[Cob] round homes

[michael hollihn]

hello, my opinion and heresay, according to the chinese art of
placement (feng shui), circular structures are high energy vortexes
for chi/energy and actually create too much energy for a humans living
space to be healing, relaxing, sanctuary/peaceful-like and suggest
buildings with rectangular or square rooms where chi can be carefully
drawn into the house and deflected/pooled/channelled in a more of a
calm meander than a swirling "tornadoe"...bit too much like....i can
relate to this on a personal/subjective level...the other things i
feel to be important is design for passive solar gain...you probably
already know all of this...in n hemisphere face long side of house (if
not round :) facing south and north....south and east or west side of
house has most of glazing...north side has smallest least glazing with
shutters...other sides of houses may want shutters as well...minimum
4' eaves...living space occupies south side of structure on main
floor, kitchen in the south east to benefit from morning sun, dining
room/living room in south centre and south west bays of house to gain
from passive solar...north side of house has
bath/laundry/bedroom/storage/closet rooms to act as buffer from cold
north winds...since roofs are the biggest part of the equation imo
building and maintaining, it is efficient to put 2 floors under
roof....masonry heater in centre of structure, maybe radiant heat, all
designed to radiate outwards and upwards into second floor...rubble
trench foundation, cement stem walls, slab, with as much clay/cob as
possible to reduce dependency on cement....limit as many high embodied
energies as possible...roof space is 3rd geometric room/structure
above 2 square/rectangular living space floors with a pitch enough to
make the space under the roof and above the 2nd floor a seasonal
living space (aka attic)...the roof of the home is insulated in the
floor of the attic not the ceiling of the attic...this makes the attic
cold in winter and hot in summer and is delegated storage and seasonal
space...the beauty i see in this roof is you can fix/repair the roof
easily as there is no insulation in the rafters, just
purlins/strapping on the rafters and roofing on the strapping...if
there's a leak you see it directly and put a bucket under it until it
can be repaired...my 2cents, stay in the moment, venture into the past
and future while still remaining conscious of the present moment, say
yes to every moment as it occurs and enjoy the process, see all
obstacles as hurdles...i would appreciate your constructive
criticism...

--
michael hollihn,
british columbia,
www.michaelhollihn.wordpress.com (bioregional timber frames)
www.kettleriverfood.ning.com (building food security in the kettle
River watershed)
'Be the change that you want to see' ghandi