Feedback (Mike) #314

[MikeRund]

As discussed during my stay, I'm leaving my constructive feedback on the house via this repository.

Note: I will only be mentioning areas that to my knowledge will be included the final build. E.g, I thought there would be no point mentioning having the hot desks in the dining area as I know the hot desks will be moved to the current play room.

The house was awesome and the vision for the finalised product is extremely exciting. The list provided is some feedback that occurred to me during my stay, many of which I know to be subjective, however I thought would still be useful mentioning. Most of these considerations are dealing with the concerns of having a fully / nearly fully booked property.

Kitchen Choke Point

With only a few of us in the kitchen (say 3+ adults), passing each other in the kitchen became mildly difficult due to the small space between the hob and the island. My concern is that in a house of 20+ people, this might become a larger issue.

Bedroom Lighting

This one may be the most subjective, but I believe a warmer tone of light would make the bedroom have a cozier / warmer atmosphere. Same is true for any "hangout" spot.

Hangout Area

With a full house of guests, I feel the house would benefit from a general "hangout" area, with furniture in a circular arrangement to encourage engaging conversation. On that note, also some side furniture for anyone who's social battery may be done for the day but would still enjoy the atmosphere of a communal room. I feel that the outside seating due to be built may fit these requirements during the sunny days, maybe an optional rain cover would make this space viable year round.

Ping-Pong Palace

I had lots of fun with the ping pong palace, mainly due to the fact that it was outside. With the weather in Braga, perhaps a more effective rain cover would be cool to keep the space viable on the wetter days. This would then mean a comfy seating arrangement could be set up permanently, although this may not be necessary after the creation of the outdoor seating area.

Pool

Having a swimming pool on-site is awesome! However I didn't have the opportunity to use it as the leaves had caused the pool to turn a pleasant green. As mentioned by Nelson, there are plans for a permanent pool cover. One thing I also noticed though was that when the pool was used, the walkway into the house became very wet. Maybe some anti-slip mats would be useful, or another workaround. Again, thinking of a larger volume of people.

[nelsonic]

Feedback very much appreciated. 🙏 🥇

Indeed, our hope is that once the house is finished it will be awesome. 🏡 😍 🤞

Kitchen Choke Point 👩‍🍳

It's real. 😞
The only way around it will be to have consistently clear counters
and encourage people to do food prep on the "big island" not the "peninsula".
The next thing will be to have a heat map of people in the kitchen
(this can be done using Wifi e.g: https://www.home-assistant.io/getting-started/presence-detection/ )
and well-defined times for cooking/cleaning.
There is a systematic approach to solving this.

Also, remember that most people won't be cooking every day.
And once the two "learning towers" are removed from the kitchen there will be a lot more space.
But 100% take your point and it's one we considered when designing the kitchen. 💭

Bedroom Lighting 💡

100% spot on, again. The lights are way too harsh in their current state. 🤦‍♂️
We just needed something on the ceilings when we installed those. ✅
Our plan has always been to have indirect (softer) lighting integrated into the bunk beds.
And a warm (2700 kelvin) reading light for each guest.

Communal Areas 🫂

As for the communal areas, agreed again, the overhead lights are often very bright. ☀️
We plan to have smart(er) lighting in the future; see: #315 which will result in softer/warmer light in evenings.
Ideally all lighting will be indirect and people will be able to define their own lighting experience via our App! 😉

Hangout Areas

The primary Hangout area is currently being built!
The "grid" area of the secret garden will be 60m2 of covered communal space with outdoor sofas,
pool table etc. e.g:

Indoors, the current "Play Room" where the kids play will be the co-working/living space with sofas and hot desks for people to work or just sit & read. We will optimise each space for the people staying; we've barely started!
The Play Room will be lifted and shifted; e.g.
Sports will be in the "Underground Tennis Club".
Crafts will be in "Crafting Corner"
Activities will be in the new Play Room.
etc.

Ping-Pong Palace 🏓

Thanks for this feedback. 🎉 🙏
As the "prototype" for the outdoor area, I was very keen to get it done last year. ✅
All the Workaway people used it, especially in the summer 🌻
and a few in dead of winter - when it was still sunny! 🥶 ☀️

My original plan was to cover it with a "gazebo" but decided against it because it calls too much attention. 😬
The "grid" area of the Secret Garden will be covered, it's 5x the size of PPP ... 😮
In the future we may revisit the possibility of covering PPP but for now ... 🤫

Pool

Sadly, the pool "went green" in the weeks we were away at the end of summer and did not recover. 😞
In December we #finally switched the pool over to using (filtered) rain water and have now had plenty of rain.
So ... we can put #316 into action! 🎬

Anti slip mats and feet drying area are a must! Research & implementation help very much wanted. 🙏

Thanks again for your valuable feedback. ❤️

[MikeRund]

I had a feeling you'd be on top of it already. Sick! Really can't wait to see the finished build 🏛️

[iteles]

Only one thing to add here: the 'sky' lights in the bedrooms already turn warmer shades - we just need to unearth and pair the remotes 😄

[nelsonic]

Indeed they do! We can regulate both the hue and intensity on the "Sky" lights and will do shortly. 🔆 -> 🔅
And the fact that they can be remote controlled means we can read the IR signals and record them into the ESP32, 🧠
then they can be relayed by an IR transmitter and presto "Smart Lighting"! 🎉

[nelsonic]

P.S. I wouldn't have closed this issue because then it gets "lost" ... 🙈
This is the model of constructive feedback we should share with other guests. 💭
However we do have follow-up issues created for addressing points raised. 👌
So not re-opening. ✅

[MikeRund]

My bad 🙈 I just thought as all the issues were being addressed there was no further need of this issue. That's cool about the lights! 💡

[nelsonic]

It's actually a good thing to close issues. We need to get better at it. 👌