Previously on H.O.U.S.E…

May 17th, 2010

Ladies and Gents,

Just a quick one to say what a great day we had yesterday! Once again, the posters designed by the Comms team to tell the story of the H.O.U.S.E. were dusted off and hung in mad new ways, bringing a bit of (informative) colour to the site down at King’s Meadow Campus, Nottingham. Projectors and podiums were wheeled in, and seats soon filled with esteemed alumni, professors and other kind donators, who had kindly taken the time out to see exactly the cause they were supporting.

Director of the project Dr Mark Gillot gave a speech on the history and aims of the Solar Decathlon competition itself, and described the University of Nottingham’s role to play in that story. Ben Hopkins and Rachel Lee gave an insight into their original design for the H.O.U.S.E., and how it had adapted since then, and Guillermo Guzman highlighted the student involvement aspect of the project – as our tutor in the Solar Decathlon unit, he knows best!

Hearing these talks and being reminded how highly revered the competition is, how vitally important the cause is, how much kind support we are receiving to do it, and ultimately how unique an opportunity it is to be part of this as a lowly second-year student was a heart-warming experience even for me – a few weeks off the project will do that!

So too was tour we gave our benefactors straight after the presentation, a small walk and talk around the dormant modules of the H.O.U.S.E. This was another chance to practise our own presentation skills for Madrid, answering any and all questions our visitors had on the construction, our involvement, and the environmental credentials of the design, all whilst wearing our spivvy H.O.U.S.E. shirts!

But soon enough the groups were whisked away on tour buses, leaving us to debrief and begin preparation for Friday’s event… and maybe even some construction work too.

Tom

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Care in the Community

April 28th, 2010

Hey guys ‘n’ dolls,

For those of you who remember the random bombshell that was dropped on us a few weeks back about a community day – well it happened on Saturday! Hannah and I managed to scramble some stuff together amidst all the workload that we’re all drowning in and all the frustrating paperwork (7 page risk assessment for using crayons?!…MENTAL). We exhibited samples of materials as well as our posters and we also had a TV and a projector showing the awesomeness of our team. 

It wasn’t as busy as we had hoped as we were located on the top floor of Portland Building, but for those who managed to get there, the responses that we got from the public were all positive – something we should be used to by now! Everyone was extremely impressed at the fact that it was a student project and we’d built this by ourselves and you should all be uber proud!

In our little breaks we had a play around with liquid nitrogen courtesy of the ChemEngs and a go on a Segway – embarrassingly, some 8 year olds were better than us!

Thanks to those from the construction team who came to help. Keep it up team!! 

Janet

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The Home Straight

April 28th, 2010

Dear Readers,

Once again I must apologise for the lack of posts on this here blog for… well, a while now. As Ben explained in the last entry, we student members of the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E. team have gone back to being exactly that – students. Projects and essays and dissertations and trivialities like social lives have been taking up our time, but that’s all about to change again. We find ourselves just over a month away from going to Madrid, and the site is calling us back…

Being there today was exactly the rush of memories I expected, but with a different atmosphere. It’s clear in the workshop that critical analysis has been undertaken and big decisions made in the wake of Ecobuild (both its successes and failures), and also that we are approaching the Solar Decathlon with a clearer head.

In a more tangible sense, these decisions mean that this week sees the installation of improved floors in the First Floor modules (timber frame, supported by steel L-brackets), construction and reconstruction of the guttering and subsequent insulation of the roofs, and the development of the architraves and skirting boards as we begin to make the house feel more like a home.

From our Communication corner of H.O.U.S.E. HQ, we had the opportunity at the University’s recent Open Day to spread the word of the project, but I will leave a review of that to the lovely ladies who masterminded it – Janet Pang and Hannah Griffiths. And as another plus, the family House will be making their voices heard anew on the airwaves as they start to visit us on site again! You can still follow the thoughts of Mr Blue, Ms Green and Kid Orange right here.

So in short, we know we’ve been away for a while, but we are now entering the home straight – so take your seats!

Tom

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Life after Ecobuild.

March 26th, 2010

Hello all,

It’s been a while since anyone posted anything, so I’ll break the awkward silence and update you all on what’s happening at the moment. 

While it may seem like we’ve taken more than the 5 minutes R&R Tom mentioned in his last entry, the Solar Decathlon team has in fact returned (for a short while) to normal academic life and the sleepless nights that entails; the second years are busy with an international competition, third years with a dissertation and us sixth years are busy trying to get up to speed on our final year projects.  For all of us the Solar Decathlon has been a fantastic distraction from the hypothetics of academia, allowing us all to get to grips with real building as well as the demands that has on design, and it is a bit strange finding myself back in front of a drawing board (even if my Solar Decathlon mode was more often a meeting room or computer than the site).

I don’t need to recount Ecobuild, because Tom summed it up perfectly in his last blog; but needless to say the team is now galvanised and ready to deliver a much improved house for Madrid; and there is a lot more work to do…

For those of you who visited, you would have noticed that there were bits and pieces that were unfinished (furniture, a lack of a kitchen sink, a large module missing from upstairs etc…), and those are going to have to be finished quickly to meet the transport deadline for Madrid.  There are also changes being made following the dry run that was Ecobuild, where we learnt what worked and what didn’t.  This means that as soon as our reviews are over next week and we’re officially on holiday for Easter we’ll be getting geared up and heading back to site…though I suspect I will have to finish a lot of drawings before I get to do any of the fun stuff.

So that’s what’s happening at the moment, and it seems like a good place to end. Next time, when (if) I get some free time, I’ll try and go into a bit more detail about some of the parts of the house that attracted the most interest (for a start the PDEC system will be going in soon!).

So thanks for those of you who made it to Ecobuild, and for those of you who read this post.  It won’t be long before there’s a fresh burst of activity on site, and the on the airwaves!

Ben

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A retrospective

March 10th, 2010

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

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Nottingham H.O.U.S.E. at Ecobuild 2010!

March 4th, 2010

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

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The assembly begin!!

March 1st, 2010

The modules are now in Earl’s Court, being assembled by our crack construction team ready for the start of Ecobuild on Tuesday!

Fantastically, you can watch the assembly as a live feed from the site on AJ’s website here.

Enjoy!

Tom

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Just a quick one to say

February 17th, 2010

…another shaky-start-but-fantastically-productive day! Module 5 roof on and Rigidur plan fully discussed and decided upon – two very big steps. The mini-Mikes are really stepping up their game on site to keep the troops in order.

The big media news is that we are front page on the Saint Gobain website!! You can read all about our huge collaboration on there.

Tom

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X steps forward Y steps back

February 16th, 2010

At the beginning of today, I was already envisaging writing this blog entry from an extremely sour point of view, likely entitling it something ridiculous like 1 step forward, 20 steps back.

Issues sprang up today involving poor team turnout, Health & Safety supervisors cracking down on some of our untidy habits, and the Rigidur experts from Saint Gobain advising us on some of our mistakes installing their product. As much as we appreciate their experience and their input to the project, it was hard to take the criticism with a smile so early on a Monday. But we can rest safe in the knowledge that all panels will be installed correctly from now on!

As the day continued, however, things got much better. Plenty of faces turned up – Monday morning reluctance, it seemed, was all that had them a little late. Soon Module 5 was upright, closely followed by Module 6 – two first floor modules standing! The cladding was completed on the large walls of Modules 1 and 4, and both had their internal surfaces duly finished and cared for. The whole team showed that even without Mike, commitment to the dream was full.

Despite the long day, it’s been a busy evening for all teams. Communications met to edit and organise the information provided for the posters that will hang inside the house at Ecobuild, and Interior are hard at work on the furniture to be showcased at the event too. So we find ourselves now with only a few stumbling steps backwards, we can in fact make huge leaps in the right direction.

And thus I head to bed, keen for another productive day tomorrow – hopefully even more modules will be up by the next time I post!

Tom

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Rallying the troops

February 12th, 2010

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

1 comment - Latest by:
  • Phil Campbell
    yay for the nottingham h.o.u.s.e - really looking forward to coming over again this week! ;) ”