Meeting with the architects on 8 September

The Reef
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Oi oi dear @reeflings!

[edited to correct the starting time]

TL;DR

Meeting with the architects on Thursday 8 September in the evening (details to be confirmed later).

Important meeting for everyone (though we’ll report back of course as we always do)

If you have any questions, please post them in the thread below.

What? When? Why?

Just a quick heads-up that we’ll be having a meeting with the architects (stekke + fraas) on Thursday 8 September around 18:00 in Brutopia (please come in time!).

This is an important meeting for everybody to learn more about a lot of aspects of The Reef: Who are the architects? How do they work? What should we think about for our individual units? What should we think about for the common spaces? … etc

Below you can find a list of questions that I sent them as a suggestion to structure the meeting, but this is of course just a first indicative list.

If you have any further questions, can you please post them in this thread? This way we can then restructure and bundle them so that we can make optimal use of the time.

Indicative list of questions

1) Learning a bit more about Stekke + Fraas and the process of building a cohousing

Possible questions could include:

  • As architects, how do you generally like to work together with your cohousing clients?

  • Would you have a concise overview of the major milestones? Plus possibly things we should be aware of and prepare for?

  • The thing that Mark calls “le programme” (i.e. an approximate idea of the square meters + specifications for private units and common spaces): is there anything we should know about the format? Things we should pay attention to? …?

2) Enlightening us a bit more about the architectural aspects of a cohousing

  • Common spaces: in our charte fondatrice we have set out that we would like to have a lot of common spaces (300 m²), because we want The Reef to be a place of hospitality. Most of the details have yet to be filled in though. Would you be willing to give us your views on what works? What doesn’t work? Which considerations we have to make as a group? …?

  • Private units: my impression is that we struggle with picturing our own private units, e.g. how big it should be etc. Concrete example: I live in a 90 m² apartment that was built in the 1970s. Am I right in assuming that with current smart design techniques I could get the same comfort with 20% less space?

3) Having a quick look at The Reef’s ambition to build a building that is as sustainable and future-proof as possible

Depending on time I guess this part could also be tackled in a separate meeting, with Philippe and our Team Building.

Some questions (some of which are a bit urgent):

  • How will The Reef’s choice for future-proofing and sustainable building impact the budget? Note: by future-proofing we mean resilience to heat domes, heavy rain, power cuts and potable water shortages.

  • Which options exist? How can we approach this?

  • Would you be interested to join us to visit Schoonschip in Amsterdam?

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Hi,
Would love to join this meeting. Will talk to @manuelpueyo to see if he can stay with our daughter so i can come. Will confirm asap. Great questions, i wouldn’t have extra questions at this point (at later stage, i would be interested to know whether the reef members will have some kind of influence about the external appearance of the building - how it will look).

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@reeflings,

The time proposed for the meeting by the architects is 6 pm.

Before I go out of my way to ask them whether they would possibly be available a bit later, I would like to know who is actually planning to come and whether you can make it.

Could you please fill this poll by 31/08 COB, indicating whether:

  • you can make it at 6 pm
  • you can’t make it at 6 pm, but you could make it at 7 pm
  • you can’t make it on the 8th but you would have like to join

Thanks!

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@reeflings,

It seems like enough people can make it at 18:00, so I confirmed the hour with the architects.

The meeting takes place in the common room of Brutopia, which is in Avenue van Volxem (so not where we had the public presentation). Further details can be found on Nextcloud or above.

If you would have any further questions, don’t hesitate to post them in the thread below.

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I’d really like to be there, but I’m not sure yet I will be able to attend… I’m replacing the flooring in my appartments and I may need to be there to set things up for the entrepreneur (put furniture aside, etc.). I’m waiting for him to tell me exactly when he will come…

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Additional questions:

  • Can you please enlighten us a bit more about the “price fork” or the differentiation in the price of the units in function of their resale value?
    • What are the factors that influence the resale value?
    • How can we estimate the price of our own units?
    • Made more concrete: how much would the cheapest and the most expensive 100 m² unit cost compared to the average one?
  • In the financial estimation that you provided us, did you include The Reef’s wish to be as sustainable and future-proof as possible? If not, how can we estimate how these “Schoonschip-like” features would impact our budget?
  • Several people have recommended us to limit the amount of personal choices for the private units, but to rather work with “modules” (e.g. units of 60, 80 or 100 m², but not 72.5). Can you tell us a bit more about how this would work?
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This question is critical, because, depending on the answer, we can or cannot start the confesseur process.