So while most of the team is outside in the shop or out on the lot assembling the floor panels,  walls and roof of the house, a small part of the team is in the office making sure that all of the tiny little details of the design are being taken care of and also meet budget restrictions.

Francis & Dan ensuring the control system of the house can turn the lights on

One major change to the design that has happened in recent weeks is the reduction of most of the built out deck that we had planned for the competition.  The team had originally planned to include all of the decking that would be used once the house joined it’s second half on Gault place, i.e. the front and back porches.  After reviewing the budget and finding out that we needed to do some trimming to meet the cost restrictions of the competition, the porches of the second house will be added later.  Thus, a redesign of the exterior exhibit!

Not only does this mean new drawings, it also means that those engineers you saw above have more number crunching to do to make sure all the electrical conduits are safe and are also in the most efficient configuration.  Water delivery also had to be rethought as the pump placement was restrategized and optimized for new exhibit layouts.  I think these architectural redesigns really drive our engineers crazy.  (Sorry guys, hopefully this is the last time it’ll change!)

From the architecture side it seemed daunting to have to rethink the whole layout, but now we’re now using less material and, in my not-so-humble opinion, also making a better exhibit.  Our water/raingarden feature has transformed and will now have a bench for resting where it can be fully enjoyed while waiting in line to see our awesome house.   Logistically, our water tanks are also more easily accessible and we have room to accommodate more people so they can see the integrated signage our graphics team is working on.  It may have been frustrating at first but it seems meeting the budget is only making our project stronger!

Yours Truly redesigns the structure of the rain garden feature

(Photos by Vasilis Kyriacou)