I like the unpretentiousness of the design but wonder how good the building is. Striving for simplicity seems to have resulted in compromise.
Bucky, said how much does your building weigh? I say how leaky is your building?
If you’re really championing good low cost design, tell us about the performance not just images. Tell us about the compromises and choices you made in the effort to deliver simple low cost design.
Good question – it’s very well sealed as the floor insulation/wall insulation/roof insulation forms a continuous seal and is religiously taped. It’s far better sealed than, say, my house next door (Moonshine). I had an interesting conversation with Julian Marsh yesterday (at his extraordinary ‘leaky’ building) about the pros and cons of airtightness v a building that is less airtight but depends on an active user and seasonal occupation, and we both, in this context of the UK, feel that there is a place for the building that is less airtight, but depends on user engagement and adjustment. For what it is worth, though, the studio works well so far – very cool in the day time temperatures of 30 degrees C we’ve had recently, and warm on the cool nights we had prior to the hot spell. The waste wood stove is a little too effective so far, but will be interesting to see in mid winter.
3 Comments
It looks fantastic, but how cold is it going to get in the winter?
How well insulated is it?
I like the unpretentiousness of the design but wonder how good the building is. Striving for simplicity seems to have resulted in compromise.
Bucky, said how much does your building weigh? I say how leaky is your building?
If you’re really championing good low cost design, tell us about the performance not just images. Tell us about the compromises and choices you made in the effort to deliver simple low cost design.
Good question – it’s very well sealed as the floor insulation/wall insulation/roof insulation forms a continuous seal and is religiously taped. It’s far better sealed than, say, my house next door (Moonshine). I had an interesting conversation with Julian Marsh yesterday (at his extraordinary ‘leaky’ building) about the pros and cons of airtightness v a building that is less airtight but depends on an active user and seasonal occupation, and we both, in this context of the UK, feel that there is a place for the building that is less airtight, but depends on user engagement and adjustment. For what it is worth, though, the studio works well so far – very cool in the day time temperatures of 30 degrees C we’ve had recently, and warm on the cool nights we had prior to the hot spell. The waste wood stove is a little too effective so far, but will be interesting to see in mid winter.