Hello again, ladies and gentlemen – and apologies for the radio silence of late.

I think it is fair to say that working on the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E. has been trying, at times. There have been points in the last month or so that even we, the famously hard-working architecture and engineering students that we are, have considered that maybe the commitment required to be a key member of this team may be too much. We have put our bodies on the line – not in any breaches of Health & Safety, mind, but through the hours we have worked and the effort we have poured into all aspects of this project.

But what keeps us working till the wee hours with blisters, sore knees and square eyes are simply the little chances we get to catch our breath and just appreciate being part of this madness.

The first of these moments, for me, came on one of the last nights the modules were in Nottingham before Ecobuild. It had been a torturous day for all, with setbacks nibbling away our time and hours running late into the evening. But dinner was bought in for the members of the team that had kept going despite all adversities (they know exactly who they are). There we sat on the roof of Module 4, our legs swinging down into the space left in the roof for the double-height section, munching on our pizza and laughing together as a family, all stresses and strains forgotten.

We’ve had many such moments since, and each served as a calming oasis as emotions and tensions ran high before and during the set up in London’s Earls Court. But the king of all these rushes was seeing the house, the planters, the posters and all standing vibrant and proud on Tuesday morning, the first of the exhibition.

We had a phenomenal stay at Ecobuild. Mark, Ben, Rachel and Chris were hounded at all times by those keen to know more in-depth details about the design and its conception; and there we stood in our spivvy t-shirts and name-tags, eager to take any and all on a guided tour of our creation. The positive feedback we received was overwhelming, as was the intrigue and the appreciation that we, the youth of today, were undertaking such a commendable venture.

We had many key visitors from the entire sphere of the built environment, but it was just as encouraging to meet members of the public who were keen to see our house become not just the standard by which domestic construction sets itself, but the norm – and soon. Everyone who visited was eager to see us go all the way to Madrid, take the trophy there, and run on into the future!

We’re trying to keep track of all the articles popping up in the press about us and our mission, so make sure your eyes are peeled on this here revamped website to hear reviews of our exhibition.

But for now, the modules are back in Studio 7, King’s Meadow Campus, Nottingham, and I think you’ll excuse us all a little R&R… all 5 minutes of it!

Tom

Here we finally are at Ecobuild 2010 at Earls Court.

Situated at the rear of Earls Court 2 at stand 2290, we have had a busy first day with fantastic positive responses to the design of the house, it’s presentation and it’s high spec eco-credentials.

It is heart warming to see the hard work and effort of the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E. team in such a light and we wish for everyone from the industry and general public to see it.

Everyone is free to download a digital copy of our Nottingham H.O.U.S.E. brochure as a small 1.89mb PDF download.

Click here for more info and to check out our other media links.

Its not too late to see us either!

Register for a free invitation at www.ecobuild.co.uk/register

Bhavik

The pressure is now truly on. With only two short weeks until we ship out Ecobuild, we have the four first-floor modules to erect and join our already-standing ground floor blocks. Beyond this we have all the publication material to finalise, the external decking and planters to finish and the internal furniture to construct.

But what’s the worst that could happen? Our beloved project manager Mike leaving us for a week? Well, now you mention it…

But fear not, dear readers!! We, the ever-ready student team, have stepped up to the challenge. We have all taken on extra roles and responsibilities to become mini-Mikes in his absence next week, and are currently being briefed to the nines. Guillermo (our unit leader) and Mark (the Big Boss Man) each did their best Bruce-Willis-does-William-Wallis impression with a rallying speech to us all after today’s work had ended, which brought a few drooping heads into focus.

So under the watchful eye of our own crack team, next week will hopefully see the completion of many of the aforementioned tasks. From there it is a simple (!!!) task of dotting i’s and crossing t’s to prepare for the big move down to Earl’s Court in London for the exhibition. If you haven’t already and are keen to see us or any of the fantastic installations, please visit the Ecobuild website here to register for your free invitation!

In other news, we are featured on the front web page of the leading construction publication The Architect’s Journal, which is very exciting! Elsewhere on the web, the Family HOUSE are causing a stir on Twitter – make sure to follow the every step of the construction of the house through the eyes of Mr Blue, Ms Green or Kid Orange!

Phew… that was quite a lot of links, wasn’t it?!

Tom and Unjulee

Ladies and Gents, welcome.

The Solar Decathlon team effort began in earnest this week as we, the impressionable youth that make up the student body of the University of Nottingham Built Environment, have descended upon the site. Fresh from the Christmas break we’ve donned hard hats, taken tools to hand and gathered in the gargantuan studios of the King’s Meadow Campus to start construction on the Nottingham HOUSE.

Those who were superbly committed to the dream already had the walls for one module of the eight-module design standing by the time they were joined by the remainder of the team this past Monday, free now from the January assessments. Without delay, these fresh hands became familiar with the Isover glass fibre insulation, with the Vario DPM, and with the interconnections of all elements of the design.

The learning curve has been steep and all members have undergone enough Health & Safety training to last a lifetime, but hard work was been rewarded this week with a second module becoming three-dimensional, wall panels having been moved so gracefully moved into position by our resident Fork Lift King, Dave. Pictures will follow soon, I promise!

All faces are keen now to get involved in all aspects of building, working 9-5 down at the site. Our half-way goal is the Ecobuild exhibition in London in early March, where we’ll get a chance to present the project to other similarly-minded teams, before bringing the HOUSE back up to Nottingham to prepare it for the Solar Decathlon in June. More details on that in the coming weeks. Plus, we have even more helping hands in the form of the MEng students who were officially welcomed to the team on Friday.

So! Look forward to many an update right here on this blog  where all members of the team will be contributing, and we have some exciting plans involving hilarious video blogs (we’ll try to make them informative too…) and a new-look website. We’ve taken the reins now, so hold on to your hard hats!

This is where it starts, folks.