Some Background

The idea for this new project started some years back with a trip to the UK and a week staying in a converted barn in Wales.
We were so taken with the barn, that we decided that we would like a building based on similar design, although the new one would be built using different materials - We don't use slate and stone as building materials in New Zealand.
Although I'm a registered residential building designer (LBP) I don't have any formal qualifications when it comes to building houses, and I had to sign a declaration that only I would be doing the build with some help from friends and family (unpaid), family take note:)
So in the NZ tradition of a home builder DIY you can construct your own house as long as you don''t use any paid labour, with the exception of Plumber, Drain layer and Electrician.
The house design is 2 stories on piles, the reason for the piles is because following some very big earthquakes in NZ if your house is damaged you can start making good the repairs the system of Jack and Pack, that's jacking up the house and levelling the house as required.
Note: the last shake we had,was an astounding 2 minutes! Magnitude of 7.5, very scary, luckily we had no structural damage but a couple of towns further down the coast in the South island were badly damaged with the main road still closed, they have just reconnected the rail line yesterday for limited traffic.
A number of very big, relatively new buildings in Wellington have to be demolished because of the damage.
Building control now need a lot more information and detail which meant a lot of reworking of the plans to get the approval, Yes I did it, as the building was designed to exceed the current building code by a considerable amount with extra plywood internal bracing extra anchor piles plus an increase in insulation by 200% plus more hurricane straps to hold down the roof and building it wasn't to much of a challenge.

Now it's full steam ahead on the real building work...

The Container Conversion - Continued

The container conversion has become a full-time job with an element of panic setting in, we have built a fold-up bed design I found on a web-site in the USA - they supplied the instructions plus the fittings to make it work. although the instructions were a little overwritten - far to much detail but I finally got it together, and it works really well - it's call a 'Murphy Bed' for those interested in making a foldaway bed.
The container have been lined out using drywall and plastered, painted and decorated, so now looks the business.

The Foldup Murphy Bed

Pantry and Kitchen

The outside we are covering in plywood to protect the insulation and to make it look less like a steel sea container, it's now called a studio.
I have been told, if I use the word 'Glamping' once more there will be a death in the the family - Mine!

Yes, that's my shadow taking the photograph.
The solar panel on the left is to power our... all very eco.

Progress - Continued - The Container Solution

The new plans which I have been working on for our new house, have been submitted to building control for approval, (or so I thought) it has been a bit of a challenge, the detail the council require has become very detailed but, I did it, now just the wait for the build permit to be issued.
As as well as designing the new build, I had to get my head around a new CAD Program as the old Autocad had died and as Autocad don't support this program anymore, I decided to buy a new one made by BricsCAD.
The conversion worked well with all my existing files converting over to the new system.
Most of the drawing controls were very similar so there was not to much stress, plus I need a new printer which had expired (dead) in sympathy. - very surprised how the cost for new printer has dropped, purchase a suitable model on SALE for $250.00 then they gave me $100.00 cash back,  although the consumables are a little expensive.-very...

On-board life is very good, we thought it would be a good idea to have somewhere else to stay over winter, life can become very uncomfortable on the boat in a storm, and we have been having some very severer weather lately.
The solution was to convert a container that would be on-site, and would be a stable platform to work and live from as a backup and temporary home.

I have insulated the container plus installing double glazed windows making the interior very warm
The tricky bit was taking the doors off, cutting the hinges with an angle grinder, they are very very heavy, some nimble footwork was required when they came off...