envy, the blog

Occasionally, when we are not preoccupied designing, creating, building or generally nerd-ing out over architecture and art, we will blog. Here you will find out what we are up to, be able to follow along on builds as they happen and sometimes we just find something really interesting we want to share with you.
Scroll down for some cool histories of previous adventures, read up on our current endeavours and feel free to comment or share as like.
Come join us on our adventures…

8/15/12 8/15/12

First Peak at Loft Space

The moment long awaited; walls are up, roof is on... just how glorious is the loft space in these homes going to be? Here is our first glance of these sunny private retreats.

8/12/12 8/12/12

Roof & Deck-walls Concrete

At long last the roof has been poured, also in concrete and some of the deck walls made of ICF also get poured.

8/8/12 8/8/12

Roof Trusses

Getting wooden roof trusses up to the top of a new home is no small feat. Add the weight of steel and you need to bring in a crane. Here is how we got these up to the roof top.

8/3/12 8/3/12

Pouring Loft Walls

More concrete...The loft walls of this four storey home get poured but there is still plenty more concrete yet to come before these homes are complete.

8/1/12 8/1/12

Interior Framing

The exterior and interior work continue on simultainiously and here are some before and after framing shots to begin to define the pragmatic use of space in these homes.

7/30/12 7/30/12

Zoom Boom

Often when we talk about moving building materials we talk about or show a bit of a "zoom boom" - check out these action shoots we managed to capture the other day.

7/24/12 7/24/12

Windows Arrive

Ever wonder what a whole house worth of windows looks like stacked up? The windows for both homes arrived today and there are several pallets stacked in the yard.

7/20/12 7/20/12

Pouring Loft Floors

The fourth and final floors in these groovy inner-city homes are being poured in concrete today.

7/17/12 7/17/12

Loft Floor Hydronics

Finally we get to the final floor of these four storey homes. Hydronic heating lines are prepped and placed to be poured into the final concrete floor.* Don't worry there is still more concrete coming, walls, roof, decks, etc. ... just in case you haven't seen enough concrete yet :)

7/12/12 7/12/12

Bye-bye Old Garage

With construction materials safely stowed in the new buildings its time for the old garage to come down. The term 'garage' being used very loosely with really only walls left after the last windstorm peeled the roof back like a taco shell only to have to be weighted down with extra building supplies. Everything that could be salvaged and recycled was and viola = a new clean back yard.

7/6/12 7/6/12

Haus 8-10 fun-fotos (2)

Basic construction tools and materials from a different perspective.

7/4/12 7/4/12

Framing Start

As more levels of these homes are built tradesmen can begin other interior jobs such as framing once the prep for the next concrete pour is completed. Wondering how the supplies get moved up the storeys? A zoom-boom makes lifting pallets of lumber easy.Notice the original still garage in the picture? This was housing construction materials which can now be moved to the new basement/garages.... stay tuned

7/4/12 7/4/12

Loft Floor Joists

Another delivery of heavy duty floor joists arrives. They are promptly lifted into place with a zoom-boom and hung from the top of the second floor walls.

6/27/12 6/27/12

Details

'the devil is in the details'... even the simple things that you wouldn't think of are addressed in these homes. Like extra care when it comes to hand troweling the concrete in the window openings, making the installation of the windows a more precise and efficient process.

6/25/12 6/25/12

Second Storey

At long last all the concrete and styrofoam blocks begin to shape into something the looks like a house... or two in this case. The second story walls go up providing a sense of scale for the various spaces including the massive rear decks off the master bedrooms and kitchens. From the kitchen level you begin to appreciate the downtown view.

6/22/12 6/22/12

Second Backfill

Now that the front window well walls have been poured we proceed with the second backfill. Now trades and visitors can walk into the homes at grade both in the font and the back as well as around the building via a gentle slope down the side yards.

6/20/12 6/20/12

Floor Finishing

Once concrete is poured it is given it's first "finish" with a machine trowel to ensure ease of final 'finishing' creating beautiful floors to last a lifetime.Exterior walls are hand troweled to finish tops.

6/14/12 6/14/12

Front Window Wells

This post is meant to demonstrate what actually happens when we pour concrete. How does it get out of one of those huge rolling-mix cement trucks and into a wall or floor anyway? Well besides a solid skilled crew you need one more major piece of equipment, the pump truck. Basically the rolling-mix cement truck funnels the cement into a chamber in a pump truck that uses generator powered pumps to get the concrete flowing through a large rubber hose that can be manipulated into a location where the concrete is actually needed. Pretty groovy.

envy, the blog