Emergency building

While we were getting used to the new house and playing around with the ideal protection for our stone floor, a real emergency happened: I now have a 3-year old girl, and a visual artist partner. And the partner is due to exhibit in a few months, preferably sans the 3-year old's contribution. Meaning, her finger-painting on the said partner's completed works is _not_ welcome. At all.

So... We are in urgent need of outside storage for the completed works and also for the work-in-progress. And, we need a guest room. Finance is limited, and ideally we'd rather have waited a few months more, but the risk of more works being spoiled by an unruly, opinionated, stubborn child is too high.

Back to the drawing board, then, for the ideal visitors' bungalow. (We are only expecting our first visitor in October at best, and the exhibition is in September, so the visitor won't have to sleep among the stretchers.)

One technique we've been gathering information about is compressed stabilised earth blocks. A friend of mine in Senegal has a house currently being finished using this material. The artisan uses 98% laterite and 2% cement blocks. What I've read elsewhere is closer to a 95/5 or 90/10 ratio, but I'm willing to learn. With such a low cement content, compression is key. Fortunately, I was able to trace a block-making machine that would fit the bill. It's local, and it's proved its efficiency.

If the Senegalese builder is right, and this technique will indeed halve the cost of building, we might just be able to do more than just a shack for the paintings, and get the guest room ready earlier than expected. The plan is simple; small, efficient, no space or materials wasted. What we have in mind is something like this:

The most important aspect is that we are back to the wrap-around porch idea, this time a full wrap-around: the first building's porch covers only two sides, but I regret sacrificing the east side, which gets quite a lot of rain. Experience shows that only the north side doesn't really need it. Besides, since we've moved in, we practically live on the porch, and consider it a very useful and pleasant addition to any house.

So... drafting, drawing, counting, calculating... We are back to all this fun, and more!

Wrap-around porch

Today is wrap-around porch day at House-of-Mine. I love to delve into technicalities. I'm a details person, which is sort of ironic considering how clumsy and messy I am. Anyway, in my mind's eye, I love things to be "just so" and will do endless research on the tiniest detail, just to know exactly what it's all about, how it works, and whether it suits my purpose exactly.

After spending months figuring out the ideal nest or, rather, concomitantly, I decided that I wanted a (fully mosquito-netted) wrap-around porch: an indoors-outdoors kind of transitional space where I can enjoy the breeze and have my meals, keep a couple of dogs at night, and even work when the room is too stuffy or boring.

It will also serve another purpose: I've always wanted to use compressed stabilised earth blocks to build my house and, although online sources tell me that, if done properly, it's as sturdy as cement blocks, locals consider it as not durable. I suspect both sources are right: "done properly" is the issue. I fully intend to supervise closely and give specific instructions for the block-making stage, but I won't be around 24/7 and chances are that somewhere along the line, the block-makers will take a few liberties with the proper specifications. I therefore have to make provisions for it and protect the walls against the elements. Enter the wrap-around porch.

Because I like simple designs, I think what I would feel most comfortable with is just an overhanging roof held by some type of pillars.

In terms of depth, I think something in the region of 2.50-3.00m (98-118 in) would be ideal. Enough to have outside sitting, dining, and working spaces when the weather allows it. Enough, too, behind the kitchen and bathroom area, to have a few clothes lines where the laundry would be protected against sudden downpours.

What I now need to ascertain is how much more foundation work will be needed. This will all have to be factored in to decide whether the porch will be built immediately, or later on. This is a question for an architect, no doubt, but I'll keep looking into it in the meantime...

Getting ready to move

When? September 2012, hopefully. Why a post about now? Because this move, the 21st in my life, will be (1) somewhat radical, although it's become difficult for me to say what is radical and what is not, considering my rather unusual life; (2) hopefully one of my last, if not the last one.

Wait a minute... I never thought I'd ever say "my last move". Am I growing old or what?

Now to the where, why, and how.

Where: Baboonland is still in the GAR (Greater Accra Region), but about 50km from Accra. I acquired a comfortably large piece of land where I intend to erect a small house amid a lot of fruit trees. My shack in an orchard. Does it sound like a dream?

Why: Baboonland, because I love the area. I've loved it for more than 10 years. When I saw an opportunity to acquire land there, I jumped on it. It was a bit of a gamble, considering how land deals go in Ghana and, as far as I know, mostly everywhere in Africa, since I was the first to sign up on a new programme. I wanted unspoiled land, and although I'll welcome neighbours sometime in the future (read: when I grow older and dependent), I wanted to be able to enjoy the quiet for a few more years, before everybody else builds on their plots and move in. I'll still enjoy privacy, since my property covers a whole block. Fortunately, everything went smoothly with the purchase and I'm now ready to start building.

How: Like a trip, part of the excitement of moving to a new place resides in the planning itself. I've been researching building techniques, drawing endless plans, etc. for months. Years. I want something small. No sprawling building, no empty, dust-gathering rooms, no inefficient corridors and other wastes of space. Small is beautiful, they say. More to the point, small will make it easier to maintain myself. Having lived 13 years in Paris, I know all about cramped spaces. While I don't plan on living in a "cramped" space, I fully intend to make rational use of whatever space I decide to have, keeping in mind that the overall impression I want to achieve is that of a weekend/vacation place in an orchard. I've now come up with a very trim plan for a 2-bedroom house. Although small when seen from the outside, the absence of corridors and other space-wasters allows for relative spaciousness inside.

I've pondered on the building technique for some time too. Ideally, I would like compressed stabilised earth blocks. The idea is to use something like what was developed at Auroville, India. I know of similar techniques being in use here in Ghana. I'm now looking for a building company able and willing to build for me.

This is how I'm getting ready in the grand scheme of things. There are smaller ways too: moving to a smaller house than those I have lived in for the last 11 years will require some adjustment. I've started rearranging my current space so that everything fits nicely in two bedrooms and a sitting room. Frankly, when I'm alone (that is, 85% of the time), I don't even open the doors to the other rooms! Now I'm just getting more systematic about it, taking in 2 rooms what I really need, and sorting out the rest between what I'll keep in a store-room (as little as possible) and what I'll dispose of. It is my hope that giving this downsizing exercise an early start, I'll have more items on the I-won't-use-it-again-so-let's-get-rid-of-it list than on the let's-keep-it-for-the-time-being list. It's all great fun! and my house here looks better already. I've always liked to travel light, and enjoy downsizing and getting rid of the clutter.