 

 

Are your classes accessible to anyone? I'm not to bad with vector 3D (Catia/Soliworks/Creo) but poly based stuff eludes me thus far.

 

I experimented with 3DS Max a few years ago but never really cracked it (although it probably has way more available in terms of youtube tutorials now). 

 

Because I have a student email address I can get 3DS max for free and looking to actually become able to use it effectively.

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Love the look of your plans Neko. It wouldnt be for me as, looking at google maps of where you are, it would be just too far from civilisation. I like to be out in the sticks, but when i say that I mean a £10 taxi ride from the pubs on a Saturday night.

 

Will you have another abode elsewhere so you can flit between there and somewhere a bit more lively?

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12 hours ago, A Red said:

Love the look of your plans Neko. It wouldnt be for me as, looking at google maps of where you are, it would be just too far from civilisation. I like to be out in the sticks, but when i say that I mean a £10 taxi ride from the pubs on a Saturday night.

 

Will you have another abode elsewhere so you can flit between there and somewhere a bit more lively?

Are you offering to sell your arse for an idyllic and remote lifestyle? You old romantic fool,you.

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