Although it has been a bit of a break since my last entry it doesn't mean that work as not been happening on the "sixteen by twenty-two" job site. Just that it has been going a little slower that anticipated, But lately there has been a bit of  push - mostly because my parents are stating to drive me round the bend. Its amazing what craving your own space with drive you to do.

But I need to have my own space - seriously - and fast. And it is getting there. So far the walls are up and the plumbing and electrical have been completed - for the most part. That is to say I have juice! I had to as we had family visiting from Ontario over the holidays (Christmas) and I needed to get in there to make room for them.

So in the following pics & vids you will see the spaces taking shape

First step in this whole process was to break into the concrete of the old garage which to our surprise was not very thick - only about 2 inches if that. And not mesh which was a blessing. After getting all the plumbing hooked up to the main house infrastructure then it was time to level everything up and get it ready to lay the 2x2 insulated panels. First job was to lay the water proofing membrane. Usually this is used on the exterior of a foundation wall but I figure if it is used to wick water away from the concrete then why can it not be used to the same effect in a horizontal as opposed to a vertical manner. So down it went!

Then it was a matter of laying the panels - the primary thing was to get as much down as was needed to erect the walls that were going in. of course then there was the issue of dealing with the cat securing himself in the rolled up tube of water-proofing.

Then it was the big job - installing the 8 x 8 ft window in the living area of the unit. basically it meant removing half of the wall area at the rear of the garage, And what else does Morley want to use but the quad - that's right put a blind man on a quad and he can cause damage to just about anything, Luckily there was a row of asp trees on the edge of the property in case he lost control of the quad in his exuberance! At the end of it all I am stokes at the view I will have from this massive piece of fenestration.

One problem we did run into though was the fact that the ceiling in the garage as shifted over the past 30 years and there was a 1 1/2 inch difference from the outer edge to the centre line of the space. After several attempts to jack up the roof it to make the walls level - and needless to say a few conflicts between me and the parental unit - the decision was made to leave it as is and adjust the walls and gyproc accordingly. Jesus at 53 I am just not into the fight anymore!

Anyway now the walls are up and the plumbing and electrical are set to be placed - Episode 3!

GYPROCING AND THE LIKE!

Now that the walls are all up and the plan has been established - after many changes and alterations - I am just about ready to install all the gyproc. The old man and myself have installed as much insulation as we can muster between batts that were laying around the property and apart from the attic space - which is easily accessible - I think we have her to an acceptable level including new vapour barrier. Hell it may even be better insulated than the main house itself Dad says.

The remaining insulated tiles are laid and the locations of all the outlets and the switching have been marked. Many night I will sit out here in one of my Wassily chairs and make sure I am putting everything in as I want it to be. Little details like nib walls that though don;t line up with adjacent walls are done for a reason - like creating the starting point for high-up book shelves. And finally it looks as if the design for the kitchen units are where I want them to be. IKEA is a blessing - wish there was one nearer. For a grand I am getting pretty near a kitchen of  my dreams - well that may be an exaggeration but it is not far off. Just take a look and tell me what you think.



Now that the plaster board has all been put in place I sat down in my teenie weenie office and looking into my teenie weenie bathroom - well not so teenie really, It has a shower, a shitter and and a small sink. . . .  and a closet for my limited wardrobe. But for me it is not the bathroom that I really want. The plan was to floor it with my 12" x 18" porcelain tiles and then slate the walls of the shower but as I looked at the laminate floor I brought in from the shed to acclimatize to the space I said not - its gotta be reversed - slate on the floor and porcelain on the walls. There change approved but there is something else I want as well.

I have never like the idea of building curbs to showers. I have always like either a shower room or stepping down into the shower and up out of it. So what do I do? I build up the floor another 3 inches, Once that was done - minus the 3' x 3' area of the shower - then it was to work laying the insulating mat for the underfloor heating - something I said I would not do without, Once screed and laced it was thin-setting and placing the slate tiles on the bathroom floor. And taking the little evaluation and assessing the change of materials location I am happy with the choice.

Then it was on to re-aligning a few walls, making sure every things was securely screwed down, it was on to priming the floor in the entry hall, thinsetting and laying the full tiles in that area and then once set, myself and dad started on laying the smoke grey laminate flooring for the main living area. Now I am startign to see the finished product. Things are starting to shape up and come into place. BUT one thing is coming up that I am not looking forward to - PLASTERING. How can I get around this bloody pain in the arse job!

GETTING IT ALL IN . . . AND OUT OF . . . MY HEAD

What Will Be Will Be!

Architecture and design was for me, I thought, a thing of the past. A thing I found hard to resolve myself with as I could never complete the concepts that I thought (and believe) make for good architecture. I got tired of the magazine banality that was going up in countless towns and cities  . . .  and far flung communities  . . . around the country. It seems we just don't get it here. If we are not keeping up with the Jones's we are settling for the next-best-closest thing we can find out there.

So what do I do? I end up building my own projects to show people how it can be done. I remember reading a few years back now about a colleague who was doing very interesting work in the far reaches of Norway. Todd Saunders (originally from NL) was making waves with his designs on the west coast of a country I had worked in on a work-term for a year during my uni days. What I found totally inspiring was that to sell his ideas to the public he actually built his very own project to convince people of his approach to design . . . . and it worked! Actually for those who have been venturing to central NL lately you can see his work on the island of Fogo in Zeta Cobb's latest project of a 29 room hotel - The Fogo Island Inn.

So what does this have to do with me. Well, not much really except for one little thing. I have decided to build my own place. To put my theories in action. A place that exemplifies my ideas of what good . . .  no  . . .  exemplary design can be. And I know that that sounds a bit egotistical but - FUCK IT! - I have paid my dues and I am over 50 so I can say what the hell I feel. I think as architects we have to stand up and stop being pushed around by people people who think they know what good design is because they have watched a few HGTV programmes and to know not to hold a pneumatic drill from back to front.

Right now in life I am doing what I feel is my calling - I left the world of architecture and gave myself to the world of theatre. But that has meant a number of big changes. YES - I did the thing I thought I would never do - move back in with my parents! But now a 10 x 10 room that I retreat on a daily basis to is starting to take its toll. If I am going to place myself in a room that small I had better be plopped in the middle of London. I do need my own space but I don't need much.

That said I am also not a person who wants much. My work in theatre. A place I can shut the door to the world on. And the less responsibilty the better so that I can continue to travel into the future without being weighed down by a large property. I have have started to develop my ideas for people in the same boat as myself. Reduced Living.

The size of homes that we live in now from the time of the 70's have doubled. And let's be frank here. Do we really need it? Do we really need the space we have or that we "think we need" .  .  .  or is it simply the "keeping up with the Jones's" phenomena. It never seems to end. A test! Just take a poll of how much time you spend in each room of your house in the run of a week. Surprise yourself!

So that is why I have decided to move into a garage - that by the way has 'never' been used as a garage - even in the the most northerly reaches of Canada where you would think a room of that sort would indeed be welcome in winter. But no. It was a work shop. It was a storage room - for things that no longer could fit in the other parts of the house and that that were no longer of use anymore, a place for my belongings to be stored upon selling my two storey - 1800 square foot home - and most recently it was a place for my 16 year old Labrador Retriever to spend his final days as it was easier for him to get in and out of the house with his increasing hip problems.

And now it will become MY HOME.

The space is 16 ft x 22 ft. A single storey affair (as most garages are apt to be). One 24 inch by 38 inch window at the back over looking the harbour and a new window I had bought for another project that takes the place of the former garage door on the street side of my parent's 54 year old bungalow. The ceiling height is a little under 8 feet but do able. And within that space I wish to have a bedroom to accommodate a queen size bed, a full bathroom, an office area, entry and open plan living/dining kitchen. All this in 352 square feet.

I AM LIVING MY OWN "TINY HOUSE" MOMENT.

This project has been on the books for a while now but it has taken different and interesting turns along the way. Originally it was to go up a story but I thought why the expense? Then there was the idea that I would extend out the back and add on a 12 x 12 living room/sun room with skylights - but again why! And just last fall I got to do some roaming around a family owned property in behind our town and came to the realization that this is where I want to get away to. But that is another entry and volume all together (that will be alluded to and touch on in the coming months) and governed how much I actually did here on the "home range". And where the plan at now for said design .  .  .  .  ?

So  .  .  .  . what is to be done? What is the objective? Where do I start? It all comes down to what I want out of life .  .  .  . a place warm and dry to lay my head, a job that may not pay much but that I enjoy, allowance to the joy of travel which I will never tire of, inhabit something that inspires me and makes me sile and maybe another in another far flung part of the world a place like this of comparable size - TUSCANY maybe?

I hope you will join me in the coming months in the creation of this tiny space I will call home. A place that will be my sanctuary. There will be photos and videos, drawings and budgets, build ups and tear downs, achievements and disasters,  and the usual trials and tribulations that usually I put my paying clients through.

But for now take a look at the shell that will become my hus!

THE FORMER GARAGE

Former Garage circa 1975

Former Garage (circe 1975) + House (circa 1958)

Rear of Garage facing Harbour


INTERIOR POST CLEAN UP

View to rear future Living area

Entry from Exterior(location of future bedroom)

View to Rear Entry from Basement