nickj@nickjenkins.net Nick Jenkins . Pictures . Words . Travel . House

Building a House : Inspiration - Design- Diary

I had a lot of ideas in my head, including sketches done over many years from different places around the world.

In general, the concepts I wanted to embody in this house were:

• Maximum penetration of winter sun and protection from summer sun
• Heavily insulated walls and ceiling, and minimal energy use
• Correct use of thermal mass - inside the insulated envelope
• Low embodied energy and simple construction methods

My first attempts included features like clerestory windows, internal thermal mass and lightweight construction.

Simple-U-House

Small House

House 32

House 33

But then we hit a snag.

The block we found, and eventually have bought, faced the wrong way. Instead of running east-west it was offset at 45°, running SE to NW. This put the whole plan of the house in jeopardy, especially my clerestory windows. The winter sun no longer came from an easily definable direction, it came across the block from the corner.

One option would have been to orient the house at 45° to the block - but this severely constrained the available space and the design. I also wasn't sure it was possible given the building guidelines for the local shire.

So I started to experiment with other shapes in Google Sketchup:

Triangle House

Y House v2

Y House v5.10

I finally ended up with an L-shaped affair with two wings, joined by a triangular wall at 45°, which would face due north. The two wings of the house would mean we could more easily divide the house into areas which required morning sun, and ones which would require afternoon sun.

The finished design includes some interesting features that we built in along the way.

• An open plan bedroom connected directly to an ensuite bathroom
• A galley kitchen with a large pantry
• A single surviving clerestory window above the living room

Plan

Front

Left

Interior

There have been a number of changes along the way, all practical design decisions:

• The structure will be a timber frame on a concrete slab, clad with weatherboard - this offers the best compromise of thermal performance, practical building availability and cost.
• The french doors have become sliding doors - there really is no practical way of hanging fly screens on french doors
• Windows will be wood frame casement style - this minimises thermal breaks due to aluminium frames and reduces air loss because the casement windows seal well.

How much of this will survive contact with the builders, remains to be seen!