august update

Someone asked me the other day whether the project had stalled. No it has not; we are just busy in workshops and factories preparing all manner of bits and pieces. The big job of perfecting and building the cabinets is underway, the north wall of sliding glass doors is being built and the staircase and screens for the roof are measured up and in fabrication.

Hopefully this means that in the next couple of weeks there will be an explosion on site of all the bits and pieces that will take the project from a grey concrete box to an interesting house...

roof formwork is down

Formwork for the roof slab came down yesterday, and despite to fact that it is covered in rust, despite the form being cleaned twice, it looks great! The space and the openness of the house is now apparent, and the light into the bathroom through the skylight is magnificent.



My grandmother is very pleased that we have a 'verandah', as you just don't see them often enough any more.

Next is electrical and plumbing work, then doors and privacy screens on the roof.

roof finish

The roof is complete and the aggregate has been exposed for what it is! We had a celebratory drink on the roof to celebrate.

Below is a lovely, artistic shot taken by Phil.

fine weather and roof slabs

After last week's on-again, off-again wet weather, we have finally had a couple of days of clear sun and a chance to pour the roof slab! With a vast bevvy of grano workers tramping all over the very carefully laid structural reinforcing and electrical conduits, the day began at 7.30am and lasted for 6 mini-trucks worth of concrete.

The neighbours all stuck their heads in to have an inspection whilst enjoying their (disrupted) morning coffee, but no complaints, and one of the tradies asked if this was actually a house: "I thought it was going to be a club-house or something"...everyone's a critic.

Tomorrow they wash it to expose the aggregate and by the weekend we should be up there enjoying a glass of something and a sunset.

rainy days...

Work has slowed somewhat on site with the onset of winter in Perth. Rain, rain, rain. However, the reo is in for the roof slab, and the electricians are on site today laying conduit and chasing walls.

There have been a couple of your standard construction 'bumps' over the last week, but that's par for the course, and our builder is doing his utmost to rectify everything to a high standard.

With any luck the slab can be poured first thing next week...

city views!

Zac & Phil survey the work.

Notwithstanding the fact that I don't necessarily believe in the idea of houses as merely economic currency, those that do always subscribe to the 'location & views' mantra. Well, listen up, real estate agents - we just discovered we have city views! Two, to be exact.

One occurs if you stand in the very north-east corner of the roof deck and look down our laneway: in the distance like a beacon of real estate gold stands the Bankwest Tower. And the second, somewhat less neighbour-friendly view comes when we look straight through the first floor windows of our southern neighbour. In respect of retaining at least some of their privacy, I will not post any photos of that view.


And of course the formwork is now all but complete. Concrete pour expected in about ten days...

photo shoot for the bird

In a side note, last night I went into The Bird with Matt Biocich, this great photographer I spotted at an exhibition last year. He took some photos of the bar for the office portfolio and some great shots of the owners Mike & Brenton. Keep an eye out on the PrevostWeir website for the results.