Custom Timber Frame Home Design - Case Study 2019 (Ocean)
Preface - I am NOT a trained architect or building designer. I am a mechanical engineer by training, that has devoted the last 2-1/2 decades to designing, fabricating and raising custom timber frames for discriminating home owners all over North America. I learned my craft on "barn like" frame structures, but also get involved in lots of contemporary west coast aesthetics. Many Owners find me after they've been "discouraged" by architects and builders who don't understand the basics of working with a timber frame structure. Folks that are pretty confident in what they want in a house will find me a knowledgeable, helpful advocate in creating efficient plans. If you find the process of building especially daunting, even overwhelming, I might steer you toward a professional architect / designer (with TF experience) that can better shepherd you through the process. If the cornerstone of your project is a "custom timber frame" then I am the best guy to talk to first in order to maximize creative use of wood, drive costs down, and set you up for an amazing result. For privacy, I avoid a specific discussion of cost in this example - see FAQ or call me to discuss pricing.
In late 2018 I was asked by a single soon-to-be-retired owner to design a new timber frame home. This creative process is one of the most enjoyable aspects of my work and this particular project is one worth sharing with others for a number of reasons.
In particular, this Owner is:
- Single retiree moving away from an urban setting to simpler country living on beautiful, small ocean front lot.
- Downsizing and building what she/he wants for relaxed living post career.
- Has very few constraints / ideas on house plan other than desire for quality and keeping costs controlled.
- Well prepared for the project, and a thoughtful participant at every stage of design.
- Confident and knowledgeable about their own lifestyle choices.
- Able to listen / evaluate the advise of building professionals and tradespeople without being pushed around.
- Understanding about the need for compromise to reach best possible overall solution.
The evolution of this project was only a little bit atypical, but I think many people will go through a similar process.
- Owner found a great property and purchased it with a belief that building a home was practical housing solution (it can be!).
- Explore basic house building options (very hard & confusing). Some false starts.
- Ask Randy to evaluate the site prospects and propose a home concept.
- Site visit by Randy to understand the topography, landscape, views, sun tracking, infrastructure, other.
- Kickoff meeting where Owner shared design theme ideas, constraints, and targets (Note - no sketches or plans yet, good).
- Initial concept idea by designer attempting to bring elements together.
- Client excited and really likes idea #1.
- Refinement / evolution of basic concept to personalize for client (designer always has private preferences shown in concepts).
- Final plans completed prior to permit application and
The final drawing below is the resulting Conceptual Floor Plan for this single retiree. It will now be supplemented with elevation and section drawings, a 3D model that Owner can "fly thru", and details / specifications to direct an accurate price estimate by the General Contractor - or relatively accurate budgeting by the Owner-Builder.
Owners' Theme / Constraints / Goals (my summary from our initial design briefing)
- Ocean front property, take advantage of the views.
- Target budget is very important guideline.
- Must be warm and comfortable all seasons.
- Wants a well-crafted home, loves the timber frame character and aesthetic.
- Large, usable deck / patio toward water to be used 4 seasons with small hot tub for therapy.
- House placed on edge of steep sloping lot so walk-out basement probable and good overflow space.
- Wants gas stove auxilliary heat in bedroom and living room.
- Wants useful carport for electrical vehicle charging.
- Kitchen is NOT centre of the house flow, important by secondary.
- Lifestyle includes beach activities and ocean swimming 3 seasons.
- Room for grown kids to visit and short stay.
- Room for hobbies and small office space.
My first Concept presented to Owners based upon my interpretation of their goals, mashed up with my biases, is shown below. {Every designer has ingrained biases, if they don't admit that then walk away - your challenge as Owner is to find one that gels with your project.} The underlying timber frame structure makes sense to me, but does not show up in any detailed form yet. Notable elements of this design include:
- A very tight footprint for setbacks and efficient timber frame plan (control costs)
- Municipal bylaws encourage a shed roof solution to minimize max height
- Maximize the ocean views
- Flow for one person living
In particular, this Owner is:
- Single retiree moving away from an urban setting to simpler country living on beautiful, small ocean front lot.
- Downsizing and building what she/he wants for relaxed living post career.
- Has very few constraints / ideas on house plan other than desire for quality and keeping costs controlled.
- Well prepared for the project, and a thoughtful participant at every stage of design.
- Confident and knowledgeable about their own lifestyle choices.
- Able to listen / evaluate the advise of building professionals and tradespeople without being pushed around.
- Understanding about the need for compromise to reach best possible overall solution.
The evolution of this project was only a little bit atypical, but I think many people will go through a similar process.
- Owner found a great property and purchased it with a belief that building a home was practical housing solution (it can be!).
- Explore basic house building options (very hard & confusing). Some false starts.
- Ask Randy to evaluate the site prospects and propose a home concept.
- Site visit by Randy to understand the topography, landscape, views, sun tracking, infrastructure, other.
- Kickoff meeting where Owner shared design theme ideas, constraints, and targets (Note - no sketches or plans yet, good).
- Initial concept idea by designer attempting to bring elements together.
- Client excited and really likes idea #1.
- Refinement / evolution of basic concept to personalize for client (designer always has private preferences shown in concepts).
- Final plans completed prior to permit application and
The final drawing below is the resulting Conceptual Floor Plan for this single retiree. It will now be supplemented with elevation and section drawings, a 3D model that Owner can "fly thru", and details / specifications to direct an accurate price estimate by the General Contractor - or relatively accurate budgeting by the Owner-Builder.
Owners' Theme / Constraints / Goals (my summary from our initial design briefing)
- Ocean front property, take advantage of the views.
- Target budget is very important guideline.
- Must be warm and comfortable all seasons.
- Wants a well-crafted home, loves the timber frame character and aesthetic.
- Large, usable deck / patio toward water to be used 4 seasons with small hot tub for therapy.
- House placed on edge of steep sloping lot so walk-out basement probable and good overflow space.
- Wants gas stove auxilliary heat in bedroom and living room.
- Wants useful carport for electrical vehicle charging.
- Kitchen is NOT centre of the house flow, important by secondary.
- Lifestyle includes beach activities and ocean swimming 3 seasons.
- Room for grown kids to visit and short stay.
- Room for hobbies and small office space.
My first Concept presented to Owners based upon my interpretation of their goals, mashed up with my biases, is shown below. {Every designer has ingrained biases, if they don't admit that then walk away - your challenge as Owner is to find one that gels with your project.} The underlying timber frame structure makes sense to me, but does not show up in any detailed form yet. Notable elements of this design include:
- A very tight footprint for setbacks and efficient timber frame plan (control costs)
- Municipal bylaws encourage a shed roof solution to minimize max height
- Maximize the ocean views
- Flow for one person living
The Owner had a very positive response to this concept and asked only about the option of switching places for the kitchen and bedroom. This is a personal choice and others might not agree - that is one of the benefits of making your own home! Another request after further consideration was to incorporate carport. Since this was just a quick first draft of the concept, I as the designer had many details to work out and several refinements I wanted to pursue. The next iteration of plans is shown below.
This version focused mostly on the interior house layout for flow and essential living components. The outside areas still need some work, and thinking about excavation and foundation we find that bumping the full basement to include under the ensuite yields a great new room for office and temporary bed if needed. Fussing over some of the details and massing in some actual sizes for ICF walls and other construction details we get the Final Design for this home.
In this case, the design floated out quickly with a bare minimum of back and forth and redesign. I think it is a function of the designer and owner having similar "tastes" in lifestyle and a really strong desire / need to maintain a tight budget. The home shown is really efficient from a timber frame perspective and holds all other costs well in check as well. Notable in that regard are the following that you may not be aware of:
- Small overall size and footprint, two floors (especially with walk-out basement) is cheaper than a sprawling "rancher".
- Stack plumbing if at all possible; this is not great about it.
- A large centralized mechanical room makes all the trades happy (equals lower costs).
- Minimize roof bumpouts, avoid dormers, keep the roof as simple as possible for big savings.
- ICF foundation, radiant slab basement, SIP walls and roof, we love these concepts and they "pay you back" for years.
- Find a way to build a smaller house, the cost savings are massive.
- Small overall size and footprint, two floors (especially with walk-out basement) is cheaper than a sprawling "rancher".
- Stack plumbing if at all possible; this is not great about it.
- A large centralized mechanical room makes all the trades happy (equals lower costs).
- Minimize roof bumpouts, avoid dormers, keep the roof as simple as possible for big savings.
- ICF foundation, radiant slab basement, SIP walls and roof, we love these concepts and they "pay you back" for years.
- Find a way to build a smaller house, the cost savings are massive.
Above I have outlined an example of an actual Conceptual Design exercise - this house is being built for a happy client. This is often quite hard for the Owner because some faith in your building team and visualization is required to understand the project scope in a couple of small drawings. Money has not yet started to flow in big quantities for building so it is easy to get lulled into an attitude of "include it now and we can take it out if needed later"; I wish it was that easy. The relatively simple drawing above has lots of information for the trades included and identifies many constraints that will limit changing your mind later without major headaches and cost implications (which always goes up and not down). By this time, I as the designer understand your goals pretty well and have developed a working relationship where we can ask pointed questions and drill down to the fundamental needs for the home. This is also the best time - by far - to search for places to trim costs and eliminate complexities. Budget is a consideration in EVERY home, this Concept planning phase is the most important step to keeping that budget under control - do the hard thinking now so that the actual construction is efficient and accurate.
This project is being aided by the application of the Owner-Builder Budget & Scheduling Worksheet that you'll find described elsewhere on this site. More than halfway through now (Sep 2019) the budget seems to be tracking estimate well while the schedule has intentionally slipped because a smaller crew is used on site than originally planned.
I hope you find this example helpful - give me a call to talk about your project.
This project is being aided by the application of the Owner-Builder Budget & Scheduling Worksheet that you'll find described elsewhere on this site. More than halfway through now (Sep 2019) the budget seems to be tracking estimate well while the schedule has intentionally slipped because a smaller crew is used on site than originally planned.
I hope you find this example helpful - give me a call to talk about your project.