BEFORE THE ARCHITECT – MODEL DRAWINGS
Shed Building Plan
"The worst clients already know it all, reckon that what I do must be – had better be – cheap and easy, have a perfect vision of exactly what something ought to look like way ahead of the first line drawn, and do not understand how everyone else can be so stoopid as to not share that vision. Worst clients pass through here like cracked corn through the Christmas Goose." AG 2000
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This one is great fun. It's to be a "vaguely Japanese-inspired shed on [a roughly 8'x10'] foundation. " What a wonderful challenge!
This study almost qualifies as a Concept Drawings, except for three points: the bare structure is the finished product; the new shed will stand alone; and the exact siting is a given. Building design is the thing.
(It will seem to some that qualifying this project in terms of shed building plans diminishes the artfulness of the construction. The AG supposes you could be right, but it's the clients' choice of words. Honestly, the term "shed" includes a remarkably wide variety of structures.)
We have owners' points with which to work, in addition to the sense of style:
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The foundation is cinder block, about 1' over grade. |
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The shed will house an existing pool pump and filter on a concrete slab. The non-slab floor area will remain unamended, as dirt. |
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The owners have a picture of the roof style they prefer. |
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There are to be doors somewhere on this structure, with strap hinges and a sliding bolt. |
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Depending on how you read it, the roof will either be solid or very open. |
Now, one of the owners is a graphic artist, and the Autocad Granddad has encouraged his sketching of the look he and his wife want. This would give everybody a head start bigtime: the owners get to sort out their viewpoints and visions; the Autocad Granddad does not need to guess at the developmental stage of their vision. Cheap and easy — not the Autocad Granddad, but the job.
As a contribution to the cause, following are four pics to distinguish design points that may be worth considering. Three pics are at least vaguely Japanese, and all are small and stand alone. Each could be considered in some veins as patios and could become screened patio enclosure or more substantial patio enclosures in time.
This first pic is to make several points. First, horizontal and vertical are in for the walls. Second, anything goes for the roof. Third, the structure will be some version of post and beam. Fourth, the architectural feel is fundamentally secure and functionally light, even uplifting.
Next, comes some walling. Still note that we're wed to horizontal and vertical. Here, the posting and beaming are more evident. But it's the walling to which my attention is focused. Simple, formidable, light. In this instance, the walling is entirely see-through, which may not be desirable when it comes to casual views of the pump and filter, but easily remedied with a panel piece or skirt.
Since the Autocad Granddad hasn't a clue as to how the roof will finally be handled, he blindly offers a couple of ideas along the open-roof vein. These two rely on sturdy rafters and intermediate lathing. The one on the right is even replete with flowering flora — added character all year long. No, the Autocad Granddad never saw any of those folks on the right before in his life.
Note, too, that in the first three pics – the more Japanese-flavored structures – that the eaves extend well beyond wall lines, especially in the first two.
We'll wait for crucial direction from the owners before going much further.
What we've done so far is to determine that desirable elements of structure (which in these cases forms up the entire architecture all by itself) can be discerned and further defined on the shed structure — one way or another. Let's extend this notion of further definition, to explore the point at hand. Let's just say that the owners' wishes are to have solid walls to the shed, not slatted or otherwise open. And further, these solid walls are to extend all the way from grade to eave — no openings, no clearstory (in a Western sense of building), no ports, no nothing. Just walls. Based on our viewing of these four pics, we'd have to say that's so-o-o-o un-Japanese style.
Hold on. In designing this shed, the Autocad Granddad thinks that there's plenty of design room to echo that style. For example —
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We've seen how rigorously right-angled these constructs can be. Simply, extend that rigor to a solid wall design; accentuate ordered verticality with lapped siding, an eye-catching trellis or planters, etc. |
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We've seen how post and beam frames rule. With solid walls, we've more than likely got an entirely clad frame, wherein even if we'd post and beamed it, it would be totally concealed. (Likely in this instance, we'd frame the shed more conventionally anyway.) So, simply mimic the post and beam with heavier (say, at least 5/4") trim set at a slight but noticeable outset of the horizontal runs over the vertical runs. |
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And whatever we're finally up to for walls, there's always the roof to make yet other design statements. |
Anything done quickly is usually ephemeral. Insubstantial. Unworthy. In designing this shed and most anything else, patient thought provokes the best in us. With time and talent, this design will not just succeed, it will excel. You'll see.
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Update: These clients thought they knew more about designing and construction than the Autocad Granddad. That self-delusive superiority is actually a common problem when you get to know designers of almost anything. Graphic artists are the worst for thinking that drawing pretty lines is akin to designing well-built constructs. Such fallacy is a fatal condition when you're working with the AG.
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