Monday 31 October 2011

Wack it down

The sand needs to be well compacted by a vibrating plate "wacker". The under slab level is checked and the sand finished 310mm below finished floor level (FFL).
 Bodie on the wacker gets the good vibrations.
Mark finishes off around the waste pipes.

Boxing Day

 Waste pipes in and sand spread out across the site. The boxing (formwork) is 300 mm high because we are building a waffle pod slab. The slab will be poured in one continuos pour at the two different levels incorporating a 600mm step.
 Boxing partly in place
 The 600mm break in level is lifted into place.
Strip footings poured, boxing finished and sand raked out.

Poo pipes and dishwater

Before the concrete slab can be layed we needed to put in the various waste pipes and other services such as power, phone, gas and water. We are working with local plumber and dairy farmer Scott Coultson.
The little digger spreads sand across the site

Rectangles and Pythagoras

Time to "set out" the buildings. Hurdles are placed so we can construct a string outline of the concrete slabs. Lots of measuring and double checking of dimensions before the project is set in concrete. True right angles are created using the 3-4-5 rule, a simple adaption of the Pythagorean equation.
Hurdles for the string lines

The rock wall

At the deepest point, our cut is about 2.0m deep, so we decided to use local "bush rocks" salvaged from nearby farmland to create our retaining walls. Skilled at laying rock walls on a grand scale, we contracted Jack Cottrell to carefully place the rocks to create a natural looking wall that blended in with the existing rock work in the adjacent home garden. Each rock is selected, turned, lifted and placed with a impressively nimble grab on the end of Jack's excavator.The end result incorporated pathways and plenty of planting nooks for local rock loving indigenous plants.
First rocks are placed

Kath admires Jack's work

Thursday 20 October 2011

The TONKA TOYS arrive

We contracted Ross Wilkinson to cut out the site and create the foundation for the buildings.
Big holes need big machines and Ross spent a few days benching in to the hill side so we could sit the buildings on close coupled concrete slabs.
Ross working on the lower pad

Wednesday 19 October 2011

TQUAL Funding





Mid winter 2011 we became aware of a co-funding grant program offered by The Australian Government. The TQUAL Grants program recognises the importance of the tourism industry to the Australian economy and is committed to the long term growth and sustainability of the industry.

The Government's TQUAL Grants program will contribute to achieving this goal by making funding available for tourism projects that enhance and refresh Australia's tourism offering and it's competitiveness as a destination.

The TQUAL Program aims to encourage investment in regional and rural tourism infrastructure projects that will enhance the tourism experiences on offer in regional Australia.

Bogong Horseback Adventures were successful in attracting a grant, and we look forward to working in Partnership with the Australian Government to achieve our vision. 

A greenfield vision.

Many a family discussion over a cuppa at the kitchen table has helped this project gel into one that all four Baird's - Steve, Kath, Lin and Clay feel really excited about. We have a vision for comfortable, well finished "5 star rustic" set of buildings. A place where we offer a "home away from home".
This cluster of buildings will sit comfortably with the nearby stables, be welcome place for our day and overnight visitors, a farmhouse kitchen featuring home grown and local produce, a centre for horsemanship learning and a soft edge to our renowned adventures.
Our determination to create a sustainable future for our family and business will be reflected in the green credentials of these buildings and the experiences we will continue to offer, the new experiences we have planned and homely comfort of well designed spaces and structures.

We have decided to place these buildings in the garden area adjacent to the existing home.



The proposed site in the gardens to the east of home

Saturday 15 October 2011

Working Drawings

Site Plan
Riders Lounge Floor Plans
Riders Lounge Elevations 01
Riders Lounge Elevations 02
Accommodation Building Floor Plan
 Accommodation Building Elevations 01
 Accommodation Building Elevations 02

Wednesday 5 October 2011

The Accomodation Building

Having decided to put the new buildings in the existing garden to the east of the home, we had a limited footprint. This reduced the impact of the project on agricultural land, and placed the buildings close to existing services such as power, water and farm roads.
The Accommodation building designs being limited to a square footprint had to be a more modern style of building being able to maximise north sun and south views and incorporate thermal mass and natural lighting.

Rough rendering of concept for accommodation building

Making the buildings work even better

We found that the Kiln designs were a bit limiting in terms of getting the passive design right. For the Riders Lounge we took a fresh approach and went back to the original inspiration for the stables - the Showground Pavilion Style.

Rendering of proposed Lounge building

Old Showground Pavillion (Bathurst?)

Sketches for riders Lounge

The riders lounge shapes up.

With the next generation of Bairds joining the business, we resolved to finally build the Riders Lounge and include an Accommodation building so we could expand the opportunities, products and markets that Bogong Horseback Adventures could plan for.
We knew we wanted a sustainable solution to our new building plans and looked to design structures that payed homage to the existing buildings on the site, particularly the stable building.
Initial ideas looked to the local vernacular architecture of the Gal Iron Tobacco Kilns that dotted the local landscape.
Local Tobacco Kilns

Add kiln design sketch

17 years of hard work

For 17 years the home has been the hard working centre of family life and the business. It is time to finally build the "Riders Lounge", the oft talked about new heart of the business.  The original planning permit for a Riders Lounge dates back to the early 1990's. The new planning permit was issued by Alpine Shire in 2009 and the plans having been rehashed many times over the years, needed to be resolved.

Clay in the office/kitchen catches a quiet moment

House takes shape

We decided to build using Hebel Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks. With passive solar design featuring thermal mass floors, north facing windows and seasonal shading from grapes, the home was planned to be comfortable in all four seasons.

 The newly constructed house circa 1994

With the grapes established, summer meals on the verandah are a joy.

Monday 3 October 2011

A home on the hill

After walking the property and looking at all our options. we made the right decision and settled on a site on a level area above most of the pastured land and below the timbered ridges. Once the orchard was planted we were set.

View back across the property with Mount Beauty town in the middle distance and Mount Feathertop on the skyline.