concrete below my feet
The past few weeks have included talk of materials - what the main components will be. Mostly the technical details are in the hands of the architects and engineers discussing the various layers in the walls, the spacing of the air ducts, underfloor heating, drainage systems, blah blah. This is all happening in an incredibly detailed manner, all to complete the file to present to the environmental group in order to be eco-certified. I would have planned many of these same requirements anyway, but because I'm asking for an amplification in the total buildable space I've been allotted, I must (or more accurately, my engineers, must) adhere to very strict eco-guildlines to be granted the permission.
This added about an extra month in planning, compiling all of the paperwork, and making the calculations* - and today it will be submitted to the actual committee in Perugia where they will then have up to 30 days to give us a verdict. If all goes well, and we're granted the certification, then it's ready for the most important presentation in this process - the city commission planning department, who can grant the building permits.
* Last week the geometra sent over to the overseeing engineer (and as I'm cc'd on all correspondence, I was able to see the list of documents needed) maps of how far the house is from the nearest bus stop, how far it is to drive to the closest middle school, and other various pieces of information. All this, as well as the type of vehicle will be delivering the building materials and how fuel-efficient it is - is part of the detailed calculation of the house's carbon footprint. Of course these, alongside the obvious others like solar panels, highly insulated glazing grade, ultra-efficient wall insulation, and a low-impact energy heating/cooling system.
Part of the discussions of materials that I did have a say in, mostly because it was one of the few so far that I've had an opinion on, was the flooring material. When they asked me what I was planning, it was one of the things I've known for longer than when I knew I would ever even want to build a house. I replied without hesitation, "polished industrial concrete". Everywhere, they asked. Yes, everywhere.
I've always loved this look. Raw, simple, canvas-like in function. And still making it intentional with slight tonal variations, and metal divider fittings. Even the stairs (as although the house is technically one-story, it's built up, and somewhat in, a hillside so it undulates in levels throughout) will continue with a seamless pour.
And this concrete, perhaps because it's always been in the pinterest of my mind, is one of the sensorial things that I'm so completely present to when the visualizations come into my head. How it will feel to stand in the bedroom, barefoot, feeling this material under my feet. How it will feel to walk through the living room -onto -off of -onto -off of various rugs that I've collected on my travels. How the temperature from the part of the concrete in the kitchen will warm up even more as I pass into the neighboring sunroom which sits like a literal glass box off the side of the house. And how it will feel to spread my toes wide and press them into the ground as I see the brown tilled earth just outside the floor-length windows and know that the same earth is below the concrete, somehow rooting me to this 'agra dolce'.