Comments and Observations

COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS

Fundamental Philosophy: “Buildings should be uniquely adapted to individual needs and sites; plans should be loose and fluid to accommodate the subtleties.”

 

Main Gateways:

                The Portal

                                Main site gated entry with visually exciting displays for the drive through.

Porte Cochere

The Endurance Dwelling entry is a covered drop-off point. Openings for movement to    the outside are on all three levels.

 

Walls must have:

                Depth and volume; character accumulates in

                                Window seats                                    Closets                                 Alcoves

                                Waist high shelving                         Built-in seats                      Display areas

                                Columns at corners in social spaces

                                               

Allow the social spaces to shape the building without undue constraints from purely structural considerations.

               

                               

Zone the house for:

                Floor coverings

                                Public zones and traffic ways will be surfaced by hard materials

                                Private, intimate zones will have soft coverings.

                In-floor heating

5 hot water tanks

HVAC notes:

                Go all the way with air quality

                                Significant change in air quality requires a whole house system that is self-contained

                                Filters and fans for complete isolation from outside air

 Combine heat pump with in-floor heating – calculate effectiveness

Large ceiling fan in continuous mode

Donut ductwork

                Plan a 12” duct that travels underneath the slab, fan TBD

                Duct will be exposed  (copper) and hang just beneath the ceiling,

                Cool air will cascade from openings in copper run, cool air falls to 2^nd floor

                Air will fall from 2^nd floor to 1^st floor via floor openings

 

Lighting:

                Uniform lighting

                                Serves no useful purpose

                                Destroys the social nature of spaces

                                Makes people feel disoriented and unbounded

                                Model interior lighting after real, outside natural lighting; dappled, etc.

 

 

Structural:

Materials must be familiar to regular journeymen carpenters. Building the original structure should be simple and understandable. Repairs and re-model should be uncomplicated.

 

Columns and beams may be enhanced with Shou Sugi Ban, a Japanese fire treatment that preserves and protects well beyond inherent strengths.

 

Walls should have proper height, alcoves, indentations and display capabilities that can be useful for dwellers. All walls can be embrasure sized, 2’ thick.

 

Realms:

                Northside cold walls

                                Wine cellar

                                Pantry

                Kitchen

                Sleeper wing (Four master suites)

                Theater

                Library

                Warren

                Mezzanine (2^nd floor)

                Atrix

 

Hierarchy of open spaces:

Physical columns, deep walls, high ceilings are congruent with social spaces that provide activities and attract drifting dwellers to them.

 

Rooms:

                Bedroom complex

                                Waist high shelves with built-in seats

                                Windows in 2 walls

                                Bed alcove

                                Dressing room

                                Bathroom

Drift naturally to the outside, on a beautiful path that leads to the courtyard. The courtyard will have multiple openings; pass through and enliven the atmosphere of the courtyard; it is not completely enclosed, create an opening beyond the vision limit.

 

Traffic patterns:

The Arcade is a promenade around the exterior structure with studied access points.

Interior patterns suggest ways to envision, smell and enjoy the free feeling from moving with plenty of room. The Atrix is a nexus of access points and leads to outside meanderings.

 

 

 

General characteristics:

Forest has existing roads that insulate it completely fro forest fires; and the Fire Station is next door.

Delivery by vehicle to kitchen and suites is easy and of short duration. From garden to kitchen is 90 seconds.

Windows are tall and wide, letting in lots of light, and have window seats with WiFi and work stations. Mixed elevated surfaces and countertops are everywhere.

Ceiling height is related to the length and breadth of different rooms.

 

Unique quirks:

Carbon sequestering

                Leaving all the larger trees in the biosphere to grow large and prosper

                Using the smaller trees for wood chips, not burning them or removing them off site

                Using glu-lam products for all our posts and beams

By not removing excavation materials from the site we greatly reduce the carbon footprint

20’ repeating grid composed of glulam verticals and beams

                                Embrasured walls are 2’ in diameter

                                Beneficial design flux possible

                                Alcoves / nooks / openings / silled ellipsoids in wide walls

Maintenance and Operations Manual

 

ADA compliant inside and outside

 

Heated slab / permanently on ceiling fans / heat pump

 

Underground cooling system for hot days

 

Arcade created with Mansard roof’s 10’ drip edge for rain harvesting to footing drain is also a

promenade for the entire perimeter

 

Nothing in the exterior wall except insulation; wall is 2’ thick

 

All utilities are confined to a section of an interior riser wall with embedded color-coded instructions

 

Wirsbo plumbing for domestic service and heated slab, controls also in the riser wall

 

All suites have 12” solar exhaust fan permanently on, in exterior wall

 

Gravity operated septic systems

 

It is in a garden / farm forest format and can be described as the Northwest version of the country farm profile but with architecture driven by local forces. With us form follows function follows force, so our forms of farms are not derived from the seminal country farm.

We live in the Pacific Northwest and our forces are different because we exist between two mountain ranges; it is unusual and calls out force-driven design. This is very different from the typical barn / farm profile and is not traditional in that sense. In every other sense, yes it is traditional.

Moondance is the first of its genre. There will be a high ad valorem for such a product.