Dwelle Lecture

Yesterday I went to a Lecture by Rik Frankland, who is the founder of a  company called Dwelle. He is an architect,  eco-building manufacturer and urban designer.  Dwelle did a project called 'Ugly House' where they questioned  what a house should look like. They teamed up student to make good, bag and ugly small ceramic  houses and then asked people to vote which house they thought was the nicest. Dwelle have also worked on a variety of school projects and built a building for First Direct Grand Village. Rik talked about two  quotes that were important to him "Making a different mistake everyday is not only acceptable it is the definition of progress" Robert Burgess and " I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand" Confucius.  He then talked about what makes a Dwelle.ing - They are timber-frame buildings which are primarily homes that are personalised to meet different tasks.  Dwelle.ings have a simplistic system, they are very green and therefore as sustainable as possible. They are highly insulated (sheepwool or recycled newspaper), air tight with heat-recovered ventillation and have high quality LED lighting throughout. Rik said that Dwelle thought it was important to listen  and then spoke about the health benefits of a dwelle.ing  such as the excellent hygrothermal conditions (temperature and humidity), good air quality(air tight but well - ventilated), they are made from materials that don't  "off - gas" (no or minimal VOC emissions) and controlled ionisation of the air (reduces asthma triggers etc). Other positive attributes of dwelle.ings were: a minimum 60-year lifespan, they are mortgageable, they have a structural warranty, there is a wide range of options, they have brick cladding, zinc cladding, rainwater harvesting, a PCM board, triple glazing, a wood-burning stove  and a variety of kitchen options.They are low energy,comfortable, affordable and low- carbon. Rik showed a video about the positives of wood as a building material. He  then spoke about Dwelle making an exhibition home which is being sponsored by HomeBase  and an Eco- Home demonstration  project exhibition.  It was interesting to learn about an architect's life and how he worked he worked his way up from being a student.