Frame completed, cladding skins under development

Sunny weather with the last of the autumn leaves made it possible to finally complete the click-raft structure. I'm continuing to explore and develop options for the roof and wall cladding skins. The long term aim for the roof is a fully openable louvre system. However for now it is much cheaper and quicker to realise a simple flat skin of polycarbonate. I have been experimenting with different slopes, one version based on a shallow arch held down along the edges and lifted at the centre with additional props. This has a pleasant symmetrical quality to it however would drain water to both sides requiring two sets of gutters and tanks. So the option I am working on is asyemmetrical with only one gutter to the back wall (east) requiring less material, and only one water tank. (not unlike the Citroen 2CV prototype minimal approach).
The wall skins will differ, the east wall will be 2500x1250mm vertical polycarbonate panels, while the west will be three sets of 2000x250mm horizontal louvres with rubber seal joints between. The challenge is to get all of the details sorted to work just as well thermally in winter with no gaps or drafts, as they do in summer with openable vents and louvres. Once these things are sorted out and realised, then I can move onto the ends.

Winter Sun

A magic morning of winter sun after so much rain and wind.
The plan for the weekend is to finish the roof, cut the final click-leaves and assemble the last roof panels.
Next will be the back wall panels, and then the louvres need to be re-glued with silicone.
I have been thinking through the end door hatches yet again. Contemplating a new lighter solution inspired by the TPV/2CV. My initial thoughts came from studying the TPV window, but this is too heavy so the idea is to learn from the roof and its folding mechanism. The difference is that it is super light, and tensioned fabric across aluminium tubes.

rain, rain, rain

continuous rain, and high winds prevented any useful work on the click-raft this weekend... had taken these photos of autumn leaves before the big winds kicked in...

Click-Raft thinking

The click-raft principle unlocks a whole series of raft like architectures which could inform new ways of realising much larger structures in a way which is more similar to basket weaving. Here are some explorations by Chris Winwood showing how it could be used in an arcade like structure between inside and outside which is a great place to be regardless of the weather, good for meeting and greeting, simply watching the world go by or informal brainstorming networking etc.

louvre assembly

Finally a building that loves nature, sings in the late sunbeams of the morning, receives the rain with praying hands, grasses weave happily between and spiders weft their yarns across its Y-frames. I sit delerious between 14 pairs (x2) of praying hands watching the cathedral of light unfold in oscelation with the shadows. A robin red breast drops in to say hello, two black birds dance high in a berry tree beyond and a woodpecker provides the back beat. Finally this poem to the genius of our wonderful planet is arising - a prayer to celebrate our existance in this miracle called life, bending structures that reach and resonate, that hum with natures vibrations. Autumn is definitely on the way, and leaves have been gathering between the click-leaf hands.
Saturday was spent chilling in the sun after a very slow start and a heavy fog, so didn't have much time left this weekend to build. Sunday was another slow start, but finally got my act together to start on the louvres. Getting all the holes lining up properly and threading the first pvc tubes through. Testing the 1st trial louvres which you can see in the photos. Still around 20 louvres to complete, including fixing the aluminium/rubber seals and the stainless steel threaded rods to complete the west elevation. The east elevation will be fixed polycarbonate panels orientated vertically, and for now the roof will remain in simple panels.
The relationship between the plywood and polycarbonate continues to grow on me, there is something rather beautiful about this synergy of different materials.
A 6.0x2.5m dwelling will seem perfectly normal in future because this space like a like dr.who's tardis will be an integration of structure, services, storage, systems, information and furnature that is flip away or fold out. It will work more like a multi-tool. Like a leatherman or swiss army knife, a house in future will be required to be durable, excellently crafted and useable for 1001 tasks which right now are impossible to imagine.

OPEN-SOURCE INVITATION / LEGO MINDSTORMS

OPEN SOURCE EXPERIMENT
The click-raft is an on-going experiment which i am keen to invite all who are interested to participate in an open-source experiment to help evolve a completely new kind of autonomous live/work mini architecture. This is no easy or simple task and will take numerous 'design hackers' to try out different options or configurations...
... I'm interested especially in students (young + old), people who like to tinker, universities, research institutions, and companies willing to explore the click-raft concept and to really push this thing around, to see what might be possible with this way of thinking... its time for architecture to become more useful and accessible, cheaper, quicker, lighter, and smarter, its time for architecture to be completely re-invented !

LEGO MINDSTORMS ROBOTICS
For example, what i didn't mention until now regarding the concept is that it is much more than simply based on standard CNC panel flat pack self-assembly potentials that are interesting in the click-raft...
.... it should be understood like a lego kit. You can build it like the instructions suggest or you can see all the bits as an open system that enables a huge range of possibilities.....
.... I have already given the click-raft two very different kinds of shapes... the one you see here is just one...

.... like super large lego pieces the idea is to add lego mindstorms robotics into the mix, to operate and manage the click-raft's weather skin, energy use, water use etc using the mindstorms nxt software (which 10 year old kids can operate) to program sensors to respond to light, temperature, windspeed and so on then to use the micro-processors to instruct the servo motors to adjust the louvres, screens and blinds to open or close, orientate to the sun or away just as tree leaves can do and thus enable the click-raft to respond just as plants do to the changing conditions around it of night and day, summer and winter, rain or shine, cold or hot through providing different degrees of transparency, openness, ventilation, humidity etc.

... this clickable dwelling could learn to adjust with the seasons, to close up at night, and open to a sunny morning, even to dance, breathe, or simply flap its leaves

latest site photos with roof

with the structure almost complete, it is time to put part of the roof up for a work space to continue construction out of the rain. Next task is the louvres which I'm still refining, and may yet have to change the detail owing to huge differences in expansion rates between the aluminium/rubber strips and the polycarbonate. The challenge is to make slot joints for the stainless steel rods which connect through to the pvc tubes (these slot into the click-raft joints that you see on every part of the plywood structure). The detail also has to enable expansion and contraction over 2m's which works well, but I still haven't found a suitable rubber based adhesive which is flexible enough to cope.