Above: Final render using SketchUp and Photoshop
Haven
Introduction
The grand yet sustainable cabin, located in Medford, Oregon, is made for one to two people isolating themselves from the stress and noise that comes from city life. Sustainability strategies include maximizing winter sunlight, implementing walls with high R-values, and utilizing thermal mass. The cabin features three zones each increasingly open to nature: a secluded living space, a food preparation area, and a family gathering space.
Goals
The goal is to integrate the passive design strategies I have learned over the semester into this envelope-dominated dwelling to reduce its need for active heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and need for fossil fuels. The assignment is to design and detail a tiny house (with an unlimited budget) for our grandmother who is coming to live in my backyard (assuming I have a backyard). The dwelling should have a foundation, but no basement. The house will be eco-friendly, and I will need to use innovative building systems and renewable materials with high R-values and efficiency.
Materials and Methods
After hand-sketching a floor-plan, I used Revit to draft the building.
Limitations
There was one problem with the design: it was too big. The total square footage had to be less than 500 sq. ft. I went to my teacher and asked her if I should remake my design. After talking with her, I realized that my building was about 1400 sq ft, almost 3 times bigger than it should be. Instead of changing the shape of the building, which my teacher liked, I took out the majority of the walls, left the just-barely 500 sq ft of interior space on the opposite side of the ramp, and put in some grand columns to hold up the sloping roof.
I also had the limitation to make the building sustainable. One of the design strategies I implemented was putting part of the building underground, but without a basement. As you can see from both section cuts above and below, the floor goes below ground level.
Renderings
I went into Unreal Engine 5 and Photoshop to render the final picture.