A recap:

  • loads of identical repetition in structure and componentry = conducive to fabrication techniques = can be made more precisely indoors under factory conditions = cheaper, as long as all the bits can be transported and plonked into place without too much fuss.
  • Lifting in by chopper seems to be the most reasonable option under the circumstances: steep site, heavily overgrown (and we’d like to keep it that way as much as possible), difficult access: we might be able to crane components 30m up the slope but we’d none-the-less need to chunk the bits down quite a bit so that they can be man-handled/winched into place. The local Helicopter specialists, Helipro ball-park quoted me a typical “run” as comprising 3 or 4 lifts of max500kg using a smallish Bell as around $1,000. They also have an Iroquois which has a lifting capacity of up to 2000kg – dunno how much that one costs. They arrange with council to stop local traffic / arrange the flight-path from a local pick-up zone – there are plenty for us to choose from, and transporting entire buildings by truck is a local speciality.

The difficulty lies in

  1. getting it fabricated affordably, preferably in a set up with broad expertise…
  2. putting it all together on site, definitely using a set up with broad expertise!

I think I might have found someone for point #2: Chris Foothead (builder, local, experienced, recommended by reliable sources etc) visited a week ago and discussed the project (we looked at an earlier design ). He has the expertise, we like him, and he’s interested… He suggested that we contact Carters , a local building supply group to try and get them interested in utilising their plywood fabrication facilities to make all the bits (and maybe make the all-plywood design a show-pony for them). Problem is to find the right person to pitch to… we don’t want a sales rep.

After a bit of phoning around this morning, and poking around enduringhomes.co.nz, I spoke to David Waters, General Sales & Marketing Manager of Carters. He was very helpful, confirming that it is Carter’s “Modular” Factory in Pareku-something near Auckland which handles all the fabrication stuff, and kindly gave me the name of the guy who heads up Carter’s entire manufacturing division, including the Modular Factory: Grant Crowhurst – he’s also the FTMA Vice President.

Another recap.

Okay2. I have a contact for the ultra-prefab option – the trick will be whether they (Carters) have the spare capacity/is-it-worth-their-while…? I also have Patrick at Cut-To-Size Ltd, a small one-man shop around the corner in Newtown who looks to be capable of reasonably sophisticated fabrication work.

What to do next?

  1. finalise the assembly sequencing / get an idea of how many bits in what configurations
  2. document it all so that I can easily present something to interested parties, preferably directly from my PowerBook, or at the very least from this blog… with a printed version of same for technology-phobics.
  3. approach Patrick at CutToSize with same and see whether he is keen or not
  4. approach Grant Crowhurst with same and see whether Carters are keen or not – hmm: he’s in Auckland, I tink.

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