Seasons greetings and best wishes to friends and readers.
The Client, full of imagination at the challenge of taking up the interior decoration, decided on a thematic Christmas tree.
Santa has left an enormous R2D2 lookalike industrial vacuum cleaner for The Architect. I think that's called a hint.
The topping out seems like a lifetime ago, the sardines grilling in the garden, the vinho verde chilling in a bucket, the roof a skeleton of timber silhouetted against a blue sky. Here we are now, in deepest darkest winter, at long last moving in.
The interior is still very much a building site despite several weekends of painting and decorating. Slowly but surely, familiar domestic objects emerge, awakened prematurely from their 15 month bubble wrap and cardboard cocooned hibernation.
If the plumber has managed to sort out the little problem of producing hot running water from our sophisticated German condensing boiler we might be in the Maison Camy tomorrow. The boiler has a very complicated control panel, lots of buttons symbols and lights and gauges. We’re told, in a rather chauvinistic manner by The Plumber, that its liquid crystal display screen will only speak German to us. Inferring that we would have been much wiser choosing a French boiler. Luckily it has a very limited vocabulary. For the last three weeks it’s been flashing the word Störung at us. No need for The Architect to go back to the Institut Goethe, a phone call confirms the obvious, the boiler is out of order.
Silent black cylindrical sentinels confectioned from finest linseed guard the entrance to each of the sleeping chambers.
The floor is lightly polished to a dull sheen that reflects a cold luminescence from the late November afternoon sunlight. Apparently random numbers are inscribed in script on each threshold.
The Architect removes his shoes and walks barefoot across the floor. Vessels containing glues and potions are piled high in anticipation.
The rudimentary elements of a kitchen are beginning to take shape on the first floor.
A trivial everyday act taken for granted, under current circumstances becomes a milestone on the road to practical completion. Of course, if this was a building site in the UK, the house would have already witnessed countless thousands of cups of tea. But, this being France, tea is definitely not a drink for workmen - you've more chance of seeing a labourer arriving on site with a pink cashmere scarf and a handbag than indulging in a mug of PG Tips.
The Client and The Architect have been drinking tea on site before. Here, enormous thanks is due to the never ending generous supply offered over the garden wall by The English Neighbour. But, these two cups, amidst dust and in near sub zero temperatures (heating not up and running before tuesday), are the first two cups of tea made in the Maison Camy.
GENERAL PROGRESS REPORT
Mario deserved the superlative and did a fine job on the bathroom tiling. This week is The Plumbers final fix, next week sees the flooring contractor and the week after is, cross fingers, D day.
This weekend The Portuguese Neighbour gave an enormous hand with the decoration, plastering walls as if icing one of his marvelous gateaux. The Client spent the weekend as gofer, delighting the salesmen at the local DIY superstore with her ignorance of the things she was required to find; une cloche de 35; molly de 8mm, bulle pour juge de paix; graisse de coude....etc.
Mario turned up again this morning. Unaccompanied by The Builder this time, communication proved difficult. The Architect trying feebly to make his French sound Portuguese by adding slushy bits at the end of every word. Tomorrow The Client has been promised a team for the plasterboard jointing. If things carry on at this rate she will be in for Xmas.
(Please note in the above photo the sacrificial item of clothing always left on site by builders as a decoy to make you think they're coming back - in fact they are such a necessary part of a builders kit that you can now buy them at PointP shrinkwrapped in lots of a hundred - 'decoy plaster stained clothing' )
The work surface / plan vasque for the bathroom is onto the second edition. We're having trouble with air bubbles. We've tried everything - vibrating the formwork, plasticisers, additives.....we've even considered resorting to the ancient roman method of adding blood, any volunteers? only Christians need apply.
So, it looks like we'll change direction, use the concrete form as a solid base for a glass mosaic. Well at least that's The Architects idea. The Client isn't all that keen on mosaic, she really prefers the black concrete. Being married to an architect all this time has seriously affected her colour sensibility.
A screed has been laid to form a base for the kitchen units. The circulation finish will be the parquet continued through from the adjacent living room.
The tiler turned up. Mario he's called. The Builder did all the talking. Mainly to cover up a distinct lack of the local lingo on the part of Mario. We'll find out later if he merits the superlative first name of the legendary plumber.
In the meantime a bit of blatant publicity for someone who does merit a superlative. Stephen Yardley, artist and very good friend of The Architect and The Client, is exposing his work in The Long Gallery in Stroud, Gloucestershire. The exhibition opens on the 11th of December and runs up until Xmas.
The theme of Stephens work is landscape. Tending more and more towards the abstract his work captures the essence of the British countryside. He divides his time between Wales his home, and France where he has recently acquired a little property. (somewhere between Paris and Biarritz). I'm sure the French countryside will inspire the same genius in his work.
That much closer to being habitable everyday, the Maison Camy has just had the gas turned on. Yes that's a well earned second place for the Gas company. Shame on you Telecom.
Tomorrow The Builder, harassed out of his hibernation by a fuse blowing architect, will turn up with the tiler and someone to finish the plasterboard. This in turn will allow The Plumber to fix the bathroom fittings and fire up the boiler and the flooring contractor to lay the linoleum on the second floor (providing The Client gets all the decoration done in two weekends).
The Client is so close she can almost smell the dust and drying paint.
*merci à pqh pour la traduction Canadienne des 'Rolling Stones'
Meeting with Telecom - he was 25 minutes (3 months and 25 minutes) late. The good news it costs us nothing to be connected. The bad news, because there is a terribly tiny hole to be made in the pavement it looks like we'll have to wait until January 2008.
The ray of hope for The Client has been dashed by The Builder going off on holiday again. But, on the bright side The Architect has found a little wheel to go on the end of the gates. For a little wheel it's pretty tough. It can take easily up to 200Kg - which would make it a strong contender if you were ever considering making a pair (make that two) of roller skates for an elephant.
Whilst we're on the subject of elephants on roller skates I thought I'd just mention the winners in the utility company stakes - the ongoing race/struggle to connect The Maison Camy to the outside world by means of pipes tubes and câbles.
Outright winners for sheer efficiency, punctuality, simplicity, customer service and politeness are the Water Board - a round of applause for the Water Board (if you're wondering, it begins with a V and sounds a bit like the latin word for something you might catch in a changing room). Mind you, at at around 800 euros for the connection you expect at least a smidgen of service.
Second in line, but unfortunately no prize yet as they haven't crossed the finishing line, the Gas Company - come on guys you can do it! just a meter away from a bronze (a gas meter that is). Despite a little fuzziness in their customer relations due to a severe attack of privatisation they are getting things done. Holes have been dug.
Third place is waiting for the Telecom people. Waiting being the operative word. Telecom has been on the go for some three months now and still no sign of an appointment with a real human. I have in the meantime developed a habit. I am now a registered Call Centre Junky. If I don't get my fix of at least an hour listening to pre recorded messages or badly rehearsed how to deal with angry caller scenarios I'm screwed for the rest of the day. Today I got through to a technician. Someone who knew his twisted copper pair from his coaxial. It was like a revelation. Like talking to God. He told me everything was going to be alright. He promised me at least an 8Mb connection, who knows maybe 20?. He promised me someone would call back in 5 days. Funny, I seem to remember someone telling me that 3 months ago.............hey, there goes an elephant on roller skates !
Thank you MOA TOA and mdw for waking The Architect from his blog hibernation.
It's now over a month since the last entry. This is due to a severe lack of builder. Things have been heating up this last week - the electrical wiring is practically finished, the gas board have been digging in the road and finally, at long last the steel stair, railings and gates have arrived from deepest darkest Auvergne.
The stair is simple and elegant and will be finished with wooden treads at a later date. The railings have been put together with precision, needing only 16mm of adjustment at one extremity to allow for the neighbours stone column.
The gates however are still a problem. The weight of a single panel was too much for the bolts fixing the intermediate column to the concrete threshold. On swinging the gate fully open the concrete foundation started to crack. The solution consists of adding a roller to the end of each of the gates to take the weight off of the column. This will require a level quarter circle rolling track set into the paving of the front courtyard.
The light grey finish is the protective metallic primer applied in the factory. The fence now needs painting. This will be a job for The Client.
The list of works still left to do is long but there is a ray of hope that The Client will soon be in her house
.
Completely off the subject. I couldn't help but notice that a nearby suburb, inspired by the innovative city of Bilbao, has installed in front of the railway station, what seems to be a Jeff Koons sculpture of cousin Itt.
The formwork just before pouring the concrete. The Client decided the concrete was to be black. As black as possible, so she tipped the whole jar of colouring powder into the mix (enough for 7 times as much concrete). The Architect now has a black right hand and luckily escaped having a permanently stained black face.
The visit to the steelworkers atelier in the Auvergne was well worth the 600 km. The atelier is in a tiny village of no more than 50 inhabitants situated in the extreme north of the Auvergne region. The company has a very large set of gates proudly displayed in front of the atelier, worthy of the entrance to Versailles with lots of knobs and curly bits (really not to The Architects particular taste but impressive all the same) and in stark contrast to the industrial construction of the atelier. The gates show off, to passers by, their prowess at twisting metal into all sorts of complicated twists and turns and swan like forms etc. Despite this this innate 'savoir faire' they have managed to build the 'minimalist rectilinear gates of my design with absolutely no curly bits. Well nearly, just one tiny little curly bit.......the floor bolt that locks the gate has a Shepherds crook top to it - it was so cute that I've decided to keep it. How magnanimous of me. Despite the risk of being called Post Modern. Brave too.
I arrived at around midday, so, after the serious business of 'déjeuner' being taken care of in the nearby Auberge we got down to the less serious task of working out what to do with the structural disaster of the steel gates. After lots of cogitation a simple solution was decided on that should do the job and stiffen the structure with the addition of the least possible steel.
Due to popular demand a quick September update. The plumber has arrived at long last and is making up for his sporadic fleeting appearances. Boilers, baths, waste pipes, radiators etc. everything is going in at the same time.
This is great news, everything would be hunky dory if it wasn't for the fact that The (bloody) Builder is now gracing another site with his presence rather than ours - jilted that's what we are!
He has very little left do do, but I get the distinct impression it's going to be like getting blood out of a stone (or port out of a box of ceramic tiles).
The Architect has decided (always strikes fear into The Client's heart when she hears that one) that he will contribute something of his own creation, that is, something made with his very own hands. A little in the style of Grand Designs - a bit of decking from Kevin?. No, not decking again - the bathroom will be graced with a plan vasque in concrete.
This is very brave of The Architect to announce this before attacking the oeuvre. It of course demands that the enterprise is a success. A lot of research has gone into the preparation...watch this space for more details.
Other news...oh yes, the gates and fence. The Architect's steel gates are drooping. To much minimalism and not enough sound structural thinking. Which means that The Architect has to visit the workshop in deepest darkest France to sort out some sort of solution that doesn't turn minimalism in to major disaster. I'm not going to post any photos as all you smart alecs out there will be posting messages to explain the correct principles of structural bracing. So you could say things are going pear shaped......?
The holidays are over. In the warm up to works getting underway again, this one is for The Skater He didn't waste any time when the purple flag was flying over the spot. Avoiding toxic runoff with a few grinds in the local bowl.
A small interlude will follow in the time honoured tradition of the BBC potters wheel.
The Skater has decided to make a contribution to the future interior decoration and furnishing of the Maison Camy. He has built himself a table out of used skateboards. It will be a central feature in his room and is destined to support various pieces of electronic apparatus that keep him and his friends mesmorised for hours on end. Wind tunnel testing of the table unfortunately showed that glasses, cups of tea and beakers filled with orange juice have to be balanced at strategic points if they are not to slide off the edge skateboard style. Despite technical teething problems, The Skater is now, if anyone is interested, taking orders. Only problem is the delayed delivery. Customers have to pay for a brand new skateboard and then wait for their furniture whilst The Skater custom 'wears out' the boards - a little like those false antique country kitchen sideboards that get attacked with bicycle chains to give them that authentic feel.
Normal service will be resumed when the builders return from Portugal.
Sneaking a look from the neighbours window reveals a different aspect to the house. Apparently the glazed façade now gives them a hitherto unseen sunset by reflection. Can’t say I’ve heard them singing in the evening like the canary in ‘Mon Oncle’.
The garden wall in recuperated stone from the old Maison Camy, is now crowned with a generous ‘chapeau’ in white concrete. The wall will become a garden seat.
In France, both July and September have six working weeks. August has zero working weeks. The talk is of holidays. We still have builders on site. How much longer that will last is impossible to say. Given the recent speeding up of works and the expressed intention to work on Saturday I suspect the ’grand départ’ is imminent.
The Architect has opted for a dry lining on metal frame. This simplifies the work of of the electrician and makes any future wiring a lot easier. It also avoids cutting into the brickwork and reducing the insulating capacity of the wall.
It’s time to take a last look at the second floor as one large open space. The partitions will go in tomorrow, dividing the space up into three bedrooms. The Architect has designed two of the bedrooms to open completely onto the corridor and the large glazed façade. The corridor will thus become a winter garden and an extension of the bedroom volume. With this flexibility of use the Maison Camy has no surface area wasted in circulation.
Due to the extremely late arrival of the steel stair, ‘sometime in September’ a temporary stair will be required to fill the gap The Architect has designed one in timber and now needs someone qualified to build it. Thank you to those coolheaded colleagues who don't have their noses up against the problem.
The roof is 95 percent complete. Just the edge details left to sort out. The large window at the rear is being installed as I write. Wiring has started. Everybody except the metalwork contractor is pulling their weight. We still have no date for the steel stair and front railings. It's looking very likely that the house will be finished without a stair. This is not good news as The Client is not very happy when climbing ladders. Still, I'm sure that with a bit of practice she'll be up and down the ladder like a ships boy in the rigging.
Nearly weather tight. Yesterday 10 guys on site. Disappointing that the site today, was like a set for the film 'Marie Celeste'. No silverware on the table, just two plastic cups and half a baguette. Tools lying abandoned on the floor. Maybe they've been kidnapped by aliens? The Client assures me that NOBODY is kidnapped by aliens in France. 'That sort of thing' she assures me, 'NEVER happens here'.
Insulation and wood will hide the bricks and the shiny 'pré-cadre'. In theory the last of the windows - the large garden window will arrive next week. Then we will be watertight and the real fun can start with electrics, plumbing, dry walling and of course the steel stair installation.
The Builders (masons) were getting towards the end of their work and things were starting to get a bit fraught on site. Jobs were hurried along and tempers were frayed. As one says in French, I shouted at them like rotten fish. In return for which I was presented with a cabbage; not as you might expect, another strange expression translated directly from the French, but a real live Brassica oleracea - feeling humble and undeserving I accepted the spherical peace offering. The cabbage was from the garden of the mason, somewhere in the outer suburbs. Freshly picked (harvested, uprooted?) that morning.
With butter and black pepper, that evening, it was the best cabbage I'd eaten in a long time. Things are going better now. The windows have arrived, the drains are going in, the roof is advancing, the garden wall was started this morning. Mind you, there's quite a lot of wind to deal with.
Architects draw lines for a living.
Two of the lines drawn in the Maison Camy are etched into the concrete at specific heights above mean sea level. They are flood levels from the nearby river. These lines are my personal benchmarks for measuring the effect of global warming on people. I am not alone. Other people are drawing similar lines.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a house on the shore?
Meanwhile, back on site, rain stops play, or at least slows it down a little.
Le projet, dan sa volumétrie, est une réponse simple et économique à l’évolution des réglementations multiples et contraignantes d’urbanisme dans une zone inondable.
L’hétérogénéité architecturale du quartier pavillonnaire permet une esthétique unique exprimée par le choix des matériaux pour les façades et la composition informelle des baies.
La maison consiste en un volume rectangulaire implanté entre les deux limites séparatives. Le volume est
divisé en trois éléments principaux:
