|
|
We've had many questions about the building over the years since this website began - our faq section details the main questions with our responses.
Design FAQs |
How did you arrive at the final design and what influence does it have on the "feel" of the building?
The design was one which came to me when I set out to draw a floor
plan for a building which would serve as a living space for my wife
and I as well as a healing space for residential workshops we do
called Mindvision.
I *worked* on the design for 4 years (off and on (-;) but couldn't
change it in any significant regard without detracting from its
effectiveness.
When we came to the piece of land on which it is rising, the
energetics (aka earth energies) clearly indicated this was a sacred
site. Once again I tried to influence the design to accommodate the
prevailing geographic features and orientation - again to no avail.
So, for me, the design was and is something 'predestined' if you
like and not for the likes of me to change. I believe it does have
good 'Feng Shui' but I would not claim that was a conscious
intention. Nor could I say it was designed according to any
principles other than 'what would work' with harmony and balance.
Personally I feel the octagon is one of the best shapes for
containing and enriching energies as humans experience them -
another personal feeling.
Everyone who visits does *feel* something - usually described as
friendliness, warmth or profound peace - more, I suspect to do with
the earth than the erection but I do not say that the structure is
without its own contribution.
Where did you get the design?
I first saw the roof structure in a photo of the meditation hall at
Findhorn. I fell immediately in love with it as it had the 2 qualities I
wanted: 1 - a central light-admitting opening 2 - freedom from
supporting poles, pillars or massive metal constructions
What are the main advantages of the roof?
It also offered these advantages:- - plenty of visual movement - its
a challenge to keep one's focus fixed on one spot from inside - the
gaze and awareness is constantly drawn inward and upward - an
agreeable direction for me. - freedom from lateral thrust at the
supporting rim - the walls needed no buttressing or lateral
supports (although with the octagonal plan this may be a moot
point). Once the rafters lock together, the structure is a unified
thing and any load anywhere is immediately distributed evenly
throughout the main beams and the resulting force is uniformly
vertical on the supports. (Ours sits on the top of 5"X2" vertical
members which have precious little bracing) - low wind
resistance(?) - since the roof is not flat - it has a stepped surface
(excuse my ignorance of the proper building terms - as I say, the
things we do for bliss (-;) - the wind can't get a purchase on it and
I think it is more resistant to uplift than a planar roof of the same
surface area. (Although I have nothing other than my own 'hunch'
to go on there).
Where else has this roof been used?
The structure is popular in Findhorn - see this image:
www.findhorn.org/ecovillage/archives/photos/image26.html
however as for details guidance etc - haven't see anything
anywhere. I do know there was a guy offering detailed plans for
cutting beams and housings there but he didn't ever reply to my
correspondence and I no longer have the address I used.
How did you start out with the roof structure?
I had an engineer draw a suitable structure and plunged in. We
elected to go for sloped bearing surfaces so that the beams could
be slid along their main axis during installation for 'fine
adjustments'. They are laminated Australian hardwoods - F27 (if
that means anything in Texas) and are as hard a timber as I have
ever come across - including teak. This meant that each member
was quite capable of sliding 'out', and there was precious little
friction at the bearing surface.
The beams sat is space, locked together, without any fixings for 3
days! Its was real joy to see them do that.
Was this reciprocal force rafter structure over the whole house or just the central room?
A: Just over the central room (6m ~20' wall to wall)
How does the roof actually work?
The roof is a different head-space to conventional rafters
which are supported top and bottom, the beams are only
supported at the bottom and rely on the 'interweaving' to secure
the top. The harder gravity works the stronger the roof becomes.
The roof works with gravity rather than resisting it which is what
passes for 'conventional wisdom'.
Why did you choose an octagon shape?
The octagonal shape is, to me, the strongest for a dwelling, or any
structure really, circular is too difficult to furnish and accommodate
and rectangular is - well look at what passes for civilization in the
west (IMHO).
I suppose what I regard as sacred mathematics may have
contributed - 2 raised to the power of 3 - but, in truth, I feel the
design was largely 'channelled'.
I drew it one night as a design for a home in which to run
residential workshops called MindVision, 9 years later and
countless 'redesign' attempts we started building, the original
design was the same as I drew that first night. It had successfully
resisted all my attempts to 'improve it'.
Its hard to argue with facts like that (-;
And yes - the roof is remarkably similar with the octagonal
opening in the centre - I was averse to a large and weighty metal
structure overhead - 'The Sword of Damocles' kept runing through
my mind - a photo of Findhorn's Meditation hall provided the
perfect solution for us.
Could you tell me the dimentions of the roof you built: diameter, center opening diameter, beam depth, pitch, and anything else you think i might want to know?
Roof Diam - 6m, centre opening 1.5m, roof pitch 25degrees, beam
depth 225mm (Sorry I guess you'll have to do the conversion to
imperial).
My best and only advice really is to get some 1/4" X 3/4" sticks and
build a model, you will learn far more with that than by any thing I could
tell you. You'll need to cut some housings to make bearing surfaces,
glue some sandpaper on one of the faces to imnprove the friction and it
should be strong enough for you to stand on without slipping.
How did you design the hole in the middle?
The centre opening size is determined by 2 factors: the depth of the
beams and the pitch of the roof.
If you keep the same beam size then as the pitch increases the diameter
of the opening reduces.
If you keep the same pitch then as the beam depth increases the
diameter of the opening increases.
I don't know a formula I just nutted it out with trigonometry by working
out the dimensions of the portion of the beam at the top end which went
from under one neighbour to over the other.
Sorry that's so garbled but I'm not a builder and don't really know the
names for these things.
Anyway I hope that helps somewhat, hope you have a lot of fun with the
process as it's a real buzz when the beams stand there without support.
Why did you choose this roof design?
I first saw the roof structure in a photo of the meditation hall at Findhorn.
I fell immediately in love with it as it had the 2 qualities I wanted:
1 - a central light-admitting opening
2 - freedom from supporting poles, pillars or massive metal
constructions
It also offered these advantages:-
- plenty of visual movement - its a
challenge to keep one's focus fixed on one spot from inside - the gaze
and awareness is constantly drawn inward and upward - an agreeable
direction for me.
- freedom from lateral thrust at the supporting rim - the
walls needed no buttressing or lateral supports (although with the
octagonal plan this may be a moot point). Once the rafters lock together,
the structure is a unified thing and any load anywhere is immediately
distributed evenly throughout the main beams and the resulting force is
uniformly vertical on the supports. (Ours sits on the top of 5"X2" vertical
members which have precious little bracing)
- low wind resistance(?) -
since the roof is not flat - it has a stepped surface (excuse my ignorance
of the proper building terms - as I say, the things we do for bliss (-;) - the
wind can't get a purchase on it and I think it is more resistant to uplift
than a planar roof of the same surface area. (Although I have nothing
other than my own 'hunch' to go on there).
The structure is popular in Findhorn - see this image:
http://www.findhorn.org/ecovillage/archives/photos/image26.html
however as for details guidance etc - haven't see anything anywhere. I
do know there was a guy offering detailed plans for cutting beams and
housings there but he didn't ever reply to my correspondence and I no
longer have the address I used.
I had an engineer draw a suitable structure and plunged in. We elected
to go for sloped bearing surfaces so that the beams could be slid along
their main axis during installation for 'fine adjustments'. They are
laminated Australian hardwoods - F27 (if that means anything in Texas)
and are as hard a timber as I have ever come across - including teak.
This meant that each member was quite capable of sliding 'out', and
there was precious little friction at the bearing surface.
The beams sat is space, locked together, without any fixings for 3 days!
Its was real joy to see them do that.
Is this roof different to a conventional rafter and purlin construction?
yes the roof is a different head-space to conventional rafters which are
supporeted top and bottom, the beams are only supported at the bottom
and rely on the 'interweaving' to secure the top. The harder gravity works
the stronger the roof becomes. The roof works with gravity rather than
resisting it which is what passes for 'conventional wisdom'.
