Changing Design

Designing something always means there will be iterations. Just like when architects design a building, the engineers have to bring them back to reality and tell them what's possible. And since I am both the architect and engineer of my project, I get to tell myself what is possible.

In the case of my first design I find two things wrong. First, the roof layout is a bit too complex for something I hope to have a large roll in building. Framing a wall with a roof that has two raked (angled) pieces is quite a chore. And something not for a first time builder. Second, since the target building size is 10'x16', having those two roof segments on a 10' wide space does not look visually appealing. It's very busy for a 10' wide roof. I thought about extending the roof edges out in all directions to make for something that gets closer to a pleasing visual ratio, however this just means more difficulty in the build.

So alas, I must say goodbye to my dual pitched roof. The solution I designed is simpler, and I'm actually not too thrilled with the look. But a simpler design is easier to build.

I have kept the full cabin width windows up high, but now they are just on the side of the cabin, rather than being where the two roof segments met in the old design. I am also still working on the window layout. At first I had two 4'x4' windows side by side, but this looked too much like eyes to me, and the symmetry just didn't feel right. So I kept one 4'x4' and added a more vertical 6'x1' window to try to get a better look. One note is that the living space is behind the large window on the right side of the cabin, and the sleeping bunks are on the left side. So keeping the windows smaller on the left side will probably be appreciated by late sleepers.

I have did a couple of rough previsualizations of the design on photos I have of the existing foundation. Not the prettiest thing to look at, but it gives me some idea as to the look...a look I am not that happy with yet...I little too utilitarian looking to me...but hey, the design is still in progress...and I'm sorry I don't have a front on view of the foundation so we could see what it looks like from the 'pretty' side...