Rammed earth on Kangaroo Island, #148 - The Owner Builder

38 • TOB 148 • August/September 2008 © www.theownerbuilder.com.au • 02 4982 8820

Naturally KI – LavivBeauty on the beachBY LYNDA WILSONOn fi rst entering Roni and Cathy’s holiday home atVivonne Bay, you are immediately overwhelmed by themost amazing timber wall and ceiling. It doesn’t takelong to realise that this is only one of many unusualfeatures in this home, lovingly built by a couple whoare committed to living lightly on the <strong>earth</strong>.© www.theownerbuilder.com.au • 02 4982 8820TOB 148 • August/September 2008 • 39

142 35Some features of Laviv...1. Circular window in bathroom.2. Glass inlays brighten timber.3. Individual themes on each doorframe refl ect local nature.4. Stone base wall in sunroomdisplays more found treasures.5. Large sliding door out to thecovered verandah.6. The open plan living areaencourages family interaction.7. Trunk and branch support.8. Be gone, straight lines!9. In-progress bedroom landscape.67 8 911131012Roni and Cathy’s home...10. A composting toilet doesn’thave to be dull and boring!11. Chaff cutter window frame.12. Curves and copper piping wereused creatively on drawers.13. Mud brick and rammed <strong>earth</strong>combined beautifully.40 • TOB 148 • August/September 2008© www.theownerbuilder.com.au • 02 4982 8820

Roni and Cathy moved to KangarooIsland in 1982, making the trip over fromWA in a converted bus. They bought 32hectares of land in an area consideredto be ‘poor’ by farmers, and set aboutbuilding themselves a mud brick home.They both believe that the best way to usetheir lifetime sensibly is to cut cornersas far as possible by not being employedby others – so they started off growingvarious crops, most recently garlic andhoney. Cathy, a registered nurse andmidwife, also works off-farm to providesome extra income. At first she used totravel up to Adelaide for short periods ofwork, followed by longer sessions back athome; now she works at the KangarooIsland Health Service in Kingscote as wellas on the farm.They never had any intention ofbuilding another home. Roni says he isnot a builder – although he is a welderby trade – but rather a jack-of-all-trades.He sees himself first as a father bynature, then as a farmer, and finally as afrustrated artist by soul.Being confirmed ‘greenies,’ theybecame involved in the local actionagainst Vivonne Bay being turned into abeachfront McMansion paradise. Localaction convinced the state governmentto purchase all the waterfront blocks ofthe subdivision, thereby retaining thewild and natural state of the beach –recently voted the title of ‘Best Beachin Australia.’ Having a little sparecash, they decided to invest in threeconnected blocks of the subdivision –this was back when land in Vivonne Baywas still cheap; not so today.They decided to build a home on themiddle block, using Roni’s time andexpertise gained from the first build,with the intention of having his parentsvisit for a few months each year fromIsrael. Unfortunately they didn’t likeit, finding life on KI too quiet! So planB was implemented, and that was torent the house out to holidaymakers.A photographic record of the build ison display for visitors, and they hopethat the stay may convince some peoplethat owner building in an <strong>earth</strong> friendlymanner is possible.Natural buildFollowing the theme of their home,they wanted the house to be naturallyand ecologically just, using localbuilding materials, being well insulatedand comfortable to live in. Unusual itsure is, but it is nevertheless a ‘dinkum’house, fully council approved. Ronidid all the plans himself, and had themchecked over by a engineer to okay thefootings and structure.Roni’s mother is in a wheelchair,so access throughout the house andoutside was designed with this in mind;counter heights, door openings, accesswidths, corners, and the bathroom allhad to be carefully thought out.Roni also hates straight lines, somany of his ideas presented challenges.However, as their policy is to neverborrow money, he had time to do whathe wanted rather than what could bebought or manufactured.The house is built on the centralof the three blocks, with the blocks toeach side left ‘wild,’ thereby retaining afeeling of being in the bush.The house and surrounds neededto be on one level, so some digginginto the slope was required. The soilstructure in the area consists of a toplayer of hardened ‘sandstone,’ withsandy soil beneath. Using his trustyrebuilt 1952 Fordson tractor ‘Freddie,’Roni removed this top crust carefullyso as not to smash it. These pieces wereused to build the retaining wall and oneof the feature house walls, and the sandbelow was used for the walls.Stabilised rammed <strong>earth</strong> was chosenfor the walls, as the site soil was notsuitable for mud bricks. In 2002 thewalls were built.Concrete columns were cast at eachcorner of the house. Cast concretewindow and door arches were made informwork on the back of a trailer, backedinto position and lifted into positionwith ‘Freddie’ power. The arches havedifferent patterns on each side; one sidefeatures a raised seahorse incorporatedinto the formwork, with a freeformdesign on the other side incorporatingglass nuggets and star designs. The archeswere placed so that some of the seahorsesare inside, others outside.The walls were then built betweenthese concrete sections. Roni made hisown formwork; a single form 1.7m longby 600mm high was used over and over.The sand was mixed with around 10%This page: Many features at Laviv were inspiredby the practicalities of the home – recycledtimber to create striking doorways, a libraryand framed view for the loo, concrete columnsand frames provide support and beauty.© www.theownerbuilder.com.au • 02 4982 8820TOB 148 • August/September 2008 • 41

is easy due to the cut-in, allowing youto simply step on, making maintenanceand access to the solar panels easy.Cypress pine timber has been usedto line the ceiling. One huge trunkwas used; milled to around 17mm,sanded down to 14mm, and then piecedtogether like a jigsaw. The internal wallof the living area was completed inthe same way. Cypress pine is readilyavailable locally, it is very light, doesn’twarp and has natural termite resistance.Pinks batts were placed under the roof,and then the lining boards put in place.Top: A warrior, complete with nose ring, onthe front door welcomes you to this home.Above: The frustrated artist, Roni, at work onthe complicated bathroom octopus tiling.Left: Found objects are incorporated – thisone in the driftwood screen for the gas bottle.cement, and a converted electric wackerpacker was used for ramming. Once thewalls were completed, a concrete ringbeam was cast in place.Steel rafters were placed at each endof the roof and evenly spaced for theroof structure. These were topped withuntreated pine battens, sisalation andcorrugated iron. Insulation and ceilingboards would be completed later.The roof has a low angle, with a largearea incorporating the back porch usedfor water collection. Access to the roofNatural heatingThe house is oriented alonga northeast–southwest axis, withthe sunroom facing northeast.Incorporating the main entrancedoor, the stone base wall is toppedwith windows in galvanised frames.Polycarbonate roof sheets allow the sunto stream in, falling on the rear blackwall for heat collection. External blindscan be lowered for summer.Two rounded cast sections left overfrom the initial house build have beenused to create a circular window. Theceiling is a continuation of the mainliving area timber lining.Looking back into the house, detailedglasswork set into woodwork providesa myriad of dancing colours. There is asliding window through to the kitchenarea – allowing light to penetrate andproviding an ideal environment forpotted herbs. The top section betweenthe internal walls and ceiling is notsealed off, allowing heat to spill into thehouse; Roni may install louvres here toprevent excess heat in summer.Heat is centralised in the houseby the ceiling slope, and can thenbe redirected to other rooms via achannel in the roof apex joining upwith channels that run down behindthe cornices. A small fan will be neededto circulate the air; the system hasnot been connected up yet as it hasnot proved necessary. There is alsoprovision for underfloor heating, whichwill be connected up to the solid fuelfireplace when it is installed.Natural designInternal doors are all wide enoughfor a wheelchair, and slide back intoa wall recess. External doors arehandmade from slabs of timber, withglass inlay in most. They have two42 • TOB 148 • August/September 2008© www.theownerbuilder.com.au • 02 4982 8820

L–R: Trailer-mounted mould for the concretearches; cypress pine lining jigsaw; roof framing.vertical halves, both opening, connectedtogether with metal bars and self-closingmechanisms. This means that only oneside of the door needs to be operated,making wheelchair access much easier.Metal sliding bolts provide the lockingmechanism. While the interior faceof the main door is relatively plain,the outside face has been carved andfashioned into the face of a warrior –complete with nose ring!All water access is centrally located,with the bathroom and kitchen backingonto each other.The kitchen is small and compact,with a gas cooktop and microwave.Kitchen bench tops and sides areall timber slabs. The bench tops arelow, with clear space beneath, andlots of low down drawers for storage.Plumbers’ copper piping has been usedto create handles for the drawers andthe range hood is made from stainlesssteel sheeting.The bathroom is both practical anda work of art. A false internal ceilingisolates the bathroom from the rest ofthe house, but incorporates a skylightthat lets in natural light from thesunroom polycarbonate roof sheeting.Another circular window features here,with a chunky timber shelf across thecentre.All surfaces are tiled, with no lips orledges anywhere. The shower curtain railis made of copper piping, while stainlessgrab rails are placed around the showerand toilet; one of the excess pipe joinershas been used to make the toilet rollholder – no waste in this build!An octopus undulates over threewalls. The shape was drawn on thewalls before the surrounding areas weretiled using full sized coloured tiles. Theoctopus shape was then filled in withsmaller pieces. About seven shadesof blue, with some cream and white,maintain the watery theme.© www.theownerbuilder.com.au • 02 4982 8820The whole intention of the housewas to blend into nature rather thanpushing it aside, and where you have topush, to do it naturally. This is especiallyevident in the main bedroom, where thelarge arched window directly in frontof bed provides an uninterrupted viewout to the surrounding bush. The bedheadboard is a timber slab, and the footend of bed has trunks ‘growing’ up intothe wall and ceiling. Side tables have beenfashioned from driftwood with glass tops,the clothing shelf unit is made from localnatural timber, and even the hangershave been made from metal hooks withtimber bars. The walls have been paintedwith a beach/landscape colour theme –with details still to be completed.As an interesting contrast to thetimber elsewhere, Zincalume has beenused as a ceiling in the bedrooms.Natural touchArtistic touches abound. Intricatemetalwork swivel light fittings overreading chairs have been shaped andwelded, painted various colours, andfinally had stainless steel kitchenbowls attached as reflectors/shades.Glass mosaics cast colourful shapeseverywhere. Furniture is made fromdriftwood – much of it from the Frenchshipwreck ‘Montebello.’The pale stone wall at the back ofthe living area provides a contrast to therich timber, and contains small nooksfor housing found objects. Interior wallsare plasterboard but far from ordinary,having naturally edged timber skirtingand using branches as handrails.A home-made weighted self closerfor the insect screen on the sliding doormakes life a lot less ‘bitey’ in summer.Energy saving bulbs are usedthroughout. Smoke detectors and lightfittings have natural timber edged blocksbehind to get over the problem createdby the corrugations in the Zincalume.Natural systemsA 33,000–litre main water tankstores rainwater. Water is pumpedup from the main tank to a 200–litreheader tank (automatically, thanks to afloat switch), providing gravity-fed waterto the house.A 1kW grid connected photovoltaicpower system supplies more power thanthey use, even though not quite northfacing. They had considered a pivotingsystem, but had been advised that itwouldn’t be worth it.Solar hot water is boosted by offpeakelectricity, but is only occasionallyactivated in winter after a prolongedcloudy period.All wastewater goes into a septicsystem with soakage area. The ‘treated’water filters through a drum with asubmersible pump, distributing the waterto the plants via in-ground drippers, eachsurrounded by a plastic drink bottle toprevent silting and root invasion.A fire services volunteer, Roni fullyunderstands the danger of bush fires.A fire sprinkler system surrounds thehouse, which provides the first lineof defence by drenching the houseand surrounding area. A fire hose isconveniently located on the verandahfor further protection.The shaded back porch area betweenthe <strong>earth</strong> walls of the house and thestone retaining wall creates a naturallycooled oasis in summer.This is indeed a home that can betermed ‘natural’ – from start to finish,and well into the future, nature hasbeen the most important aspect ofanything that is done here. ■Laviv is available for holiday rental.Contact Roni & Cathy: 08 8559 7262,email naturallyki@bigpond.comSee the TakeABreak accommodation website(www.takeabreak.com.au) and search forLaviv in Vivonne Bay Kangaroo Island SA.TOB 148 • August/September 2008 • 43