WikiHouse Edinburgh
On Sunday 17th April 2016, David Garlovsky was invited to give a talk at the Spring Fling of the Fountainbridge Canalside Initiative (FCI) in Edinburgh. Workshops on the day included: welding, mosaic making and much more. One mosaic was created spontaneously on the day to cover a damaged window of the community-use WikiHouse that was on site.
Recovery insulation donated the roof insulation for the WikiHouse.
David told the story of how denim blue jeans are made into natural fibre recyled cotton insulation insulation. He also spoke of the challenges he and his colleagues have faced in getting professionals and home owners to specify Inno-Therm® insulation; to factor in what is normally considered a non-monitory value of a low carbon insulation material to a monitory value.
Teams of local volunteers and supporters of the project constructed the community WikiHouse in October 2015. Over a weekend, it was assembled using the WikiHouse system. WikiHouse is an international initiative enabling people to build their own housing with only basic tools and skills required. It uses sections of pre-cut wood, which slot together perfectly to create floors, walls and ceilings and is more akin to a jigsaw puzzle than a traditional building project.
The FCI WikiHouse will be used a community space for workshops, classes and meetings. FCI came together to create a vision to breathe new life into Fountainbridge, a canalside area with a rich industrial history near the centre of Edinburgh, and to play a part in the development of the former brewery site. The group is made up of local residents and organisations.