First we looked at pole houses, here is a good example of one built in Texas. They have the advantage that the structure of the house is built from large poles or beams, so the walls themselves are not load bearing. This means the house can be very open plan, hence Japanese pole houses can have paper screen internal walls. It also means that the house does not need foundations and can be built on stilts, useful for uneven ground, and avoids the use of vast amounts of concrete. This design seems practical and inexpensive if you want to build everything yourself, but I don’t think we will have the time or manpower to do that. We would have to hire contractors and they wouldn’t be used to the techniques as pole houses are not common in Canada. Also, we would prefer to have a full basement as the extra space is useful, and you don't get wind blowing underneath the floor reducing the thermal efficiency. The pole design would probably work very well for a smaller scale project such as a garage, something to consider in the future.
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