Category Archives: Pre-fab

Open House June 15

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You are invited to visit B.C.’s first ENERGY STAR qualified home and it’s round! Mandala Homes Open House June 15th 10-4, near Nelson B.C. We’re offering Information Sessions at 11 and 2, covering the following topics: Building Round, the EnergGuide rating system, ENERGY STAR home, Passive Solar and Pre-fabrication. 30 min. sessions followed by Q & A (same info at each session). Come at 11 or 2 to learn , or anytime between 10 and 4 to tour a Mandala Magnolia 2300, a Mandala Aspen 300, Mandala Carport and a Mandala Greenhouse. We’re excited to welcome you to this Open House and we are offering a door prize and a special event coupon.

This House In a Nutshell

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To introduce this project to a home design magazine, I wrote the following synopsis;

Welcome to our home! It’s the first ENERGY STAR Qualified home in B.C., which means that it uses 30% less energy to function as the incredibly comfortable living space that it is. This represents a savings of approximately 3 months of energy bills. The home has a passive solar design, 10” thick walls, Continue reading →

Pop Goes the House!

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“I’ve been driving up here every day (to work on a nearby project) and, I can’t believe how quickly this house in the woods is going up.One week there was a foundation and the next week there is a house!”   (G.E. local contractor)

 

Most people who have built a home comment that there are “the fast parts” and there are “the slow parts.” Continue reading →

Let The Light Shine In: Removing the scaffolding and setting the skylight in place

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After the cable is tightened to specifications, there is another significant moment in this unique building process….

Removing the scaffolding from under the skylight ring and taking off the plywood ‘floor’ that covers the opening. Continue reading →

Lifting The Center (and all the connections that follow)

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“At the center of your being you have the answer, you know who you are and you know what you want.” Lau Tzu

The moment of lifting the central skylight ring of a Mandala is a special and powerful moment in the life of a house of this design.

The skylight is central to this home as an interconnection point for the roof rafters, Continue reading →

Prefabulous

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“Watching the ease of the walls going up was amazing.”

Assembling a house panel by panel has got to be the fastest method for creating space! It is incredible to see it coming together! The following, is a series of photos of the last exterior wall being craned into place; Continue reading →

Putting it together: Wall Panels

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“It fits like a glove!”

We’ve transported the pre-built wall panels to the site. The smaller 4′ wide walls can sometimes be manually lifted and set into place, but these walls are 6′ wide, insulated with a new product, Roxul Comfort Board a recycled mineral wool. They are well built, heavy and need to be lifted with a crane. Continue reading →

What’s happening in the Pre-Fab shop?

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“Meanwhile, back at the ranch”

There is a lot going on in the design room and the shop while the foundation is being dug and the walls poured.

Shop drawings of house components are regularly sent to the shop team, Shawn, Kevin, Bradford, Amos and Daniel (among others).

The components include all the the floor system (joists and pre cut plywood sub floor) the exterior walls (including insulation, windows, doors and siding), and the roof system (ceiling paneling, rafters, insulation, roof sheathing and shingles). Continue reading →

Welcome to Our Green Round Home (blog and house!)

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“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
~Lao Tzu

 

 

How did this all begin?

Well, Lars owns a company , Mandala Homes. He’s been involved in designing and building many homes – green, rectangular, round, timberframe, prefab, site-built, you name it-over the course of 20 years.  It was time for him to build another dream home.

Rachel (me) has had a lifelong love/obsession with the topic of Home . I love soulful, meaningful homes and writing. I love connecting with people (you) around topics that are mutually inspiring (we).

Perhaps you are thinking of building a home? Maybe you want to build a Mandala? Perhaps you just love the topics of sustainable building, home design and meaningful shelter? Whatever your interest – Welcome to the adventure of building our Green Round Home!

Here is a slideshow of a variety of Mandala Homes. This gives you a sense of the kind of home we are designing and building. Enjoy the slideshow and … enjoy reading this diary blog about our personal experience of building a round home!