WikiHouse in Australia

[blyn...@gmail.com]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Bevan Lynch, I'm a 3D artist, designer and maker based in Sydney.

I'm looking to connect with others in Australia to build a local WikiHouse presence while engaging with the wider global community.
I believe the potential of this project is huge and i'd love to talk to anyone who shares this view.

What I can offer is:
Scale miniatures of WikiHouse designs -
If anyone wants to see one in the real world as a visual aid or as assembly practice before committing to building a full size house, this would be a great way to prove a modified design or to wrap your head around how it goes together before you find yourself out in the field.
I also imagine these would make great doll houses and cubby houses to inspire the next generation of designers and open source architects.

Digital mockups -
If anyone wants to see what a completed WikiHouse will look like in-situ I can do digital renderings and architectural walk-throughs.

Informative Educational Animation-
I would love to collaborate with others on providing animated instructional videos about how to build a WikiHouse from start to finish.

What i'd love to discuss with relevance to Australia is:
Is anyone currently working with governing bodies to get some kind of building certification so that these structures can be used inside existing legal frameworks?
Queensland and Victoria have both recently been hit by natural disasters that destroyed significant numbers of homes, but I can't imagine the Australian government allowing unregulated structures to pop up overnight without some form of approval, or at least a formal exemption.  This kind of thing would be well worth having as it would allow a large number of people to engage with the project for things like work sheds, farm stay accommodation, temporary housing and low cost extentions to existing structures. All things that are heavily regulated here.

This may be a matter of discovering an existing category of building that WikiHouse fits into or working with local/federal government to develop a new category specific to open source housing projects.

[Christopher Too Yok]

Hey Bevan, I'm Chris and also a 3D rendering Artist/ Interior Designer in Melbourne.

I just came across wiki house and i think it's a great innitiative. I work in the construction industry and have access to a large (3700x1900mm) CNC router.

I agree with you regarding the legal framework, the biggest hurdle in Australia to get wikihouse going would be compliance with all the different bodies i.e: BCA, council, engineering reports, occupancy permit, and being a new house framing method i think that home insurance could be more expensive too.

We need more people involved here to make it happen.

Cheers

Chris

[Dustin]

Hi Bevan and Christopher. I have 2.5 acres of land on the Mid-North coast of NSW that I am serious about testing this building method on. The land is vacant and you are right Christopher there are a lot of building restrictions in place to even attempt this sort of thing in Australia. I have been in correspondence and have also had a legal representative also check with the regions council. My land is zoned RU5 (rural small holdings) which means I can build a "Garden Shed" No higher than 3 meters and no larger the 50 square meters without planning approval.

I am am interested in working with a team to try and design, render, model, build and skin the first wikihouse in Australia.

I have wood working skills, tools and access to a builder. I am interested in starting a conversation with a goal to forming a team here in Aus and seeing if we can help add to the development of this inspiring open source idea and see where this may lead to and what practical application it may have in Australia. I don't have access to a CNC machine but I notice that you do Christopher. I don't yet have the skills with the software but notice that both you and Bevan do.

As a starting point I am really inspired by the design elements of foundhouse (http://foundhouse.cc) and am interested to see what the 2.0 incarnation is.

Please get in contact with me so we can talk further on what our goals may be in terms of working together as a team to try and complete the first build and work towards Australia having a wikihouse presence.

Thanks for reaching out and starting the conversation.

Dustin

[Bevan Lynch]

Hey Dustin,

Good to hear from you.

Awesome that you have a space for such a worthy experiment.  I'd love to help out in any way I can, including in the physical build.

In September i'm going to San Francisco to spend some time at the Techshop there, where I plan to fabricate a number of miniature wikihouses, and also hopefully meet and learn from some local wikihouse collaborators.
If you aim to have your design ready in the next couple of months, i'd be happy to fabricate a mini version for you while i'm there.  Also if you have a photo of the area you want to put it, we could do a 3d render of it in situ, so you know what it'll look like.

Kind regards,

Bevan.

[Dustin]

Hi Bevan,

Thanks for the offer of a scale build, I would like to pursue that. I can get you a photo when i'm down at the property next month of a specific location. As I am speaking with an excavator operator about an appropriate site to level. I don't yet have the skills in "SketchUp" and wanted to work with someone who may have the software know how to start the design side of things working towards a collaborative end goal (do you have those skills or perhaps Christopher does?). I am really interested in what Patrick and Lacy have done with "Foundhouse" and what their next incarnation may be and what they have learnt from their build. I think only by constructing and using the wikihouse for what it is designed can you really learn about practical improvements, so i'm serious about putting it to the test.

Where are you based? As we may be able to meet up and talk more about this.

[Christopher Too Yok]

Hi Bevan & Dustin,

Good to see some development on the topic. I do use sketchup on a regular basis for 3D rendering and more recently 3D printing, so i can help on modelling things up. I am yet to try the wikihouse plugin, can't see it being too hard.

I am located in Melbourne, and the whole idea of wikihouse was to keep everything "local" so unless you can't find a CNC shop somewhere in NSW, we could look into machining the ply here and ship it over.

Cheers,

Chris

[nsw]

Hi Christopher. Im really interested in the design that the roundhouse guys came up with: (http://foundhouse.cc)

It seems practical, yet aesthetically appealing. Sourcing CNC machining in NSW is not a problem, there are a few places around. I would like to see what version 2 of found house is with all that they have learnt from their last build. But it's a starting point I would like to look at starting from in terms of design. The structure "garden shed" itself cannot be over 3m and must be no greater than 50 square meters to stay within the building regulations of the council and without having to have DA approvals.

[Nathan Wallis]

Hi there, 

I am located in Victoria and wondering how far you guys progressed with this.  I would like to add an extension to my shed. 

I live in the nanniest state of Australia so I am mainly curious whether it is even feasible. 

Chat soon.. 

[James G]

Hi all - wondering where this is up to and whether Dustin has made any progress?

I'm thinking about doing something similar (I'm based in Sydney) and am happy to help out if I can.

Thanks

James

[Mike Sheedy]

Hi All,

My name is Mike Sheedy and I specialise in WHS Compliance and Audit programs and have a background in Electrical Contracting and Fire Suppression with Special Hazards. I would like to assist in any discussions with the Regulatory issues and the more mundane issues of connection of utilities etc to such structures. I am based in Sydney but do travel Nationally for various contractual work. Happy to chat.