Making plans

Things are looking surprisingly doable with this piece of land. I've been cranking out lots of thoughts for the past few weeks, discarding many, and forming the remaining ones into somewhat of a plan. This piece of land is actually supporting many of of the things I had speculated upon in earlier postings, and you will see that these plans incorporate those concepts, as well as many others.

The driveway is naturally at a much lower grade than the land. This works nicely with an earth sheltered design

I think an elevation like this could use space very efficiently, maximize solar benefits from the south facing windows while leaving some south facing roof for hot water and maybe photovoltaic. The north portion of the house will be primarily stairs, storage, & baths.

These windows are just stand ins, but the idea is that the south facade will be covered in windows.

I am working with an engineer to revise this plan moving the house closer to the road to cut costs.

A design like this probably requires a lot of concrete construction, so I'm looking into ICFs. I'm also still trying to come up with a way to shade the main level windows from the summer sun. I would love to hear any critique and suggestions in the comments.

Sloping the roof - part 2

Determined that shape must make a difference, I mulled over the roof styles further, and I'm very intrigued with this one:

Here are my reasons:

Simplicity
The entire roof is a single face, which will make construction simple and inexpensive, maintenance rare, and runoff very manageable.

The Sun
This design favors one large wall over the other three, just as the sun shines from one cardinal direction more than the other three. This coincidence could be used to maximize solar gain, while minimizing cold and breezy north facing surfaces. By filling the large side with windows, the sloping eaves would welcome all of the winter sun while shading the home from the summer sun.

Large outer wall
Typical roofs leave the greatest height in the house along the middle. This roof puts that height along an outer wall allowing the height to be used by dramatic windows (like mentioned above.) Ceiling height is only really impressive when it is drawn attention to.

Yes, all this attention on one wall does leave its short counterpart without much to offer, but certain rooms don't require tall ceilings, hot sunlight and good views, like bathrooms and storage


What do you think? No, it's not much to look at yet, but remember we are still just theorizing.

Sloping the roof

I had previously boiled the purpose of a home down to the simple "form containing livable space" definition. A key factor in a space's livability is in its protection from the elements. I've briefly mentioned considerations in protecting from the cold by reducing surface area and shaping the house around a cube, but a cube's flat top isn't the best way to to protect from precipitation, and therefore I'm inclined to let some of the worries about water leakage fall off the side of the house by way of a sloped roof.

This is where it gets interesting because unlike a cube where there is really only one way to shape it, a "cube" with a sloped top can be shaped many ways for example...

But what's really the difference? They each can have similar slopes, and the difference in surface/volume ratio that I talked about earlier is insignificant. Do these shapes and roof styles possess any inherent advantages over each other? At this point siting becomes an important factor, but let's assume that any site is available.

My quick evaluation:

• 2, 3 & 7 have more ridges which add to the complexity & cost
• 4 & 5 are simpler, with 4 being the simplest.
• 2 & 7 are symmetrical, while 1, 3, 4, 5 & 6 offer unique properties to different sides while adding to the sense of 'front and back'
  
• 1, 2 & 3 are very conventional, while the rest are more unique.
  

What else makes these very different styles different? Why choose one over the other? Please leave your comments...