Our Quest for a Dream Home - 2
Part 2
Putting together a plan was something I loved to do. I had several plans already prepared and now I wanted the one that would fit our long term needs and the location of our property. As an energy consultant, I wanted to reflect my work in my own backyard. I wanted a home that was energy efficient. My trips to our old temples since my return to India helped. I could recall several of the temples having a cool interior in spite of the sweltering heat outside. I was amazed at the old architecture, especially in South India. They were so custom built for the hot and humid climatic conditions we normally see here for more than half a year. People of those days were smart and very scientific. I wanted to incorporate some of those ideas. I didn't have to reinvent a wheel, I just had to know how to use it properly.
I put together a plan and then had to get it professionally validated. My eldest sister came to my rescue. She is an architect by profession and has always had a passion to build efficient homes. I gave her my plan and requirements and she took good notes of my needs and came up with an even more architecturally professional plan. After several rounds of reviews and changes, my wife and I finally we saw our dream home come to digital reality. The 3D models were impressive. Now it was time for us to make the digital world a reality.
Before we started off on the actual construction, we had to go through legal processes to get the plan approved by the local municipality, which took a good two to three months to accomplish. In the meantime, we had to ensure there was water available for construction and so the well digging process was started on May 29th, 2013, exactly one year ago today (May 29th, 2014). After about 15 feet, we were luck enough to see natural water spring out of the ground. Another 14 feet took us to the rock bottom and the digging was completed in three weeks. In the meantime, the plan approval was submitted and my father, a civil engineer by profession until he retired assisted me in helping the contractors mark the land based on the drawings. He also was imperative in ensuring the building was structurally sound from the basement.
To be continued...
Putting together a plan was something I loved to do. I had several plans already prepared and now I wanted the one that would fit our long term needs and the location of our property. As an energy consultant, I wanted to reflect my work in my own backyard. I wanted a home that was energy efficient. My trips to our old temples since my return to India helped. I could recall several of the temples having a cool interior in spite of the sweltering heat outside. I was amazed at the old architecture, especially in South India. They were so custom built for the hot and humid climatic conditions we normally see here for more than half a year. People of those days were smart and very scientific. I wanted to incorporate some of those ideas. I didn't have to reinvent a wheel, I just had to know how to use it properly.
I put together a plan and then had to get it professionally validated. My eldest sister came to my rescue. She is an architect by profession and has always had a passion to build efficient homes. I gave her my plan and requirements and she took good notes of my needs and came up with an even more architecturally professional plan. After several rounds of reviews and changes, my wife and I finally we saw our dream home come to digital reality. The 3D models were impressive. Now it was time for us to make the digital world a reality.Before we started off on the actual construction, we had to go through legal processes to get the plan approved by the local municipality, which took a good two to three months to accomplish. In the meantime, we had to ensure there was water available for construction and so the well digging process was started on May 29th, 2013, exactly one year ago today (May 29th, 2014). After about 15 feet, we were luck enough to see natural water spring out of the ground. Another 14 feet took us to the rock bottom and the digging was completed in three weeks. In the meantime, the plan approval was submitted and my father, a civil engineer by profession until he retired assisted me in helping the contractors mark the land based on the drawings. He also was imperative in ensuring the building was structurally sound from the basement.
To be continued...
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