Architect Sketches Marked out on Land

Returned from a work-trip to the US to a beautifully cleared plot. Turns out Prof. Fujita worked tirelessly to cut the felled trees and branches that were lying on the land while I was away. Thank you Prof. Fujita! Mr. Ueno also contributed greatly, removing all the wood he needs for his wood-stove for the winter.

Due to efforts of these great folk, Fujita and I were able to head down to the plot on Friday to mark out the boundaries as per the architects' design.

This video is a quick walkthrough having marked out the boundaries.

Video shows Prof. and Mrs. Fujita, their dog, and my lovely neighbor, Simizu. There is a longer version of this video on the video walkthrough history page.

First Sketches of New Designs come in from the Architect Team!

The super architect-team has supplied me with some new sketches of the new design ideas I worked out on my home design software. Some very nice ideas here. Please do feel free to leave comments!

Timberrrrr! Land and Tree Clearance on the Plot

I have taken a couple of short video clips to show what a typical working day looks like now on the plot. A big thank you to all the neighbors who have been helping in these videos! (Simizu, Miki, Ueno, and Fujita)

Ueno fells one of many trees!

New Hand Winch Will Seal the Deal

When the rain hasn't been pouring (rainy season) I have been chopping down trees with my newly received chainsaw.

Clearing some of the trees on the south side of the land, however, is a job for a professional tree surgeon, and bringing such pros is expensive.

Prof. Fujita has recommended I meet an ex-student of his who is a professional but would fell trees as a favor.

I met Mr. Nobuto this morning and he came to look at the lay of the land. He said that with a hand winch to control the felling direction, he could do all the trees that Fujita and I identified as needing cutting.

On returning to Fujita's house, we found this hand winch on the internet ($670). Prof. Fujita and I will share the cost, and as such this represents my second official purchase. The winch will come in handy for a range of tree felling in the future, and can of course be used for other applications too.

I am constantly touched by the generosity of Fujita and other neighbours. Hiring professionals to achieve what we will have achieved on land clearance alone by the end of the month would have cost thousands. Due to the kindness of these folks, a bit of my own sweat and around $300 on a hand winch and $300 on a bush cutter (both of which are items which will be used into the future) the land will be ready for the house within a couple of weeks!

More New Designs

(Update: compare the designs in this post with the latest design). Several new ideas for the house. These don't contain the walkway entrance yet but I am thinking to preserve this from the basic concept. New in these designs is the spiral staircase that goes up to the study on the 3rd floor. This means that as one walks up, it will like climbing a nearby tree. In the winter, the views should be fantastic as one walks up. In the summer it should really feel like one is climbing up into a tree house.

In the meantime, land clearance continues. Was down at the site yesterday with the neighbor, Ueno, other neighbors and have been doing lots of tree felling. Prof. Fujita has also very generously given me a chainsaw. Pictures and short video clips to follow!

North 

East

South

West

Some ideas for the east wing (separate apartment)

(edit: why not compare these designs with the latest design?)

(New view from North showing how the tall East wing will look from the road)

Been working a little on the East Wing of the house. The idea is that the first floor will be "shared" when there are separate occupants (perhaps as a utility room or some such). There will be stairs from the first floor to the second (not shown in these designs) that will be shut off by a locked door when separately occupied. The second floor can thus be a separate small apartment with deck space accessible from the roof of the main body of the house. There will also be loft space for a small study and access out to 3rd floor roof terrace.

New view from South

New view from the South East) 

Floor Plans (draft versions, no stairs or final internal layouts)

1st Floor

2nd Floor

3rd Floor

Been using !Punch Design Software again for this. See shots prior to these designs here.

Build with Japanese Cyprus from Owase?

Had a great chat with Prof. Fujita about the possibility of using Japanese Cyprus (Hinoki) as the main material for the house. Japanese Cyprus (here on wikipedia) has wonderful lemon scent and is highly resistant to rot. It is also highly prized here in Japan and often used to build castles and temples--a "Hinoki" built house will retain significant value and garner interest if I ever come to sell the place.

Being the highest quality lumber that Japan provides, Hinoki is, traditionally, incredibly expensive. However, Fujita's ex-student owns a company down in the famous Hinoki-growing Owase district (see map) which is only 100km or so away from my house. Owase Hinoki is the top of the range stuff and Fujita thinks he can get me a good introduction to some pros who work in the wood market in this area thus saving me a good deal of money and making it a viable option for the build. Link to a regional Owase association for Hinoki growing (Japanese).

Also found some interesting design ideas for hinoki houses on a site linked to from the Owase Hinoki association: http://www.hamasa.jp/index.html

And as another aside, here is a possible idea for a curved roof section that could connect the main building to the separate apartment.