A Pattern Language tour of Charles André's cob home in Canada
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In this tour of Charles' home you will find
numbers in square brackets that represent the patterns from the
design book 'A Pattern Language'. At the end of the tour
there is a
pattern number reference, some of which are linked to more details
about the pattern. |
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This is the welcome Charles André's home would give if you
were to visit him in his Canadian cob house. From the doorstep, just to your left you
would see the kitchenette with the dinning area to your right. Light
from the living room, which opens up to the eave of the roof, fills
the space with indoor sunlight [128] that draws
you forward through a tapestry of dark and light [135]. As you walk
forward to the living room, you'll pass the cob fireplace on your right and the half wall
[193] of the kitchenette on the left with the open stairs just
beyond it leading to the half-landing bedroom. |
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Entrance to the cob
house, sleeping loft above |
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As you pass the cob fireplace and feel the radiant heat [230] of the open fire you'll notice the
things Charles has collected through his life [253] on display in
niches and on open shelves [200]. The cob bench beneath the window opposite the
fire is a lovely window place [180] with a view [192] of the woodland outside
with filtered light [238] from the stained glass above. The light
that streams into the space from all sides of the room [159] is soft as it
defuses around the deep
reveals [223] in the thick cob walls [197].
As you relax in the window seat you notice all the soft natural
warm colours [250] and pigments Charles has used to decorate his home, built entirely
from good natural materials [207]. The window you are sitting under is
divided in to smaller panes [239]. The same design is used in the arched window
at the foot of the stairs where a lamp in the niche provides a pool of light
[252]. |
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Stairs to the
sleeping loft in front of the kitchenette |
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Charles' home was built by
Cobworks. Charles wanted to use only
natural materials of
sand, clay, stone, logs and lumber all from his own land. The home is 500 sq.ft (46.5
m2) including the
sleeping loft. It took 4 month to build and cost about $18,000
(£10,600). The adjacent cob bath house (below) is a smaller version of the main
house and was built the following year by
Elke Cole.
The Patterns:
No. 128 Indoor sunlight
No. 135 Tapestry of light and dark
No. 159 Light on two sides of every room
No. 180 Window place
No. 192 Windows overlooking life
No. 193 Half-open wall
No. 197 Thick walls
No. 200 Open shelves
No. 207 Good 'natural' materials
No. 223 Deep reveals
No. 230 Radiant heat
No. 238 Filtered light
No. 239 Small panes
No. 250 Warm colours
No. 252 Pools of light
No. 253 Things from your life |
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