JC-104 plan revisions

About a week ago I had another meeting with my clients. I have previously emailed them the two rough draft plans. They came back with more definitive ideas of what they wanted altered in the floor plan.

We discussed the various pros and cons of the changes they want. We reloaced the mud room and 3/4 bath to the west, between the kitchen and the garage. We also came to a tentative decision regarding the location of the fireplace. The master bath and closet was moved to the north end of the master suite.

There will be two additional rooms on the main floor that qualify as bedrooms. The stairs were moved slightly to accomodate bedrooms on the lower level.

Below is a jpg of the latest revision.

I have emailed this revision to my clients for review. Some of my next tasks include the layout for the lower floor and using an energy modeling application to determine energy efficiency. Since the clients want to rely heavily on passive as well as active solar for heating as well as natural cooling, window placement and configurations will be critical.

JC-104 plans roughed out

I have assigned a plan number to my latest customer job, it is JC-104. I use a simple chronological numbering system for plans rather than try to devise a name for each plan.

At this point, the design is much the same as what the customer and I talked about during our last meeting. During that meeting, we mapped out a basic layout. Now comes the task of converting these rough sketches into a floor plan that will stay within the desired foot print as well as meet a number of other criteria.

This plan has a large dining area to accomodate a number of people. The kitchen is also large with an island that will help in preparing food as well as serving. There is a garage and 3/4 bath behind the kitchen. The garage that is not shown in the images below will be to the left/west side of the house. The living room is large and on the southeast side of the house. There are a number of large windows on the south side of the house to allow for passive solar gain in the winter. Either the roof eaves or an awning will shade these windows during the summer months.

The master suite is on the northeast side of the house allowing for a great view of the lake. I am waiting on some feedback from the clients bore I add additional details to the design.

Below are a couple of ideas that I laid out. They vary slightly in size and configuration.

The design above is smaller, more in line with the desired footprint.

This design is a little larger, offering an additional room on the main level.

New design in the works

I recently received a commission to design a new home for a couple's rural land. This will be a local project which affords me the ability to visit the building site. The couple owns some land south-west of Lawrence, Kansas, overlooking Clinton lake.

The building site sits atop of a very steep slope allowing for wonderful views of the lake and surrounding forest to the east. The design will depend heavily on passive solar heating and thus will be oriented east-west with a long south facade. This will be a two story structure, the couple occupying the upper floor with the potential for a bed and breakfast on the lower floor.

Because of the vertical height from the entrance to the property to where the house will be located, their drive will pass below the home to the south and curve back to the house from the west. This will allow the owners to park at the upper level, negating the need for stairs, and allow the winter sun to help melt away ice and snow.

At this time, the main level will have a large living area on the south-east side of the house with 2 bedrooms and a den to the north and east. The floor of the upper level will probably be of frame construction covered with a layer of light weight concrete to absorb and store solar energy. Both levels will also incorporate radiant floor heating, the heat energy coming from solar collectors in an adjacent green house.

There will also be a small third level consisting of a watch tower and deck above the main roof line. The watch tower will be large enough to accommodate a couple of chairs and possibly a window seat. The tower will allow for air circulation up and out of the home, creating a natural cooling cycle.

The customer also wants to maximize energy efficiency, so they are planning to construct the home of ICFs (insulated concrete forms) at this time. Part of the north side of the upper level will also be earth bermed to increase energy efficiency.

We had a meeting on Sunday to discuss ideas and requirements. I have started to rough out the design and hope to post more information soon.