August 13, 2011

BUSHFIRE PROOF HOUSE
PROPOSAL FOR REBUILDING at BELGRAVE HEIGHTS 3160 Victoria. Australia.


Units 1+2 Facing north west


Bushfire, Storm and Hail protection.
• Protection exceeds BAL-FZ (Level 6) Ratings in Ash Wednesday flame zone
• Costs approx the same as timber and brick houses
• Constructed with industrial grade reinforced prefabricated concrete with a double walled shell and concrete partitions.
• Includes concrete basement living space and garage (pic right)
• Double glazed windows with sliding concrete blast shields in shell cavity.
• Concrete ‘Slab’ Ceiling reinforced to withstand falls from 4 x 20m gum trees in one storm
• Internal fire sprinkler system with town and back up own water.
• Basement acts as emergency storm shelter. Functional with or without power. 24 hours air for 2 adults per house minimum. Air isolated from outside and internally filtered.
• Reduced environmental impact on surrounding bushland due to less above ground usage.
• 20 years serviceable lifespan, little to no need for house insurance against bushfires, storms, falling trees/branches, hail. Colorbond Roof and wooden veranda would be expected damage or losses in severe storm or Ash Wednesday type fire. Concrete slab ceiling and above ground house expected to remain serviceable with below ground generally unaffected.



Health benefits
• Conforms with new disability access laws. Includes underground car park with direct undercover wheelchair access to units.
• Basement acts as ‘Clean Air’ breathing zone for asthma and hay fever sufferers on bad air quality days, high pollen count, fire burn offs, general airborne pollution etc.
• All furnishings, paint and floor coverings made from asthma and allergy resistant materials
• General design of concrete reduces incident of bugs, lice, dust, mould etc associated with timber framed dwellings.


Sample Floor Plan Unit 1


Professional Home Based Office benefits
• Unit 1 includes a home office, work space and secure underground client carpark.
• Secure basement storage for family papers, business documents, product stock, computer back up files, client information, trade tools etc to a standard comparable to a secure CBD commercial office/archival premises. Inc protection against Fire, Burglary, dust, damp, mould, bug infestations in a temperature and humidity controlled filtered air environment for decades long archival protection.


Unit 2 Front door


(Rebuilding Position on property, replaces existing units. NB: Specific Location details removed for publication)

Preliminary Tests
The existing Colorbond garage needs to be relocated to the rear of the property to make way for excavations. We can make a concrete structure to fit snuggly inside the garage and include a basement with simple stairs. This will allow us to examine what lies below the surface, stone, clay etc, build a 2 level double walled shell and do physical tests of the window and door rolling blast shields. We can also trial wall finishes, renders, fixing methods on walls, batten and plaster for living areas, paint for others, and generally test our communication chain from computer model to in-the-ground.

It will also act as the site office for construction and we can conduct regular underground inspections for leaks, cracks, seepage etc over time, before the final commit to the main dwellings. The garage will remain as a garden shed with below ground storage for tools, lawn mower fuel, paint etc.