It's been a somewhat soggy week, with slow progress on site and one day a total washout. Julian and co have been endeavouring to erect wooden 'shuttering' for the garage, effectively building a wooden mould into which concrete will be poured. The problem has been the incessant rain not being conducive to working outside with power tools! They've managed to get in the shuttering for the garage base, and Friday saw a delivery of steel parts which have all been specified by the structural engineer. There are various piles and bags on site, containing all manner of pieces of steel in different shapes and sizes.
The garage has been something we haven't cared about too much regarding the detail, only that it be waterproof and built as economically as possible. Julian's come up with the build method which has been ratified and then spec'd up by the structural engineer - the process has been so straightforward compared to the house. There's plenty of engineering that's gone into this though, and it's going to sit tight and heavy like a bunker. This definitely couldn't be described in any way as 'eco friendly'! Should be a good place to store things at a constant temperature though. It was an original idea of ours when we first saw the site - could we sink in a garage at road level and reinstate garden over the top, thus hiding it? None of our neighbours have garages in their front gardens, only single garages to the side or set further back in their gardens. We were concerned about the planning issues around being able to build something in front of the house, but given it's hidden, nobody (including the planners) seemed to mind at all.
We're not yet sure how we'll cover over the top, whether that'll just be turf or some sort of meadow mix like we've sown up the garden. The roof will be pre-cast concrete beams and is designed to take some weight. Clearly anything planted on top is going to have to be something fairly light without much in the way of roots. We like the idea of emulating a neolithic burial chamber like Maeshowe. Maybe in thousands of years' time it will be discovered, and archaeologists of the future will marvel and wonder 'how on earth did they build it?'. Ideally, of course, it would also feature a long entrance tunnel, which aligns with the sunrise on the autumn equinox, or something like that. That would be very cool. Maybe we can add that later.
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