Meeting of experts. I had a meeting with the architect, engineer and quantity surveyor today now that we basically have the final concept design. Quite an interesting meeting of minds.
The architect looking to retain as much of the design as possible, the engineer looking to simplify the build requirements and the quantity surveyor trying to keep a lid on costs.
A few changes were made to the house, basically incorporating room for steel columns to provide structural integrity. The end impact is that a couple of windows will end up smaller, which we are fine with.
The kink in the house is providing the most challenging aspect for the engineer. This is where most of the steel columns are being added and the roof design for this part of the house is going to require some playing with. The engineer did note it would be a whole lot easier if the living area was rectangular. However for us and the architect the kink is specifically designed to provide shelter from both the southerly and easterlies and also give some different view aspects. It's probably the most unique feature of the house and not really one for us to change.
A final solution for the base of the house is still being worked on. This includes a concrete slab (not really desired), a concrete block ring foundation, and steel portals. The end choice will somewhat depend on the geotechnical report. A geotechnical report has been done on the land but we need some more in-depth numbers so this has been requested. It looks like it can be done in the next 2-3 weeks with a report completed 3 weeks after.
In that time we need to identify our cladding options. So far cedar and aluminium are being considered. Google will be consulted shortly (feel free to email me ideas), we are looking for lightweight cladding that suits a modern looking house.
Below is the final design layout plus frontal aspect of the house:
Mike Columbus is a founder of sortmymortgage.co.nz and director of New Zealand Home Loans Christchurch Central. Mike can be contacted on 03 335 3527 or 021 369908. This advice is of a general nature only and before acting on it please read my disclaimer which can be obtained by emailing me at mike.columbus@nzhomeloans.co.nz