Home      Vivarium Progress
 
 
 
 
This page documents the progress of the planned walk-in vivarium in my new house. 
 
5 Feb 2010
The vivarium area was initially not planned as a vivarium - rather, it was a brainwave by the architect to include an airwell in the house so as to allow natural light and ventilation. Just imagine something like a lift shaft, extending from the roof on the 3rd storey all the way down into the middle of the living room. Essentially this design features a hole in the roof, which allows natural rainwater to reach the inside of the house itself. Instead of having it look like the back alley of some dodgy street in certain questionable districts, I thought of converting it into a large vivarium full of tropical plants. (At least, that's what I tell my parents - what I really meant was "full of Nepenthes"!) Here are some pics:
 
1. The gaping hole in the roof, view from within the vivarium. At this position the vivarium gets direct sunlight from noon till about1pm, and bright incidental light at other times.
 
2. The vivarium area itself. The vertical pole (with a rag hanging from it) marks out the anterior boundary of the area. The brick wall behind joins this with a restroom with a large window that'll peek out into the vivarium.  The flooring in this picture is not complete yet - it'll be drilled down to 1 foot below floor level to hold the substrate, and I'm still talking with the architect and builder on getting a drainage system in place. 
 
 
11 Feb 2010
Oh joy! Met up with the architect and builder today, and we all decided that the vivarium could be made larger.  Tentatively the floor area of the vivarium measures 2.5m x 3m, and we are now deciding whether to place glass walls to delineate the vivarium. I'm all for having walls. For one, it will look like a real vivarium in jumbo size. Having glass also keeps the humidity in as well. Unfortunately, that would restrict ventilation of the house somewhat. 
 
1. View of the area looking in from the living room (it's the area with scaffolding on the left). The airwell originally serves to provide ventilation right through the middle of the house, and to provide natural illumination.
 
 
2. And .. a sneak peak at the new CP growing area!