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nanrehvasconez
Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Posts: 59
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 Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:13 am Post subject: |
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Very interesting, as Schultz will say,
1. Some things are not a problem in the tropical Caribbean, washing windows is one of them. If you have visited the islands you may have noticed that most luxury villas have no glassed windows, because the windows are the natural way to air condition, the bedroom doors, if they have doors, are louvered for air circulation; the windows are provided with solid storm doors to be closed when the hurricanes happen.
2. A free flowing cantilever as in the Clinton Library has no angled or vertical supports; a braced cantilever is when the brace connects the flying part of the cantilever to the foundation. If vertical members support the cantilevered part of the building, it ceases to be a cantilever and becomes a trestle.
3. The collection of rain water even if is collected through a grate of photo voltaic cells, will be perfect for drinking and cooking, the amount of carcinogens collected, if any, is so infinitesimal that will not be of concern. Septic tanks and drinking water cisterns should be far apart to prevent contamination, just common cense.
4. The electrical supply will be solved by the purchase of a windmill to provide the energy needed, the afternoon winds in general are strong and constant. There are several companies supplying all over the world. A windmill also may be used to pressurize the water system.
Yes, I am an admirer of FLW
NAN
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nanrehvasconez
Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Posts: 59
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:28 am Post subject: |
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| I forgot to mention, the most common cantilever, in use daily, all over the world: THE BALAST CANTILEVER, commonly known as a CRANE!
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djswan
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 333
Location: Montana, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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You could build the crane out of sticks too. 
_________________
The definition of architect is "Master Builder".
I am a builder and there are no masters.
"I'm not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts"
Mark Twain |
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EngRMP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:32 pm Post subject: Zoning laws and geology |
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Hi folks,
I have a few updates:
- I read through the geology paper that birgco found. Man, I wish I paid more attention in my 6th grade geology week. Lots of terms. Anyway, it looks like my land is right on the border between igneous rock and the Caledonia Formations (CF). I'm not sure what the CF are yet, but I think that igneous rock would be a good thing... really hard, very soliid... good for anchoring steel I-beams. I'm a little skeptical though, because when I was there last I looked on the south side of the south road. The road is cut into the hill side (as you can imagine...btw, it looks like about a 1:2 slope - as you might also imagine). Anyway, the exposed rock seemed very much the way I'd describe shale: 1/4" layers; easy to pull out a piece of rock; easily breaks in your hands. But, since I appear to be on the border, I think I'll be safe and use the birgco idea to take some rock and soil samples all along the south road, and down the hill a bit if I can get there.
- I found a real estate site (http://www.fedeles.com/reference.htm) that had a phone-link to zoning laws. I called them and got a web link to the LexisNexis bookstore, where I've ordered a 256 page book on "Virgin Islands Zoning, Building and Housing Laws and Regulations, 2000 Edition"... a mere $31+shipping.
So, it's been a good day, and with about 3637 days left before building I'm starting to feel that I might almost have a shot at this.... learn a little more about steel, geology, foundations, building laws, architectural styles, cisterns, septic tanks, hurricanes, windmills (hmmm, I don't remember seeing any, except the ancient dutch ones... maybe hurricanes and windmills are incompatible)... OK, I'm tired.
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EngRMP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 40
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1534
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Probably a bit out of scale (could the narrowest yellow-line gap be 5 feet ? If so, a 5-foot perimeter gallery is perhaps excessive), but the layout looks reasonable. The cistern beneath (supporting ?) the parking makes sense, doesn't it. . .
SDR
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EngRMP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Sorry, it looks like the grid lines did not render accurately. The diagram is 90 ft across. The parking platform is 20 ft by 40 ft (20 ft required setback from property line). Each bedroom is 10 ft by 15 ft.
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1534
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds good. You don't think you'll want a deck outside the living space (and the bedrooms) ? Or is it enough in the tropics to be able to open the walls front and back and let the breezes blow through in the shade ?
SDR
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EngRMP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:28 am Post subject: |
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Yes, I'd love to have 6 ft decks outside of the bedrooms (just large enough for a few chairs and a walkway by the chairs; and then a 10 ft deck running along the living room. But, I'm worried about how to secure the deck because of my hurricane zone. If I need vertical supports at the ends of the deck, then I'm probably looking at 30 ft high verticals (for a 10 ft deck). If I can get away with 45 deg supports then I'll probably extend the deck.
BTW, I'm thinking 12 ft ceilings in the living room, with some tall windows. I have to investigate this further because storm shutters are a must for insurance from hurricanes.
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csintexas
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1301
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:34 am Post subject: |
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Personally I think maybe you would do best by regressing a bit. Start with a site plan. Identify major features like slope, view, sun, wind, access, privacy, etc..
Identify your minimum requirements. You need a cistern, a certain number of rooms, what ever code requirements there are, etc..
What's the budget, are doing this work yourself, what materials are available,
How much does it cost to build per square foot at that location.
Once you get the topo map make a model in sketchup like you had mentioned before.
Will this be connected to a power grid? What is the requirement for waste water? (I think some in that part of the world use composting toilets.)
I don't think anyone here can just look at this plan and give you any worthwhile feedback without knowing all these things. Of coarse being an engineer you know that good design follows a well thought out and logical process.
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Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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EngRMP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: |
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Hi CSinTexas,
Thanks for the comments. All good points... but, since I'm only an electrical engineer, I don't have the luxury of having all of the requirements and parameters identified or managed. Therefore, I/m forced to do what everyone does when they find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings... shotgun it. For me it's like groping in the dark... until I touch everything, and see how it relates to everything else, I just don't have a clear picture of even the scope of the "room". A builder, architect or construction engineer would probably naturally follow your approach... it certainly is a sound engineering approach. Once I understand more of the design parameters then I'll be able to step back and put more things into perspective:
- I'll be able to speak more intelligently to a geologist, engineer, architect, builder, etc.
- I'll be able to better judge which are competent, or share my values, priorities, concerns, approach, etc.
- I'll be able to determine which (if any) parts of the job I should do myself to save money, or get the level of detail that I want, or the personal satisfaction.
So, I agree with you, but I'm not yet at the point that I can lay out a systematic approach that I can be sure will capture all issues.... I'm still very much in learning mode.
Here is what I was hoping to hear from folks:
- maybe an 80 ft long house is not recommended in hurricane zones?
- maybe steel I-beams are not recommended within 5 miles of salt water?
- maybe cisterns can't/shouldn't be under parking areas because of needed access?
- somebody else already said that most houses in the Caribbean don't even put glass in the windows.
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csintexas
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1301
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:51 am Post subject: |
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Yes, I understand. That was the purpose of me telling you all those things -(So that you could start thinking about them.)
I think you would need to talk to a structural engineer to get any good advice on resistance to high winds. Any shape can be made to withstand a hurricane if it is build strong enough. I have seen concrete domed structures being built on the east coast which seem to offer extremely good resistance to high winds. Are you facing incoming storms or are you on the leeward side of the island?
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Chris Stewart
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1534
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:30 am Post subject: |
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One aspect of the problem "how to design a house for this site" may be being missed: local (or general) precedent. In other words, how have others met this set of problems -- surely you are not the first to build in this way, in this climate, with this set of circumstances. We're not Moon explorers or Martian colonizers, here !
Must we reinvent the wheel every Monday morning ?
Are there real estate listings for the island, where you can see examples of attractive hillside residential construction ? Can anyone think of other ways to approach it from this angle ?
There's nothing wrong with starting fresh, from first principles, of course -- but ignoring the experience of our neighbors seems wasteful, somehow. . .
SDR
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EngRMP
Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:16 am Post subject: |
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Hi SDR,
Very good points. I just today noticed that real estate folks are using You Tube to show property and homes in St Croix. Unfortunately they don't focus on architecture for steep hills (at least not that I've found). On my next trip, I hope to do a better study of the architecture; now that I've started to dig into the issues myself. I suspect that there will be old approaches, and new approaches based on old/new zoning/building laws, so I have to be careful. But, yes I should take pictures to bring back and study.
Chris, yes, thanks... I appreciate the voices of experience. Good question about storm direction also... here is how I've been looking at this:
- if you look at hurricanes that run through this area you see that they hit north, south, east and west depending on their path.
- next, given the swirl of a hurricane (lets assume CCW), if it travels north and comes along your east side, then as it approaches you could see eastern winds; then as it progresses you could see northern winds; then finally as it gets to the north of you, you might see western winds.
- so, I think you have to assume winds from all angles
- my hill slopes down to the north, so theoretically I should have some protection from the southern winds (but, I want my house high on the lot, where I would have views of water to the south). And, there are higher hills to the east and sw of me so I might get some protection from those winds also. I've been studying the Google Earth images to see if I can see any evidence of that. I don't see it. You see darker vegetation on north slopes because they see less burning Sun. But, I think the vegetation recovers so quickly after hurricanes that I just won't see anything useful.
I see info from Florida on construction checklists, and guidelines for hurricanes. I have just seen tidbits, but there was one checklist that asked if the house was < 60 ft long. I'm wondering if there is an inherent problem with these long faces. I wonder if the issues is that if a house is long (like mine, or a house 60 ft long) that there might not be enough inner walls that are parallel to the outer walls, so that winds hitting the small side of the house could more easily collapse it???
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csintexas
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1301
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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Certainly a long rectangular structure would perform worse that a square structure in general and a tall structure would perform worse that a squat structure.
The reason the domed structures worked well was not only the concrete shell but also that they did not present a large flat plane in any direction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_proof_building
http://static.monolithic.com/domesinnews/2007/11nov/coastalcontractormag/index.html
I think looking at how others solve these issues is an excellent suggestion. Although things that have been done in the past are often not acceptable to modern people. Also see what strategy's are used to deal with passive heating and cooling.
Another good feature of the monolithic concrete dome is thermal mass.
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Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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