After understanding the full impact of the "buildable envelope" for our lot, our planning began in earnest in the fall of 2004. Chris got a software program called Chief Architect and began designing the house. The results you see in this post are the culmination of 2 years of … well, certaining not "back breaking" work, but "neck breaking" work. Chris would work during the day at Brocade Communications and then every evening until about 1 a.m. and most weekend days, he’d be at the computer, working on the plans. I’ve never known anyone with such incredible, dogged, diligence. Here are the key points about the plan creation:
- One year to design approval. Design approval entails making sure the basic architectural structure of the house meets county standards and will also pass review by neighbors. We submitted our plan for formal review 5 times with San Mateo County and probably did 2 revisions for each submission. We received approval for our design from the El Granada housing association, largely comprised of neighbors notified of the intended construction.
- One year to structural approval. This was harder, because in order to have structural approval, we had to have a structural engineer sign off on our design. The issue is that our house would be built using ThermaSteel SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels), which is a green-friendly design because they are so very energy efficient. The problem is that many structural engineers are not familiar with SIPs construction, so even though ThermaSteel Corp can provide very detailed data sheets on the structural integrity of their panels, the SEs are typically very cautious or just plain unwilling to work on any project but standard "stick" built ones. So, we found a good structural engineer and were finally able to move forward.
- The house design/architecture was done solely by Chris…. with lots of my input on the floor plan. We had no help from an architect in this plan. I’m highly inspired by the architectural works of Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language, so many of the principles put forth by Alexander were employed in this house. Additionally, we visited quite a few new home models in the Bay Area to get more ideas and a sense of the design elements that are standard in a house of this size and caliber. But the credit all goes to Chris for some truly inspired design, that you will see in my next post that shows the rendered views from Chief Architect.
The Garage Floor Plan
- 605 square feet
- 216 square feet utility area
Click on the thumbnail to view the PDF.
.gif)
The Main Floor Plan
- 605 square feet
- 216 square feet utility area
Click on the thumbnail to view the PDF.
The Upper Floor Plan
- 605 square feet
- 216 square feet utility area
Click on the thumbnail to view the PDF.
Entries (RSS)
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I dig the design, and i think you guys will be pleasantly surprised with the SIPs… I’d remember to put in good ventilation as the panels make an insane envelope.