Our House/050702

A picture of the vertical structure during construction.

To strengthen the house in the event of an earthquake, the walls contain diagonal braces; the horizontal structure between the first floor and second floor and under the roof contains steel I-Beams.

The contractor has passed government testing, the results of which suggest that the house could withstand five Kobe-class earthquakes and one magnitude 7 earthquake.

The main vertical 4"x4" supports are spruce from Northern America.

The outside wall material is ceramic and is able to withstand fires for sustained periods well beyond what a standard house's outer walls would withstand and the roof is made of ceramic tiles, all of this making fire insurance cheaper than a normal wooden structure.

The walls are filled with 10 cm of rock wool making the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. All the windows are double-paned.