{Progress} - Haliburton Container House

Design and drawing work take up the bulk of my working hours. Most people (me included!), charmed by colourful fast-paced design shows expect to see only the tidy befores-and-afters, and nothing in between. In the first of this {progress} series, I will show you a few of Drôle House's current projects, from sketches, to working drawings, to renderings and to the finished construction site photos. Here's a peek at an unusual off-grid cottage I've been working on for months that is slated for construction this spring.

Early two storey version of the conceptual design.

Sketch of the overall roof massing and form of the six shipping containers.

A preliminary rendering of the front entrance, playing with textures and materials for siding and roofing.

The house (or cottage, rather) is made up of six recycled shipping containers, insulated and clad mainly on the exterior. It's set in the woods in Haliburton County (a few hours north of Toronto), on an undeveloped property (no power, no road, no sewer). It's planned to contain one barrier-free master suite, and four other small bedrooms, and it fits within an 1820 sqft footprint on one floor. It's super insulated on the exterior, has a photovoltaic (PV) array, propane backup tanks, it's own well and septic bed.

Permit plan -- also called 'working drawings".

Elevations, showing the building faces orthographically (flat 90 degree interpretation) used for precise measuring and permit drawings.

The clients were excited about building with containers and being off grid. The benefits of containers include - simple screw-pile foundations that require no excavation and therefore less disruption to a wooded site, have an almost instant shelter when beginning construction once lifted into place, and are so sturdy they can be stacked nine high! We didn't need that height for this project, but being a rural site, it will be convenient to keep the crew sheltered and tools safe from the start.

A final rendering before construction begins.

What have you heard about container houses? Would you live in one?

~Deborah

Home Consultation - what you can expect

Drôle House offers home consultations in the Greater Toronto Area. Renovations are overwhelming even if you know exactly what you want. What if you don't know where to start? A home consultation with Deborah Mesher, or another very talented staff member,  involves a visit with you and your family in your home so that you can walk me through the spaces that annoy ---ahem-- challenge you. You can ask questions, I then measure and take photographs, then return a week later with a 3D model analysing what works and what doesn't, along with preliminary sketches for renovation options to consider.

Is an addition necessary? Maybe not! Can you use the space you have in a different way that satisfies all of your family's needs? Probably!  

A sample model of an existing kitchen with poor circulation and broken layout.

A home consultation is a low cost way to explore options when considering a major renovation to your home. You'll find out what needs a permit and what doesn't, what work has an impact on your zoning, and what steps are between you and a home that is more functional and fun! It's pre-design work --or as I like to call it-- "the math" of what you could do. You'll come away with a clear direction forward, digital layout sketches for your space(s) and a step by step a plan of action to get you going.

“Had a great experience with Drôle House - our basement has been re-imagined with an excellent new creative solution that will give us a new cozy library/kids space and a separate guest room / sewing room. Best of all, this requires only changing one existing wall; we’ll be taking advantage of under-utilized space that we never thought could be used for much more than storage.”

— Andrea C.

“We were looking for creative ways of using our tiny outdoor space - something that was flexible and multifunctional for a growing family that wants to eat, entertain, garden, and play outdoors. Our experience with Drole House was great! Deborah quickly set up an appointment in which she listed to our list of ‘wants’. In only a couple weeks, she had a great plan all mocked up with multiple elevations. For those of us who aren’t great at visualizing floorpans, it was great to see the plan from different perspectives. She walked us through her ideas - all of which aligned with what we’re hoping to achieve for the space. Now I can’t wait to bring it to life!”

— Kristina C.

A consultation is $389 +tax, and isn't limited to houses! Your condo, rental apartment, office or shop could benefit from a visit from a designer who can expertly see potential that you can’t. Should you want to proceed with a project and need further design and permit drawing help, the home consultation fee will be credited forward. Win-win. Book yours below.

~Deborah

Playwork

I took my first trip to California this February for Pop Up Adventure Play's first annual Campference at Eureka Villa. It was conference about playwork theory and practice, attended by nearly a hundred people from all over the world. Seventy attendees, me included, camped on the site. It was a camp-ference...get it? Spoiler: it was freezing cold, there was a twenty year storm, the roads flooded, we abandoned the camp site, I had a run in with a mountain lion----and those were the least interesting nuggets of my three days in Val Verde! 

Me at the bottom right hand corner. Photo credit: Chris Martin

What exactly is playwork, you ask? It has a fairly broad definition. The playwork principles according to campference speaker Professor Fraser Brown were:

1. All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate. Play is a biological, psychological and social necessity, and is fundamental to the healthy development and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

2. Play is a process that's freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated.

The play he describes can't be found on a soccer team, or playing monopoly. Play comes from within, it's not owned, directed or controlled by adults. The role of the "play worker"; the role that pops up in several intersecting fields of study; is to create the conditions or environment that facilitate freely chosen play.

As a designer of built things, I felt like a fish out of water surrounded by outdoor educators, social workers and play activists. I certainly get to play when creating and designing built spaces, but how can I create spaces that facilitate play for others? This is what I had hoped to find out.

Here are some takeaways:

1. Affordance: describes what opportunity(ies) any given object, person or space can lend. For example, a chair has many affordances, you can sit on it, lay it down and it's a pilot's cockpit, use it as a goal posts for soccer etc. The more affordances an object or space has, the more opportunities for play it has. 

2. Risk and hazard: risk and hazard are not the same thing. Risk is individually judged and is dependent on the person doing the risking (i.e. can I jump across this puddle without getting wet), a hazard is an unforseen danger like a glass shard concealed in the park sand pit. Risk is cultural. Millions of people risk death each time they get behind the wheel of their car, but it's an accepted one. Parents confuse risk and hazard constantly. "That's dangerous!" is a warning applied equally to climbing a play structure or holding a chainsaw. The benefits of letting kids risk at their own pace are immense.

3. Playwork happens everywhere. In schools, in parks, in homes, at bus stops, you name it. Museums and zoos are getting on board, and providing real physical and emotional space for children. Playwork is not confined to outdoor adventure playgrounds in temperate climates. Take this bus stop prototype designed and built by Philadelphia's Public Workshop for example:

Photo credit: Alex Gilliam of Public Workshop

4.  The three F's: Ideally, play should be fun, flexible and free (child-led/autonomous) according to Fraser Brown. Playwork is about finding a way to say YES. Facilitating a collaborative design process with families is at the root of Drôle House's mission to bring more function and fun to homes. 

If you are interested in learning more about playwork in your own life or work, here are some  links of groups and businesses I was introduced to at the campference who doing some inspiring things.

Pop Up Adventure Play: they offer a playworker development course, and facilitate loose play pop ups everywhere.

Recess Revolution: to learn how to bring free play back to school recess.

EarthPlay Canada: giving the right to play back to Canadian kids.

The Land: a documentary film made by Erin Davis. It is a must see for adventure play enthusiasts.

Adventure: The Value of Risk in Children's Play written by Joan Almon.

Loose parts for free play. Check out my post on loose parts play here.

How do you support play in your life or work?

~Deborah

The Extra Room...Comic Book!

An idea was sparked last year by a conversation between very tried parents who were struggling to find room for toys, their many kids, and themselves amongst the chaos of their small urban homes. Even if they were lucky enough to own their home, they certainly couldn't afford to buy bigger to accommodate their changing needs, or even add on to. What options are there?

The main issue is that our needs have evolved, but the way houses are laid out and used have stayed the same. We now want home offices, in-law or guest rooms, and should we be so lucky to dream it, devoted spaces for homework, practicing, or even health and wellness. More complicated still is that many families are opting to stay in condos, forgoing cars for walkable neighbourhoods, preferring city amenities to the yards of suburbs.

The city of Toronto is taking notice with "Growing Up" a study that is looking into establishing design standards for new homes and condominiums to allow more flexible and transitional use of spaces for all families. I think it’s fabulous and way overdue!

The Extra Room is a quick, tongue-and-cheek manual about how to make use of the space you already have. No renovating, no big construction, but something you can do TODAY to gain more flexible space. It's attachment parent friendly, so try it out if it speaks to you! It the first of many Drôle House comic books and manuals to come. 

If you like it, please share! Tag a picture of your rearranged spaces with #classicswitch or let me know what you think by commenting below.

Happy switching!

~Deborah

Postcard 11

{Postcard 11}: "Where should we put the kids?" - Submitted by Cindy.

{Postcard 11}: "Where should we put the kids?" - Submitted by Cindy.

Cindy and her family live in a three storey, four-and-a-half bedroom home. Yes, layout challenges do happen when there's ample space! When there is no clear function to any given room it's easy for a family to sprrrrrread. Few closets and limited storage otherwise means that there are clothes here, toys there, office a little bit everywhere. Looking at the whole house can help visualize whom to put where and for how long. 

Cindy's design challenge includes:

• a home with multiple rooms but limited storage
• the need for a separate and private home office for her business within the house
• the need for a permanent guest room
• adaptive room layouts for her boys to grow into

The suggested layout pictured above involves first grouping then moving the boys' spaces to the third floor. The front room can fit two single beds and can include a fun narrow little nook perfect for small-person storage, lounging (think pillows!) or a library. Children can easily be grouped together to share a room for years, especially when it's just for sleeping. They can stay together until teenage-hood and beyond if they also have a separate area that can evolve from playroom into a study. The den on the third floor suits this perfectly. It's open, bright, can fit storage, seating and desks with an open floor space for playing. Using the den for play means it's easier to keep an ear on them from another floor when they playing.

On the second floor, moving the closet of the master bedroom to the windowless partition wall side frees up the room enough to include a bonus window seat. Arranging the bed on an interior wall is also more comfortable in the extreme cold or hot months of the year. 

Creating a devoted (lockable door--gasp!) office on the second floor is the next step. Though it's a small room, it can accommodate two people at the wall-to-wall desk, has shelving above and even an corner for a lounge or reading chair. The permanent guest bedroom stays on the second floor at the back of the house, buffered for sound by the office space.

What whole-house layout would work for your family? 

~Deborah

Postcard 10

{Postcard 10}: How can I make my kitchen entrance less problematic? - Submitted by Jenny

{Postcard 10}: How can I make my kitchen entrance less problematic? - Submitted by Jenny.

Jenny and her family enter their home through a door that opens directly into the kitchen, leaving only a small wall area for hooks with boot storage on the floor below. As she gears up for winter with her two young boys, Jenny is wondering if there is a fix for the entryway. In her sketch at the top, she points to the main problem: "walk right into kitchen".

Jenny's design challenge includes:

• a main entrance into the kitchen within a few steps from grade (with no vestibule)
• the need to store a family-of-four's worth of winter boots and shoes

Similar to the challenge in Postcard 9, entrances without vestibules are such a challenge in northern climates! Having a door enter directly into the kitchen isn't great for heat retention or circulation into the space, let alone the piles of outer wear that kids generate needing to be stored close by. This design challenge took a lot of head scratching, and unlike previous postcard ideas, really requires actual building to solve! If you must build, you may as well make it fun too.

The suggested solution to Jenny's problematic entryway is to build a new mudroom as a small addition to catch all the coats and boots, reduce the draft upon entering, and let the kitchen do it's thing. It's only about 64 sqft and includes a full closet with a window above, as well as a bench with coat hooks above and shoe storage below.

The bonus here is taking a very simple shed or gabled roof porch (ideally matching the style and materials of the existing house), and turning the upper exterior portion into a integrated and hidden playhouse. Oh yes! The playhouse is reached by a ladder concealed into the installation of board siding, has a little window looking out, and can even include a light so it light up as a lantern at night. Functional and fun.

~Deborah

Playbox Fundraiser Reveal!

They're here! I'm pleased to reveal the finished playboxes curated for The Children's Storefront silent auction fundraiser. They are part art, part furniture, part play, and are intended for children aged 3-8. The makers include architects, a designer, a teacher and a scientist, and each of the five boxes is absolutely delightful! They can be stand alone toys, or can be affixed to the wall to become night tables or engaging works of art. They are available to bid on here until December 6th, 2016 and all proceeds go to the Children's Storefront and La Leche League Canada. If you want to see them in action, head to the Drôle House Facebook page.

Musical playbox made by Kyle England, Architect.

Weaving playbox made by Nadine El-Gazzar, Architect. In her words: "the spatial weaving playbox allows the crafter to weave strips of material through a network of strings in different planes. The strips of material can be re-positioned, twisted, crossed and intertwined. The quiet process of weaving allows the player mind space to refect on the craft, or whatever thoughts fill their mind."

Circuit House playbox made by Wendy Graham of Science Riot Grrls.

Game Blocks playbox made by Ivan Ilic, designer and model maker Shop 116. In his words: "play means an opportunity to explore, experience, and through a creative process further our understanding of the world. Game blocks are a collection of oversized wood dice that individually or in combination allow us to make our own fun games: games that may involve facial expressions, spelling, math, directions, animals, colours and some images what are just plain weird."

Woodland natural playbox made by Eva Mendonça, teacher. In her words: "my inspiration for the playbox was nature and the outdoors. Some of my best memories of childhood are running around outside or foraging in the forest. Growing up, most of my toys were found in nature or handmade from ordinary objects {buttons, clothes pins, milk bags!}. It's all about trusting the magic and letting simple objects come to life. Allowing imagination to shape the play experience with minimal influence of toys. It's about letting your souls run wild + free - to wander into the woodland and get lost."

Happy bidding!

~Deborah

Postcard 9

{Postcard 9} - "How can I make my narrow apartment entrance more functional?" Submitted by Tarryn

{Postcard 9}: How can I make my narrow apartment entrance more functional? - Submitted by Tarryn

Tarryn's second floor apartment entrance is up a narrow flight of stairs. In her sketch, she points to the "shoe mess" that inevitably collects in piles right at the doorway, making it challenging to move through especially dragging a stroller and pre-schooler.

Tarryn's interior design challenge includes:

• a narrow shared stairway entrance to a second floor apartment
• the need to store a family-of-four's worth of winter boots and shoes outside the door
• the need for solution to be moveable (i.e.: no holes in the wall) because it's an apartment
• keeping the passway and landing as clear as possible for neighbours
• re-using the solution in a future home

Entrances without vestibules are so frustrating in northern climates! Having a door enter directly into a hallway leaves very little room for anything but circulation. Where is all the stuff supposed to go? Not clutter, just everyday boots, umbrellas and stroller stuff. The design of this apartment complex didn't accommodate wintertime use let alone the needs of families with littles ones. So, how to fix it?

One possible idea is a tetris-like custom shoe storage bench that fits directly on to the stairs. It's made as bench structure first, with a stepped plywood back for sturdiness. Channels can be routered in the main structure to fit 1/4" panels to divide the storage into cubbies of different sizes. It keeps shoes organized off the floor, as well as comfortable child's height bench (and adult on the longer end) for putting on and removing shoes.

Though a custom piece like this wouldn't likely fit on any other staircase because of the variety of stair riser heights, it can have insanely fun alternate uses. It can be flipped to become a modernist play structure/dollhouse or wall mounted to transform into a child's desk. See? Like tetris.

What alternative uses can you see?

~Deborah

Playbox Fundraiser

Calling all local Toronto makers, designers, scientists and artists! Drôle House is organizing a fundraiser for charity and I think you'll get a kick out of participating! 

Drôle House's PLAYBOX FUNDRAISER --here's how it works:

1. An empty wooden playbox is delivered to your home or office in Toronto by October 28, 2016.

2. You create an inviting visual and useable playbox installation within it by November 14, 2016.

3. Drôle House will pick it up and auction it off on the Children's Storefront online silent auction between November 15 and December 6, 2016.

Email for details and to register your participation HERE.

If you aren't a maker, but are excited to bid on one of these one-of-a-kind playboxes for your family, go to www.childrensstorefront.com for the online auction between November 15th and December 6th, 2016 or come see them in person at 826 Bloor St West in Toronto.

Please share widely!

~Deborah

JOIN DRÔLE HOUSE!

Positive and Negative Space - Landscape Play

This past August was a month of construction projects during our yearly holiday away from the city at my parents' property in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The whole family helped prep formwork and pour concrete, framed and sheathed a building addition, built a treehouse, and installed solar panels like it was NBD.

To the grown-up builders among us, construction is as close to creative, challenging and risky play as adulthood allows. Assembling seemingly unrelated pieces to create, test and reassemble, climbing too high and feeling the thrill of fear, problem solving, collaborating, all the while testing the physical limits of our bodies. I went to bed exhausted, dreaming about banging in roofing nails in two precise and satisfying blows (if only!). It was the adult version of loose parts play that I wrote about here. 

At the same time we were building, I felt the urge to take something away. Clear out a space, carve something out of the dense wilderness around us to balance the work. I wanted to explore the idea of using voids for play in a way that would be impermanent (i.e. so I couldn't screw it up). I decided to attempt this dance between positive and negative space with two small landscape projects.

The first was a simple maze cut out of a disused baseball field.

By cutting something away, the field was transformed from a static lookout to the ocean, to a dynamic mini-landscape to charge into and explore. The kids couldn't help but run in, leap and hide behind the taller thickets. A maze invites movement and exploration. It is a small, temporal project with great impact. No construction, just void.

The second landscape was what I call a forest tunnel. The woods are mostly too dense to penetrate on foot. I carved a tunnel, not for walking through, but as an unexpected view to connect one landscape to the next.

 It's a tube of space cut at child height, and only visible in one particular spot on either side. One side frames a road- and way home- and the other frames a view to the water. From any other angle, the forest tunnel is just the same old forest. Unexpected views like this one can be an invitation to find a way to the other side. Surprise and delight.

Reflecting on the summer of building and taking away, I realized we all seek positive and negative spaces whether we know it or not. We accumulate and purge, seek enclosure and expanse, build spaces to be together and spaces to be alone. They are the two sides of the same coin. However, in that negative space - inside that void - holds the greatest potential for play. 

It's a concept worth exploring more: how to discover and create negative spaces in the places we live, the space where play is born.

Where are the voids in your home?

~Deborah