House Plans for a Natural Living!

It’s a year 2007, and you’re planning to build a new house for you, and your family.

Let’s assume, that the question of where, has already been answered. Yes, the location is where your design ideas should originate from.

Providing you’ve done your research correctly, the only place you’d come up with would be somewhere in the middle of the rural America. Kansas? Wyoming? Both are good places to move your family to, and put your house plans to reality.

Designing your home will entail two distinctive parts: architectural and that encompassing construction and materials. Both are equally important. Your enjoyment of living in a nice looking house is hard to overestimate. Also, your standard of living will depend on how functional the house is. However, the quality of construction materials and the process itself, will determine the comfort level, and how healthy your dwelling is. Each of those critical parts will be examined below.

Architectural aspects of creating house plans.

Choose design concept that all people who will live there, do like. Compromise may be hard to achieve, but it’s worth the effort. After all, you don’t want anybody who would say: “I hate this place.”

Knowing how difficult it is to combine beauty with functionality, tell your architect the main elements that your new house should incorporate: useable area, how many levels, number of rooms and their purpose, position of entry doors, etc. Any special requirements imposed by the fact that a handicapped, or senior persons will be living there, should be stated at the outset as well.

It’s recommended, that you show your building block to the architect, so that he can better blend the design to the surroundings. This will benefit your future gardening and landscaping works, as well as the Nature left virtually intact.

Final word of advice: try to avoid “ground breaking” designs. You wouldn’t want to be the guinea pig, testing it for others.

After the draughtsman put your architect’s vision on paper, time to contact the builder who will carry on the construction phase.

Before even your first load of building materials arrives at the home site, make sure that your builder clearly understands your preferences. Yes, I’m talking about using, wherever possible, ecologically friendly materials. All timber should be free of preservatives – choose cypress with its natural insect repelling properties. Instead of chemicals-oozing carpets, choose slate or pine floors. Don’t use Besser blocks; mud bricks or stone blocks are much healthier. Try to reduce use of cement as much as possible, due to its high energy use during the manufacturing process, and residual harmful substances. Instead of rendering, leave walls to show the natural beauty of stone, clay, or timber. Try to limit use of paints, as much as possible. If necessary, use odorless and chemicals-free kinds. There are many harmless pigments available, that when combined with water and lime will deliver stunning color finishes, free of harmful solvents. In place of glues, use mechanical methods during the construction process.

The Best Architecture in Australia

Architecture is one field, which has always intrigued mankind. Everyone loves to visit places, which score high in this aspect. Australia is one such destination, which will leave you floored with all its wonderful structures and makes you gape at each of its creations.Read on to check out some of the wonderful structures, which have become the focus of admiration for the entire world.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge- connecting centuries

One of the spectacular man-made creations of Australia is The Sydney Harbor Bridge. Inaugurated in the year 1932, it is the tallest and the widest long-span arch steel bridge. ‘The Coathanger’, as it is lovingly named, because of its arch type pattern, links the northern and the central business districts.

The bridge provides a breathtaking view of the harbor, the Sydney Opera House and the overall city. The Bridge Climb serves as an icing on the cake by giving tourists an opportunity to experience what it feels to be at the top of this steel structure. This bridge is definitely a ‘must see’ for all those who visit Australia and want to treasure the images of something very gigantic and exciting.

Three Cheers for the Sydney Opera House

If you are in Australia, you cannot miss visiting the Sydney Opera House. In the 20th century, a young architect, Jorn Utzon, had the vision to create something, which would be recognized in the succeeding ages by everyone. Thus, an excellent innovation was born which got the fame of a world-class performing arts centre, named the Sydney Opera House. This Opera House is one of the busiest and most visited cultural institutions of the world. It is considered to be an achievement in the field of architecture due to its innovative engineering technique and its unique design. The Sydney Opera House is an icon of beauty for the entire Universe.

The New Parliament House integrates the past and future of Australia

Another very interesting piece of Architectural wonders is the New Parliament House. This building acts as a centre for the Parliament and also as a place where all the ceremonies of National importance are held. The visitors can enjoy the wonderful creative works from the art collection of the Parliament House or paintings from the Historic Memorials Collection at the public galleries, which are easily accessible to them. This significant architectural achievement, with its flag mast, has received several awards of excellence. The Parliament House provides an opportunity to the visitors to witness closely how the Parliament works and surely receives undiluted attention due to one of its kind of structural and symbolic pattern.

The National Museum of Australia- a roller coaster ride

The National Museum of Australia or NMA is another very popular tourist sight. Since its inception in 2001, it has been thronged by visitors, and went on to bag awards for being one of the best tourist attractions in the world. This huge steel structure resembles a roller coaster and sparks instant curiosity among the viewers with its visual appeal. The Museum is as captivating inside as its structure outside, with 200,000 and more objects of historical significance displayed. You almost get to view the past, present and future of Australia once you are in the Museum.

Federation Square epitomizes Australian art

Federation Square is a civic centre in Melbourne which blends abstract geometry, glass and steel in its architectural design. Voted as the second most popular hub of Victoria, Federation Square was built to camouflage the unpleasant railway lines that ran through the heart of the city. It’s unusual and marvelous structure has always been the cynosure of travelers coming to Australia.

Build Your Own Replica Architectural Bird House That Looks Like Your Home

With some basic woodworking skills you too, can craft your own replica architectural bird house. The time and detail put into handcrafting the replica bird house will make it a truly unique and personal work of art. By following the same steps followed at New England Birdhouse, you’ll be able to create a one of a kind architectural replica birdhouse of your own.

Always Start With a Plan

You can use CAD software to develop scale plans for our custom birdhouses. If that’s a bit too technical of an approach for you, we suggest making a simple measured drawing. Sketch out the details of your house including roof lines and angles, window and door positions and decorative moldings. Transform this sketch into a full-size drawing of the birdhouse. This plan will become a template for your bird house and will provide the scale and positioning of the architectural details of your replica bird house.

A cardboard mock-up of the replica bird house can be very helpful at this point, especially when working with roof lines. Shipping boxes and masking tape can be used to create three dimensional models to help visualize the completed bird house.

When determining the size of your bird house it’s important to consider not only the structure you are replicating, but also how the completed bird house will be mounted and displayed and how many nesting chambers your birdhouse will feature. Typically, our custom replica birdhouses are about 2′ wide x 3′ deep x 16″-18″ tall, and feature two nesting boxes.

Consider the Safety of Occupants

As you are planning and building your replica birdhouse, always consider the safety and well being of the birds that will occupy the house. The nesting chambers should be left unfinished and free of any paint, glue or chemicals. Any sharp points from exposed screws or nails should be filed smooth. The nesting chambers must have access for cleaning, a drainage and ventilation area and an appropriately sized entry hole. To attract most common cavity nesters use a hole no larger than 1 3/4″. To protect young nestlings, make sure that the entry hole is at least 4″-5″ from the floor of the birdhouse, so they cannot fall out. Do not include any perches, as they will function as a place for predators to harass the nestlings.

Constructing the Birdhouse

Our custom replica birdhouses are made from milled 5/8″ eastern white pine, fastened and joined with exterior grade screws and glue. Pre-milled lumber can be found at lumber yards and big box hardware stores. Finished 3/4″ pine in 6′ or 8′ widths can be glued and joined to create walls and roofs. Always use long grain but joints and never try to glue end grain, because it is not a structural joint. An interior frame can be built to attach the walls and roof to. Make sure that the bottom of the birdhouse is reinforced to accept mounting hardware.

Details, Details, Details

Our architectural details are carved, burned and painted into our custom replica birdhouses using a variety of tools and artistic techniques. Architectural details commonly include shingle, siding, window, shutter, brick, door, molding and fascia board detail. Experiment with different techniques and materials to achieve a look that you feel comfortable with. Most architectural details can be created using a handheld rotary tool (like a dremel) outfitted with a circular carbide disc or sanding wheel, and an artist’s paintbrush.

Painting and Finishing Your Custom Bird House

Thoroughly sand the exterior of your replica bird house and remove any sawdust. Seal the exterior of the bird house with a water based paint sealer (like Kilz) and blend exterior grade latex paint to match the colors you desire. The blended exterior colors can be airbrushed or hand brushed onto the bird house. Finally two coats of non-yellowing marine urethane finish are sprayed onto the birdhouse.

Completing your Bird House

Following these steps will yield a replica birdhouse that with proper placement and maintenance will provide years of enjoyment. We recommend that the houses be located in a shady, sheltered area to minimize weathering and that the birdhouses be moved inside during the winter months. With time, the replica birdhouse will need to be refinished.

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