Tiny House

This week’s design came to me through my friend Christopher Thomas and his Evergreen State College Club for an internship that he is involved with. A little bit about the internship: It is located in the North West National forest that has two reservations one for the Hoh Tribe in La Push Washington and the other Quileute tribe in Forks Washington. The internship was divided between the two Reservations and Thomas was distributed to the Hoh tribe Summit group. More about the Hoh tribe: the tribe lives in western Washington on the mouth of the Hoh River with 443 acres of land. The problem with the land is that: there are many possible water hazards from the River so moving the reservation uphill was the start; another concern is between the native fish because the tribe uses the different species of fish as a sustainable flow of income. The Hoh tribe is committed to building new affordable housing and to update current housing for their tribal members containing 226 registered members and an extra 100 is estimated to be off reservation because of the lack of housing. The objective of the internship is to build a mixture of twenty new homes and rentals in the two years, and my friend he requested me to design a sustainable structure with the above limitations of the water quality.

For my proposal to him I modeled a tiny house mainly because of the sustainable aspects and elements in the structure of a tiny home, they are cheap to build, sustainable on the materials used, Eco-friendly and low on utility cost. Above: South, East, North, and West

ABOUT:

Height: 13’ 7 ½” (House) 2’ 5” (platform) sits on a concrete slab foundation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDKEh1SEYbM

Area:

Bottom: 163.3127 sq. ft. 

Top: 85.0785 sq. ft.

Total: 248.3917 sq. ft.

Walls:

Interior: Dry Wall – Wood Framing

Exterior: Wood Framing – Solid Brick Masonry Walls

Goals:

My goals for this design were to work on my wall framing as if the exterior walls were cladding. Too add on I also did research on brick masonry walls on the thermal insulation element, which will work well in the North Western region of Washington.While working on the roofing I wanted to get the detailing precise, so I incorporated shingles (Red Cedar as the shingle material). Red cedar shingles has fine, even grain and is naturally resistant to water, rot, and sunlight.

Climate Region 6–

In the coastal region of Washington state the climate is very mild, however in the winter the temperatures are cool and rain is common. Although the skies are frequently overcast, solar heating is still possible because of the small heating load created from the mild temperature fluctuations. There is a high RH level but it does not show significant problems because the it doesn’t coincide with the high summer temperatures. The climate region has large variations in micro climates because of the change in both elevation and distance from the coast, in some areas however the winter winds start to become a problem. And the summers are quite dry and sunny.

Climate Priorities

1. Keep the heat in and the cold temperatures out during the winter (I)
2. Let the winter sun in (mostly diffused sun because of the clouds) (III)
3. Protect from the cold winter winds (II)

 

Decision:

SHED

This week was a bit different, I made request to design a shed in the back of my home to my landlord. She explained to me that the existing shed behind the house has to be tore down, and she would still like to have something to be in the back of the home, so I made an offer to come up with a design of a shed. As I was in the process of modeling it in SketchUp I began to realize that I need to get my detailing skills up meaning in my models need to have the wood frame feature of a structure. So in this design I practiced on framing using shaped joints and I also got a small understanding of the materials used within a wall at the end of this week. So knowing a little bit about the solar geometry of the site I came to a quick and easy to build shed that can have possible future add on’s.

East

West

South

North

HOME SHED DESIGN

The critique for this design I feel went well and quick, it was a simple idea that couldn’t be too big because of the amount of space behind the house and the elevation it sit on. The element in the design that was focus on in SketchUp was the framing because I felt it was around that time to getting better with the materials and detailing down on them, meaning precising down with the measurements and shapes of the material. So for being the first time working with framing in SketchUp, I feel I’m at a decent foundation of the understanding of frames and need much more understanding with them. At first the main idea for the design of the shed was to “have something that holds something with little of that something”. I thought this to myself because I was relating it to what could go in the back off the house for the current occupiers, but then I it came to me that a shed doesn’t have a stationary function/purpose. With that and only being limited to my imagination and of course the zoning.

The frame was built to be 15′ 7 1/2″ high connected together

using overlapping butt joints molded to make a structural

connection.

Since a shed doesn’t have a definite purpose, I decided to turn this one in to a basic multipurpose shed unit. There might not be much to show for it but I have intentions for it to grow with the occupiers. Possible options I thought of were a shed workshop, storage shed and possibly a quest house;

• Workshop:Outlets, Counters and tool holders will have to be added on around the walls.
• Storage: Counters and drawers are possible add-ons.
• Quest House: extra heating and insulation would be required and counter tops are possible.

ABOUT:

The extra elevation came about when I was thinking about the purpose of the shed, and made that area the quest home sleep area or a spot to be used in different ways. The window on the extra level I assume that it is too small and can be a tad bit bigger in height so more air circulation can flow through when opened.

•  The skylight window is missing its window shades that can be adjustable and reachable from the second floor elevation.
• The shed is 239.168 square feet in total. (BOTTOM:187.3032 sq. ft. TOP: 51.8648 sq. ft.
• Climate Region6–In the coastal region of Washington state the climate is very mild, however in the winter the temperatures are cool and rain is common. Although the skies are frequently overcast, solar heating is still possible because of the small heating load created from the mild temperature fluctuations. There is a high RH level but it does not show significant problems because the it doesn’t coincide with the high summer temperatures. The climate region has large variations in microclimates because of the change in both elevation and distance from the coast, in some areas however the winter winds start to become a problem. And the summers are quite dry and sunny.
  • Climate Priorities

1. Keep the heat in and the cold temperatures out during the winter (I)
2. Let the winter sun in (mostly diffused sun because of the clouds) (III)
3. Protect from the cold winter winds (II)

For this week’s design I have followed up on including feedback from critique of the previous week into the design/ animation shown. “A house isn’t just a stand alone structure, it needs furniture” said during the critique, from that I began to include the life and elements that you live with, within it. The shape was inspired by the effects and presentation brought by Mediterranean structures.

South

North

The South Face  and North Face  are a bit off with some windows; one of the windows would go on the first floor in the bathroom wall, maybe a 2′ x 1′ window not sure about it. On the North face it is not complete fully yet, there are needs of windows on the north curve wall first and second floors. During the critique there was a small debate on on the size of the top floor porch and removal and/or additional porch space to the bedrooms. The East and West facing walls are in need of more windows as well.

East

West

FEEDBACK DESIGN

This design was also thought out and influenced by another comment from the critique which was “use curves” and to try and find my style of design. After gathering up ideas for the design and continuing in SketchUp, it was often that the schematics or the design of an area would change because I didn’t have all the climatic conditions and the region of the the US that it was located in. I decided that it would be on the coastal region of California because I was browsing Mediterranean architecture which helped influence the design. Using the “Heating, Cooling, Lighting Sustainable Design Methods for Architects” textbook as a resource for the climate of California’s coast.

Living Room Area:

Not the final decision for the layout because there were other ideas available but I couldn’t decide which one to go with so I went with a basic, plain and simple layout.

Kitchen:

The primary idea for the kitchen was for it to be round with a centered round island, but I assumed that it would make the home to round and I was running behind on schedule with other parts of the project.

Bathroom- Laundry Section:

I’m aware that the space for the laundry is a bit too small, that’s because it was a late and forgotten installment while I was at the end of the design. The bathroom on the First floor can use another window not to big, and the existing one now is a frosted window (window coating to prevent you from seeing out or others from seeing in. These windows give the room light without allowing neighbors to see into your personal space.) Another idea for windows around the home was to use glass block windows (Windows that distort the image of whatever is on the other side. In addition, they’re easy to clean and maintain.)

 First Floor 1230. 5785 square feet

Second Floor 1741.0231 square feet

Climate Region 17–

The semiarid climate is very mild because of the almost constant cool winds from the ocean. Although these onshore winds bring high humidity, comfort is maintained because of the low temperatures. Occasionally when the wind reverses, hot desert air enters the region. Because this air is dry, comfort is still maintained. There is a sharp increase in temperature and a decrease in humidity as one leaves the coast. Winter temperatures are very moderate and little heating is required. The rain falls mainly in the winter, since there is almost no rain during the summer few plants can grow year round without irrigation. Since sunshine is plentiful all year, solar heating, especially for hot waters very advantageous.

§  Climate Priorities

1.      Open the building to the outdoors since temperatures are comfortable most of the year

2.      Protect from the summer sun

3.      Let the winter sun in

4.      Use natural ventilation for summer cooling

5.      Use thermal mass to reduce day-tonight- temperature swings in the summer

One of the design’s main elements I wanted to include was a natural air ventilation for the summer by including many windows and having the south face of the structure face towards the ocean. In the atmosphere since air movement is influenced by large bodies of water the plan is to use the ocean as an advantage to generate a natural ventilation effect from the ocean breezes. Another element was to make sure that the air flow in the home was smooth and had no interference in its path  transitioning through the floors of the home  and the kitchen. Another main thing was the protection from the sun while enjoying the weather outside with the family.

Starting off of the programs project, on the first Tuesday meeting the class discussed each others projects and received feedback and or ideas that can further the project. On Tuesday of week to we had our first critique of the quarter, and I think went by smooth for everyone including myself. For week one’s design I decided to model a basic design in SketchUp with the concept of better airflow inside the home.

Pretty Simple design? It is still unfinished I have to install some more windows and the doors and record the dimensions.

Rooms: Two rooms that sit side to side one with a sliding door (226.1798 Feet ²) and one with a curved pan window (222.9826 Feet ²)

Bath: First floor of the home let of the entrance a 117.4019 Feet ² bathroom containing laundry machines and one on the second floor also with a curved pan window with 118.5636 Feet ²

Kitchen: 229.454 Feet ²

Living Room: 274.9566 Feet ²

These first two images are of the second floor, the next two are the first first floor. The blue lines on a bird’s perspective are to show the air circulation through the home. I’m aware that its missing windows, those areas that are missing windows are locations or location ideas of a window. For being the first assignment I think my presentation went 5/10, and after the critique I decided to let my designs evolve from feedback and the weeks lessons.