T3_Minutes

Hand sketch of the desired look (according to me!!!) but, gives an Idea of the fall of the slope and possible look of the individual PODS and common space in the background.

Rammed Earth

Our group has been discussing using rammed earth in our domus due to its high thermal mass and the fact that it can be sourced locally. These are examples of how rammed earth can be used in detailing and how we might achieve ribbon windows, which we have also been talking about.

Design ideas

The main ideas shown here are:

• recatangular buildings to let breezes flow through and around
• separate buildings for same reasons
• north side built of rammed earth - good thermal mass and blends with landscape
• roof garden for same reasons
• units built in town and transported to site to save on labour coming to site (so far away from everywhere)
• central courtyard with water to cool breezes
• low horizontal lines to fit with landscape
  

Meet the neighours - Social History of the Hot/Dry site.

There were several articles in The Age on Saturday 28 April, about the Nookanbah people. They have finally been granted native title rights to their land - 1811 square kilometres west of Fitzroy crossing. In the early 1980s their case hit the news when the Western Australian government collaborated with a mining company to drill for oil on their land. The Nookanbah people protested vehemently against having drilling on their land but their claims for land rights were pushed aside and the drilling trucks rolled in against their wishes. No oil was found on the site. There were many protests and it was a real low point in our history. It is good to see that after 20 years they now have control over their land. They may even be the owners of our site!

Minutes of Meeting T4

Common ideas amongst all our designs:
- modual design
- transportable units
- separate buildings
- hallways using wet mesh (native grasses)
- outdoor circulation space
- bedrooms have high openings to draw hot air up
- bedrooms dug down into ground for thermal mass
- single story
- centralised wate/courtyard to cool breezes
- roof angle up in living space to draw hot air up
- bedrooms separate rooms
openable to allow air circulation and social interaction
open up during the day

For our final design we agreed on:
- floor plan
- central courtyard like a creek bed
- a sheltered place to sit outside
- plants and water cool breezes
- plants create condensation
- materials need to be easily transported or collected from site, also need to be very durable in such a harsh climate
- native grass screens (need to be wet)
- timber louvres (well protected by eaves etc)
- local soil for rammed earth (thermal mass)
- concrete slab (thermal mass)
- rusted steel screens to shade buildings????
roofing:
- consider gentle undulations
- roof garden (blend with landscape, protect building from extremes)
terrain:
- bedrooms sunk down
- bathrooms raised on slatted platform so they can collect water for reuse in garden
- living space on ground level

This week we will:
1. start designing spaces
Daniel will do living room
Silas will do bedrooms
Vicki will do kitchen

2. We will put the following on the blog:
- drawings of our designs from this week
- minutes of what we agreed on today

Next Meeting:
Thursday after Construction lecture.
Between now and then we will use the blog to discuss ideas.

Issues to consider this week:
- drainage of creek bed when rainfall is very heavy
- materiality
- screen over buildings
- rammed earth
- roof lines
- how to enter building and direct people to entrance

Minutes of Meeting with Design Team T3 (Client Group T4)

Meeting with Stuart, Brent and Daniel 4.5.07

* team has collaborated to use the site to its maximum advantage
* they will use a system of layering where each layer has a small individual dwelling
* a communal living space and amenities block will be a the bottom of the site
* water will be caught of each roof and collect at the bottom of the site for use in the communal block
* they will blend the building in with the existing flora
* they will raise the buildings off the ground to allow sunlight to penetrate above the tree line
* they buildings should be mostly sheltered from the wind which blos accross the site
* the top building may need some screening from the wind
* grey water will be used where possible
* levels are not steep, one step
* designed with idea of surfer accommodation in mind
* materials: timber, will be well insulated