Design

This is the basic floor plan for the house, it is 10 meters diameter. It took a long time to decide on the size, we spent many sunday afternoons drawing the design in the sand and putting furniture inside to have an idea of space. We wanted something small and cosy, but not too cramped, so it has 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and living/dining area. We will have a compost toilet which we wanted outside but with our 3 year old we decided to have a toilet inside with a basic compost toilet design which will not have the chamber built in but a bucket which is emptied onto a compost pile. The external walls of the house will be 50 cm wide and internal walls 25 cm wide. There will be a mezzanine above the bedrooms, to use the  space which is created by the thatched roof.

We also want to create outdoor living spaces as we spend a lot of time outside having spaces to sit and relax outside are as much a part of the home as indoor space. All the windows will be rounded and arched, some will be glass panes built into the wall, as well as glass bottles into the wall. The nice thing about cob that I'm looking forward too is adding sculptural details, alcoves, shelves, gecko shaped windows etc.

The roof will be gum-poles and thatch all of which are sourced locally, there will need to be a central support for the roof otherwise I like the idea of a reciprocal roof design but not sure how possible this is with thatch when a minimum 45 degree angle is needed, anyone who has any information on this I would be interested to hear!