IBU Houses - Safe Green Blocks LLC, the wizard behind the curtain

This post is for you if you are as big an IBU geek as me. I've been meaning for a while to write up some background on the people helping in my effort to develop IBU housing: Safe Green Blocks, or SG Blocks is a new venture formed by a group of people who have been behind several prominent efforts at preparing shipping containers for building.



Long time readers of the FabPreFab messageboards may recognize the name of David Cross. David has a background in the merchant marine and came to the realization long ago that shipping containers made a compelling basis for a construction system, long before it became a focus of attention as an interesting off-shoot of the recent prefab movement. David is perhaps best known for a series of prototype house projects that he ushered through various permitting and funding hurdles, with one of those projects in Tampa receiving widespread publicity as the focus of several segments of Bob Villa's tv series. However his first prototype was built in North Charleston, South Carolina, and shocked the readership of the FabPreFab messageboard when it was posted - up till then the whole idea of building houses with these things seemed like just a theory.



When David began these efforts they were an offshoot of the work he was doing in container modification for the Tampa Armature Works, or TAW. A large vendor in remote site power generation, and associated shelters David's container expertise was being put to work for them in their main business. At the same time they were supportive of his pursuit of housing and building with the containers as a way to expand this part of their business. Eventually however they parted ways as David set out to concentrate on this 100%. Joining him were business partners that had previously provided engineering and logistics expertise in the container mods that he had done before - SG Blocks was born.

One of these partners is Steve Armstrong, a structural engineer who has over the years provided David with consultation on container mods, and was in from day one on David's efforts to create housing. While David was on his journey Steve was on his own. During this span of time Steve went to work for a large senior housing developer, Stratford, and while he was there he continued to consult to David. Enter Bruce Russell and Paul Gavin who were with Stratord and watching the work that David and Steve were doing. This group formed the foundation of SG Blocks which was completed with a relationship with ConGlobal, an nationwide container handler who provides the raw material at sites all across the country. These multiple depot sites double as fabrication sites allowing them to cover the entire country, and reduce shipping distances.



So in one way or another the partners of this group have had a hand in many of the container projects you have seen on the internet, and they have been providing technical back up for me as I've worked up my the design of my proposed system. They have the technical know how to see projects through to completion including the backup that may be required for a rigorous permitting environment.



Here is a link to their site:
http://www.sgblocks.com/

And here is a link to an article about their business: SG Blocks in Charlseton Business. A good read if your interested in this.

Now, lets build some IBU houses people!

Technorati Tags: container house, modern design, modern house, prefab house

Austin, Tx Porch House - a brand new customer build

We are very pleased to introduce a new customer build, this time the first customer to follow up and show us the construction of their 0367 Porch House.

I won't spend time reviewing the design of the Porch House here on the blog. If you are not familiar with the house I'd encourage you to click through and look at the design as you review the construction photos. The house was intended as a weekend or vacation house, although there is no reason it could not be used for a full time residence or modified in any other personal way. The most unique feature of the house is the ground level screened living area. This really lets you transform the house during fair weather allowing you to move your life into the living and sleeping porches.



The owners have a great site nestled among a stand of live oaks and cedars. They are building the Porch House right between several of the trees which I think really reinforces that connection between the inside and outside. In the photos we can see their footing piers in process. The long footings in the center lie below the stair which should give you some orientation to the floor plan.



The owners are going to be using some interesting green tech in the house. They are planning on a composting toilet, and a small septic system that will deal only with grey water from the sinks and kitchen. They are also going to be collecting rainwater, and they have plans to modify the roof slope to simplify the collection of the run off on one side of the house. We'll have to watch and see how that plays out.



Their long range plan is to add a 0242 Plat House to the site here and with a connection between them use both structures to house their growing family. This is a great plan and again is another great opportunity that the houses offer as they all share some common design themes.

So we would like to welcome them to the LamiDesign modern house plan family and thank them for sharing their project with us, and with you here on our blog. And its a good time to throw back thanks to materialicious who made a very appreciated appeal to see this very house built; and also to Land+Living who covered the Porch House in their blog several years ago, where it has continued to be one of the most commented entries on their site. Thanks for the support and I hope you all enjoy watching this as much as me.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Porch House

OK Tray House - Framing up

In typical fashion, once the carpenters get to work the house takes shape very quickly. The Oklahoma Tray House appears to be no exception as in the interval since the last photos were received the garage and half the ground floor framing is up. There is a lot of lumber staged on the site for the rest of the house as well.

This view below is from the rear of the house, which if you reference the Tray House floor plan lays out with the garage at the left, and the kitchen in the middle, and living room to the right of the framing we see here.



And from the front we can see the large window in the living room and the recess at the front porch and entry. The horizontal windows at the kitchen, and the taller window from the mud room at the far end, with the garage beyond.



Here we can see the joining of the slab on grade at the front of the house with the basement construction at the rear, as their floor joists are just going in. Looking to the left you can see the kitchen which is open to the living spaces which will be over the basement, and the laundry and rest room that are between the kitchen and the entry to the house.



The setting for the house looks great and they will enjoy a nice view of the woods out of the back of the house from all the living spaces. I'm sure the second floor framing will follow soon so keep watching. Remember, you can also follow the construction with all of the owner's photos at their Flickr site.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

EcoSteel's Goshawk Ranch is rising.

An EcoSteel project in Utah, the Goshawk Ranch is coming out of the ground right now. I was not involved in designing this project but it looks to be a great one. They are blogging the progress of the work themselves with lots of photos and commentary.

Check it out at http://goshawkranch.blogspot.com/

Technorati Tags: ecosteel, prefab house

New Mexico EcoSteel House - Observatory making progress

The observatory wall panels are going up now and its starting to look more solid now that there is some meat on the bones! After the wall panels are finished the dome will be mounted.



And once the dome is on the instrument is expected shortly there after. More detailed pictures follow in the Flickr slide show below. The instrument pier has been poured and in these photos it is still encased in the formwork while it is curing. The concrete can actually support itself soon after it is cast, but in this dry environment the formwork will actually help the concrete retain some moisture which is needed for the chemical reaction that occurs when the cement sets up.

More photos of the work after the jump.



Remember you can see photos of the entire build on the Flickr New Mexico EcoSteel House photo set, and all the EcoSteel projects in the EcoSteel photo pool. And for reference you will find more info on the EcoSteel system at http://www.ecosteel.com/

Technorati Tags: ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

Mass. EcoSteel Plat House - foundation work proceeding

Just a quick update today on the EcoSteel Plat House project in Massachusetts. The digging is done and the footings have been poured. The vertical formwork is going in place.

Without checking the code book I'm guessing we are looking at a 48" frost line up there so the footings are deeper than what we have seen on any of the other EcoSteel houses shown in our blog here. After the jump is the photo stream from Flickr.



And for reference you will find more info on the EcoSteel system at http://www.ecosteel.com/

Technorati Tags: ecosteel, modern design, modern house, Plat House, prefab house

New Mexico EcoSteel House - Observatory in the New York Times

Could it be? A second LamiDesign project appearing in the New York Times within a matter of weeks? Lightning strikes twice? Well, sort of. This article is all about observatories, and it includes the awesome observatory which is part of our project.

Today the Observatory at the New Mexico EcoSteel House was one of several home based observatories covered in an article by Kate Murphy called Adding an Extra Room for the Sky appearing in the Home and Garden section of the New York Times. The article covers some of the technical issues tackled in creating an observatory as well as reasonable idea of the state of the art for the serious amateur astronomer. A great read - if you enjoy the technical background on our project I'm sure you will enjoy reading about the others as well.



Steve Cullen, the Owner, felt we would have gotten better coverage if the construction was further along. In fact much of the technical info in the article sounds like it came from our interviews. But Steve is working on them for a second installment. He has big plans for the observatory, including a program where sky time is made available to schools across the nation to expose more kids to astronomy. We will fill in the details about that as it comes together.

In the meantime here are the most recent photos from the construction work on the site after the jump.



And for reference you will find more info on the EcoSteel system at http://www.ecosteel.com/

Technorati Tags: ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house