A House for the Coast of Nova Scotia...
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the B/W really showcases the wonderful simplicity of the design... and the renderings, are gorgeous. although you might educate me... being local, is the mass of glass and high eaves not a little dangerous on the shore? I don't know if you guys get hurricanes or not...
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Thanks for the kind comments guys!
I did the panels using Xara Xtreme Pro which is a vector illustration program. I suppose I could have done the same thing in LayOut. I love Xara because it seems more intuitive to me - I've been using it for many years. To me Xara & SketchUp are a very powerful combo. I typically use Xara to do all my post-production stuff on SU output. In this case I exported a multi-page pdf from Xara to email to the client. All the design work was done building the model. This is how the client saw it -- I didn't do traditional plans & elevations, just gave them unannotated views of the model so their eyes could explore and their imaginations be primed.
Here in Canada's Atlantic Provinces (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland) we do occasionally get hurricanes. More common are winter gales that come in off the North Atlantic. The wind can blow pretty good here. The coastal location for the house I posted will definitely be exposed regularly (three or four times per year) to heavy winds (65mph+). It won't be subjected to storm surge or ocean spray. Wood-framed wall construction here is typically 2x6's @ 16" OC. For this project we'll likely use plywood (vs. OSB) sheathing. The roof will be framed with TJI pre-engineered joist systems using hurricane clips to anchor them down. I significantly beefed up the structure of the overhangs from what Greg used on the Plat House. He gave it a thin crisp roof edge that we can't do safely here. Our typical construction here, even without hurricane clipping, seems to survive the local conditions pretty well. Large windows tend to survive pretty well too. Air infiltration of windows is a bigger problem for us than actual wind damage. In general our coastal conditions really aren't much different than Americans would have on the coast of Maine or Massachusetts.
With regards to the design, I should note that the room at the end with all the large windows is a library/office. At the other end is the master bedroom. The small out building at that end is a sauna. On the lower level are two guest bedrooms & a bath plus an art studio (under the library). It is a home for a medical research scientist and an artist. They are fans of modern design and intend to have it sparsely furnished. It is a home for the lifestyle they want. They want a place to slow down, read, listen to music, and just enjoy looking out at the expanse of the ocean. They will have lots of privacy in their location -- no window curtains required.
Regards, Ross
PS - I attach a pic showing the location. The site is at the top of the grassy bank just beyond the little fishing harbour. A very beautiful place to be sure.
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oh what a spot... that's fantastic...
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Indeed Kristoff -- maybe you should plan a trip up our way sometime.
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As everyone else has pointed out, the simple white model with the hints of ocean and sky are perfect to share the simplicity and elegance of the project. I love it when people learn to harness the power of SketchUp for there presentations rather than always going for an over developed photoreal image... simply beautiful.
Bob
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I second Bob's comment, the use of colour is very effective.
Beautiful presentation, very simple.
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you the man, Ross.
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It's going to be beautiful-and the images are too (except for the too wide camera angles, my pet peeve).
No chimney on the sauna? Here in the "homeland" of sauna a separate sauna like that would generally be wood-heated, or equipped with both a wood and an electric stove. The extreme thing is a "smoke" sauna that has a wood stove without a chimney, but as it poses some fire hazard it is generally built more apart. The sauna roof form is also somewhat problematic, the high part will gather all the steam. A flat or less steep insulated inner ceiling would perhaps be better. Overall the sauna appears too high, of course I cannot be sure.
Anssi
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Ross Boss,
Color choice, and gradations... I'm Jack bird into that action.
Killer.
Do the dance of nice.
I'll support your choice of sandwiches -- a warm love bun with a pickle, special sauce soon to be delivered.
Add a few scribbles and I'm popping a socket.
Durant "clean is in" Hapke
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ross,
great design and thoughtful draftsmanship. please keep your work coming.
best wishes.
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Very nice work Ross - thank you for sharing it.
Excellent presentation.cheers
john -
Ross
This is excellent work. Great design, simple and elegant.
A beautiful presentation. So good I think I'll post it again!
Lawrence -
Ross
This is excellent work. Great design, simple and elegant.
A beautiful presentation.
Lawrence -
100% Ross
The building plot reminds me of the West Coast of
Ireland. Then again ! Where they joined up at
some point in the distant past ?I'm interested to know the proposed construction
methods ?Mike
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Really lovely Ross. I'm curious about the exterior materials and colour? what will it be?
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Like you need to hear someone else telling you how talented you are, but here I go.... Simply, gorgeous, mmm....
I'm curious about the exterior as well. Will you do a final rendering?
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Love it, looks great!
one question though... will you be able to get away with those horizontal bits on the handrail? I'm no master of building code, but I've heard you can't do that...
I, too am also curious about the exterior treatment!
keep it up and post the updates!
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My clients currently live a few thousand miles away from the site. They have rented a house across the street for the month of August so they can spend some time soaking up some of the nuances of the site to help make final decisions. I plan on visiting them and helping stake out the footprint so they can get a better sense of it. In the fall we will do the construction documents as they plan to build next year.
The sidings, colours etc have not been decided. What I'm thinking is that the primary siding be panels of ship-lapped boards. The owner has expressed an interest in using recycled barn boards. Most of what is available here would have been board sheathing that on a barn would have had wood shingles. The boards typically would have been fairly low quality with lots of knot holes and bits of bark etc. I think I can come up with a nice way of using such materials by creating modular panels that get hung of the building as rain-screen panels.
The roof is likely to be metal. Perhaps zinc or maybe just inexpensive barn roofing. There has been talk of doing the main floor as polished concrete. The large bank of storage along the main floor bedroom will likely have traditional shoji screens.
It is likely that we can get away with a horizontally structured railing system. The site is in a very rural area. To get a building permit we likely just need to submit a drawing showing the footprint, location of septic, the well, and the driveway. I spoke with the development officer and was surprised to learn that there are almost no regulations regarding what we can or can't do on the site. We could for instance cantilever a building out over a cliff if we wanted -- there is no applicable setback from the top of an oceanfront bank. There are some modest setback requirements from the property boundaries, road, and high-water mark but little else in regards to regulations (other than septic & water related ones). During construction it is likely the only inspections we'll have will be by the local power utility who won't power you up if things aren't to their standards. Its so easy-going here I sometimes feel like we are the wild west. Oh, but if you want to put up a windmill here you'll be buried in regulations & approvals.
Technically things like railings are required to be to our national building code but in a rural area there is zero enforcement. I would never do anything that would recklessly endanger a client -- in the case of this client they do not have young children so the climbing hazard of a horizontal railing system is not a very serious risk. I also add that unlike most people building houses here, this client has professional help including a structural engineer.
One other interesting thing, my client has a source for windows that are handmade using wood re-milled from old utility poles that have retired from service. If they are used that will be cool. Only once have I done a job that handmade windows --- they were beautiful.
Regards, Ross
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Hey Ross - I just came across this post. It looks great. You've done a terrific job running with the design. I love the variations you've brought to the table here and I can't wait to see this one come together.
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Greg, we've missed you. Don't be such a stranger.
Ross, my respect for your work and you grows daily.
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