Hedgehog and Diggers- Thursdays trip to Brighton

On Thursday, Five had a trip to Brighton, sadly no lashings of ginger beer. Glorious weather and good company were two of the compensations. We met Robin Hillier at the station, Robin was the architect on the Hedgehog and Diggers selfbuild projects (you can check out the Hedgehog episode on the first series of Grand Designs on Youtube), both projects are Walter Segal timber frame houses and were built by Housing Co-ops in partnership with Housing Associations.
First Hedgehog, a row of 10 houses clad with fir and larch with lovely verandas and big south facing windows to make the most of the solar gain- and the magnificent views. Painted all different colours they sit comfortably in their communal garden space(it felt very welcoming and friendly with no fences), mostly at the front(which is actually the back) and the ends of the row. The planting has grown up around the perimeter so that the residents aren't looking out of their windows into the windows of their neighbours down the hill(as planned- although there was apparently a local woman who said she was going to burn them all down!!) A level path at the front, with wooden platforms leading off to the front doors provides wheelchair access and runs directly from two covered parking spaces. We were allowed to look around one of the houses, which was wonderful,lovely high sloping ceilings- also the interior walls can be placed where you want them as the frame and posts are load bearing. Very versatile, you can weight and shape your space to suit your needs.
It was also very interesting to hear from Robin about what he learned from the project- where not to put untreated, fast growing softwood for example-oops.There were also problems with the roof liners, leading to some leakage, the contractors didn't know how to fit them properly! -oops. That said it seemed that as the residents had built the houses and the houses were built simply that it was quite easy for them to maintain and repair them themselves.
We heard about the problems they had with the Housing Association, which included pulling £60,000 of funding at the last minute- they had to reinstate it later, due to the project going over budget by .....£60,000!
Then it was off to Diggers, 9 houses this time again with a communal garden, this time the houses were around the edge of the plot and the garden was in the centre, the houses are faced with glassene(probably not how it's spelled) cement board and look, as Vic(a resident/selfbuilder) said, a bit mock tudor. The lovely Vic gave us coffee, chatted and answered questions and then let us have a lookaround his one bedroom house. According to Vic the soundproofing of the houses is very good, he also said that some of their houses had had small areas of rot in the wood, some of which he attributed to elements of the design, some of it to do with the fact that it was a lot more sheltered, in Hedgehog, for example, the wind dries the wood out after rain as it's at the top of a hill. Like at Hedgehog, Vic seemed to repair and maintain the house himself- with skills he had already or had learned on the build. It was also interesting to hear that during the build, the selfbuiders were doing the wiring with skill and care, though at a slower pace than was acceptable to the housing association, so contractors were brought in and did a slapdash job - no problems with the bit that Vic and co did, problems with the work the contractors did, apparently this happened with other jobs on the build(he did say- I've forgotten). After this it was back in to the centre of Brighton to drop off Robin(lovely of him to give all that time and attention to us, I was completely fascinated and picked up a lot of useful information- thanks Robin.) and go for something to eat at the Cowley club(social centre co-op and member of Radical Routes), another long and thought provoking discussion about legal stuctures for our co-ops and then a leisurely, meandering stroll back to the train station. The icing on the cake; Kathy taught us to whistle- finger style, always wanted to be able to do that! The skilling up continues. x

Which Legal Structure?

We have been discussing the several possible legal structures open to us, their advantages and disadvantages.
It’s really important to set the structure up as reflective as possible of the project at the beginning so we can start to build all the needs of a neighbourhood. It will also mean the project, in the form we envisage, is more sustainable.
The possibilities are a secondary co-op with 3 co-op members, a consortium of co-ops which can accept other members, a Limited liability Partnership (LLP) and a multistakeholder co-op.
We are speaking with people who have set up these structures or created the primary rules for a structure and asking them why they made the decisions they did. But no project is really like ours. So we will have to make the decision ourselves. One of the exciting parts of setting up a new project!

Writing the LCHC Business Plan

We have been spending our Saturdays working on the LCHC Business Plan. I thought this was a necessary but boring chore with the outcome meant for funders and supporters. I thought it would be tedious, difficult and mind numbing.

Instead I found, that while it has not been easy, this 'chore’ has been filled with laughter, energising, focusing and showing that we are working toward the same vision. At each new section we would go quiet and look blankly at each other thinking 'I know what this project is but how to put it into words!'

Now that we have broken through this barrier, we are on our way to seeing our internal visions leap on to paper and are one huge step closer...

I am really proud of what we have done. This process will be useful for funders and supporters but has also been incredible useful for us as a group to see our project's vision, as well as the real time framework, fleshed out. We are on our way

Oh no, I've just seen how late it is! Just spent the last don't know how long trying to access/copy the Radical Routes application form so that I could start filling it in- with, ahem, lean success. Note to self, large hole in computer skills!!
Sent Robin Hillier, from Architype, our dates for a trip to visit Hedgehog and Diggers in Brighton. Night-night x

UJIMA (COLLECTIVE WORK and RESPONSIBILITY)

UJIMA (oo-JEE-mah) is Swahili for collective work and responsibility. We are on the verge of a major revolution. One of self determined communities where people take responsibility for themselves..everything from health to education; to commerce and housing. Co-housing, community self building and intentional communities are growing trends not only here in the UK but worldwide. There are some stellar examples such as the Lancaster Cohousing Project, Mark Teys, Hedgehog Self Build Co-op, and Diggers Self Build Co-op.

The Lancaster Cohousing Project is located just outside Lancaster on the outskirts of the village of Halton. It has a mixture of private homes, workspaces, and community facilities built on strong ecological values.

Lancaster Cohousing 2009

The Mark Teys Project was built in partnership with a housing association, by and for disabled people. An example of inclusive design and diversity within the self build community located in Mark Teys, near Colchester.

Hedgehog Selfbuild Co-op is another example of community self build with strong sustainable values located in Brighton. 

HedgeHog Self Build

The Diggers Selfbuild Co-op, also located in Brighton has provided the inspiration for many similar projects in the UK

Diggers Self Build Internal

So what a small, but uniquely diverse and dynamic group of people have envisioned is not an impossibility. It can be done. Our tasks in the upcoming months are to refine our dreams into viable plans;  to clearly establish the degree of self determination, we as a group want to have; and to use our limitations of budget and urban environment as catalysts for innovation.

Old vs New?

We are now trying to decide whether to go for land and new build or an old house complex and renovate. I had imagined that we would find some old set of buildings and turn them into something we want but having watched many renovation programmes over the years and knowing from experience how many unknowns there are, when one of our members found some land, we started to think of a new vision...

Walter Segal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Segal), a visionary new eco-architecture, offers another very exciting way forward.

Here are my list of pros and cons for each possiblity. The list is not finshed!

Walter Segal Type New Build

Pros -

Cost easier to keep in control

We could do a lot ourselves

Could be quirky and ground breaking

Possiblity of being off grid or at least nearly off grid

Cons -

Land expensive

Planning difficult

Not as many houses possible as can't build up so smaller project

Regeneration:

Pros -

Part of the neighbourhood already

Making ecological buildings that are already there

Beauty

Cons -
Possibly more expensive

Unknown what we will find until we start renovating

Less ecological in the end

Planning difficult...

Planning is a problem with both projects but as we are innovative I think planners will be interested. Councils have a lot of pressure to eco build and for more resendential so I think we can get round objections.

I suppose it depends on which problems we want to take on.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Dreams Can Become Reality

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sales.  Explore, dream, discover."

Mark Twain

It started out as conversations of like minded individuals, wanting to live in a more meaningful way, of families and parents wanting to create better environments for our children to grow up in. Over shared meals, around camp-fires, copious cups of tea, cakes and biscuits, we discussed many issues......environmental concerns, healthy living, growing our own organic food, car pooling, intentional communities, eco friendly building, solar energy, skill sharing, apprenticeships, social centres and food co-ops, lifelong learning and education in family and community settings.

What has seemed an impossibility, has evolved organically over the years. Last year we took a deep breath and leaped!!! We began meeting on a regular basis, researching, exploring,  networking, and taking the necessary steps to making this dream happen.

The London Community Housing Co-operative, has emerged,  a seedling nurtured by the mutual intentions of a small group,  to become a registered Industrial Provident Society(IPS) with the Financial Services Authority(FSA) in January 2011.

On a cold , dark winter evening as fireworks lit up the sky over the Southbank,  where we sat in the Blue Bar we took it as an omen to reach for the stars. So follow our journey as we create a modern day village, a concept of community living based on the sustainable well being of people and surroundings, valuing diversity and mutual responsibility.

Dee