design + energy + excellence
New Headquarters for Wexford County Council
Detail of Double Façade – Tender drawing
View from Staff Restaurant to River Slaney
Corporate Department – visual connection to the river and internal street
View from meeting room, overlooking internal street and entrance
Detail of the Fire Curtain that divides the internal street in event of fire
View from internal street
View from Staff Restaurant
The executive tea room
These houses were built in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
The walls are built with plastic bottles, mortar, sand, clay, rubble, water and lots of community work. The concept is similar to the adobe construction technique.
The bottle walls are very strong and have also been used in Honduras and Bolivia to build water reservoirs for as much as 20.000 litres.
The bottles are filled with sand, soil or debris and are tied to each other with a nylon thread.
See more pictures here.
Posted by Isabel Barros
I am often asked how much a building is going to cost. The first thing I like to answer is that I am not a builder. I am able to give you a rough estimate but do not go thinking that is the exact right cost because there are a number of factors that will impact on the total cost for your construction project. Starting with the great volatility of the current market and ending with the quality of finishes that you are planning to have.
The reality at the moment is that building materials costs have started to decline in February 2009, they are now approximately 5.5% to 10.5% cheaper than last year (2008). Furthermore, for new house building projects the average decline in tender prices is 13%,although in some cases, falls of over 20% have been witnessed. So, this is probably the best time to build! Don’t think twice just think wise.
To help you with some cost guidance these are some useful references.
From RIAI:
RIAI Cost Guidelines, March 2006
(There is no update to these Guidelines, but due to the downturn in the economy they should be reasonable updated.)
From the Society of Chartered Surveyors:
Tender prices continue dramatic fall with building costs down 17.3% on this time last year
Guide to House Rebuilding Costs 2009
From Build Your Own House & Home Magazine:
Self-Build: Estimating Your Building Costs
From Bruce Shaw Group:
Average Construction Costs 2009
While you are worried about keeping a tight budget don’t forget that you also have to pay the professionals (like me!) that will make your building possible in a knowledgeable, creative and unique way.
Professional fees are not an extra to your construction costs, they should be part of your construction costs but people often forget this. These may be approx. 11% of the overall construction costs and it will include for architect’s fees, engineer, surveyor, BER assessor, etc.
Isabel Barros Architects - Wexford is driven by a passion for creating high quality contemporary Architecture. Our goal is to make good design available to the general public while maintaining a strong focus on the energy efficiency and sustainability of our designs.
A graduate of Lusíada University in Lisbon, Portugal, Isabel is a Senior Architect with over 30 years experience. She is a registered member of both the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and the Portuguese Association of Architects. Isabel is also Accredited in Conservation at Grade 3.
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