I have finished the scale model for the concept home!
I took the photo outside and this shows the approximate shading the house gets on a winter morning (February). One of the small benefits of having this model is that it helps me see results like solar orientation. I can see this on the digital 3d model as I simulate sun paths, but it’s pretty neat rotating a scale model with my hands physically under the sun in my yard. Other benefits is that it looks cool to have a small wooden house in my office to remind me where I am in our design-build process.
This scale model started out as a way for me to just play with the design and wrap my head around what I wanted the house to look like in it’s unadorned state. I was struggling with coming back into design, after years of building and managing other people’s work. I was stuck for months on what the exterior should look like and I was ready to try out anything to shake myself out of that stupor. Having something easy to play around with my hands, to mock up angles on and be creative with was therapeutic.
The bedrooms are all on the east wing, welling up with sunlight in the morning. The main living space is shaded from hot afternoon sun angles from south and west, while getting indirect light from the north windows. My roofs are high and designed to exhaust out heat, keeping air flowing and heat away from my family. The detached garage is on the west, helping to shade the service side of the house (like kitchen and mud room).
The next step is to wrap up the drawings for this design development stage. I plan to set up a pdf link where I can give out the design plans for anyone interested. I’m praying it will help me crowdsource ideas/comments to the design so I can improve on it before I go out to build it.
My goal at Alt-Ark is to Make Homes More Permaculture, to help you build that permaculture house on the homestead.
Alt-Ark 