WIKIHOUSES are here, and Nambucca Heads has the first.

Australia’s first ever Wikihouse is almost ready for occupation, being erected on King Parrot Parade, Nambucca Heads by owner Peter Holden.

Graham Osborne, architect and founder of WikihouseAU, told News Of The Area, “Peter’s Wikihouse structure arrived flat-packed in a six-meter-long container.”

Like a kid with a new box of Lego, Peter rolled up his sleeves and two weeks later his two-storey, two-bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and utility/bathroom, living, dining, study and garage,150 m2 home is almost ready for plumbing, electrics and interior design.

“The frame was finished on Monday and now he’s onto sheeting inside and out, a prelude to cladding the roof and walls over the next few days,” said Graham.

“It’s coming together pretty nicely,” Peter told News Of The Area.

“Over the last five years I’ve been hunting for a house system that was simple, minimal impact to the environment and could be constructed primarily by un-skilled persons.

“The Wikihouse system fascinated me from the onset, so I decided to pursue the possibility of constructing one with the Wikihouse Australia chapter run by Graham and Sally Osborne in Qld.

“The process so far has been very positive and satisfying because the Wikihouse system provides almost instant gratification.

“In the morning you gather manageable size plywood pieces, slot them together, fill gaps with insulation, cover the gaps with opposing pieces and voila you have a major section of a bottom floor frame, for example.

“The only scary moments were lifting the second level frames and annex legs on either side of the house which required a high level of coordination between the work crew and the crane crew.

“My view of a Wikihouse is a precision work of mechanical art – I can’t wait to see how mine performs.”

Peter’s Wikihouse is based on the traditional barn-style design with annexes plus a loft.

“In London they have specialised in tiny houses and granny flats; we’ve adapted those designs and then someone from Canada wanted a ski-lodge and we came up with a two-storey design which is what we’re using for the Australian market,” added Graham.

“It’s an incredibly strong structure.”

So, what exactly is a Wikihouse?

Conceived and founded in the UK, the Wikihouse is being developed by architects, designers, engineers, inventors, manufacturers and builders, collaborating to develop the best, simplest, most sustainable, high-performance building technologies, which anyone can use and improve.

Inspired by the concept, in 2015 Graham and Sally Osborne created WikihouseAU, the Australian chapter of Wikihouse.cc.

Wikihouseau.com is a collaboration to advance small scale architect designed and engineered, flat-packed buildings in Australia and afar, to remote, island and difficult access sites.

Graham said, “The whole concept is to involve people who work together on a home and then go on to build their own with another group of people, and so on.

“Wikihouse is an open source project to reinvent the way we make homes.

“Our aim is for these technologies to become new industry standards; the ‘bricks and mortar’ of the digital age,” said Graham.

News Of The Area will report back with Peter and Graham once the Wikihouse is ready for occupation.

 

By Andrea FERRARI