When adding elements to a certain system, one has to be experienced enough to know how this element will interact with the system and each other element, and how it will change the behavior of the system as a whole.
But also one has to be wise enough, to know what behavior is desirable.
After long and thoughtful observation we figured which elements are the most needed in our infrastructure.
Personal living space
One was personal living space for short and long term volunteers.
There is only so much time you can live without your personal space. And the costs of not having it are affecting the group as a whole, the work outcome, your personal development and it might even make you leave, which would mean a big loss for the whole project, if skilled and passionate people leave because there is no "space"(literally) for them.
Working spaces: Construction
The second element that was missing or needed definitely improvement was our working spaces. The space where we work with metal, wood and other heavy duty tools needed to be moved to another space, a roof for protection from the sun was neccessary.
Working spaces: Office / Conference
And second, big part of our work is on the computer, sourcing funding, communicating about our mission, back office tasks, without a proper office is challenging, especially when the team becomes bigger.
In the following you see how we worked out all these in just 3 months.
Agile elements
Observe and interact
For now it is a theory to be tested. The good thing is that most of the things in our physical (and not only) space are designed agile, meaning they can serve many different uses. A tiny house can easily be used as a library, an office, a meditation room, a kids play room and many more.
We are curios to see how this upgrade will influence our "system" and its behavior.
What we finally built...
The Hexa House
The hexa house provides 13m2 inside living space, is build with a wooden structure, elevated from the ground by 1,5m approx. and the walls consist mainly of straw.
It was build after the prototype developed by Free and Real over their long year experience and experiments.
The Sky house provides 9m2 inside living space, is build with a wooden structure, elevated from the ground by 1,5m approx. and the walls consist mainly of light clay. It provides a balcony on the east-south-west side and a roof deck.
This house was generously funded by the Points of Support program and was build and designed with the help of our three European Solidarity Corps volunteers and the Free and Real crew.
We moved our workspace, build a shade roof to be able to work outdoors and created lots of space for collective working. We organized our tools, screws and safety equipment. A huge improvement, since now all works will be more convenient and efficient.
Work Space Office / Conference
One room in the house was freed and renovated, to fit our needs. The works are still going on.
The Hexa House
Key elements
Hexagon structure
Straw walls
Sawdust insultation in floor and roof
Basic structure wood
no cement used
Team
The great team of Free and Real brought all their precious knowledge and their strong team to guide the works on this building
Program
This works were part of the program "Rural regeneration hub building" implemented through the framework of the European Solidarity Corps program.
Appreciation
All this would not have been possible without the passion and motivation of so many people involved, and especially this building would not have happened if the Free and Real crew would not have decided to come and build it with us. It is a great example to us how much you can progress and achieve if you work together, if projects support each other, then slowly we can create our own beautiful cosmos.
Thank you for your support
"Rural regeneration hub building" was a volunteering program under the frameworks of the European Solidarity Corps program that made it possible for us to have 3 volunteers for a period of 3 months, that greatly enhanced our human ressources, and without it we wouldn´t have been able to do this advancements in our infrastructure but also to provide so many learning possibility to so many people.
Within this program we also organized the "Natural Building" weekend where our volunteers shared with participants their knowledge on natural building techniques and about the opportunities the ESC program offers.
The Sky House
Key elements
Straw clay walls Light clay
Straw insulated roof
Roof deck
cob walls for heat mass
Basic structure wood
no cement used
Team
Our great volunteer team received through the European Solidarity Corps program, our other crew members, the great Free and Real crew and the participants of the "Natural Building" workshop implemented through the ESC program "Rural regeneration hub building" as well as the critical concrete organization from Portugal supported us with this building.
Funding
This was an action implemented with a donation from the Costas M. Lemos Foundation in the framework of the Points of Support programme, co-financed by eight philanthropic foundations.
The building process
The finished house
photo credit: Christina Istavridi
Appreciation
This building started out of the initiative of our volunteers, of their great motivation and passion. Further the great support of our friends and collaborators made this building experience so rich and unique and brought us all closer together.
We thank everyone grately and hope that soon one more building project will bring us together.
Thank you all
Donations
It is an action implemented within the framework of Points of Support, a joint initiative by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, the TIMA Charitable Foundation, the Hellenic Hope charity organisation, the Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation, the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the A. C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, the Costas M. Lemos Foundation, and the Bodossaki Foundation.
We greatly thank parkellas to have generously donated us the high quality wooden floor parket for the building as well as for the terrace.
"Rural regeneration hub building" was a volunteering program under the frameworks of the European Solidarity Corps program that made it possible for us to have 3 volunteers for a period of 3 months, that greatly enhanced our human ressources, and without it we wouldn´t have been able to do this advancements in our infrastructure but also to provide so many learning possibility to so many people.
Within this program we also organized the "Natural Building" weekend where our volunteers shared with participants their knowledge on natural building techniques and about the opportunities the ESC program offers.
