Building a workshop

Last fall I bought 3 acres (about 12,000 m²) of rural property in the American Pacific Northwest and am designing a workshop to be the first structure. Once completed, it will support construction of a well house and my actual residence.

This page documents my goals for the shop, background research, and my design decisions. Construction was originally planned for 2017, but is now postponed indefinitely.

• References: Books and other helpful resources

• Workshop goals: What I want to get out of the workshop and the design/build process

• Envelope requirements: Do I need a covered breezeway, barn, or full-on building?

• Site: Choosing a suitable location for the workshop

• Massing: The workshop’s shape

  • Initial sketches
  • Initial renderings
  • Massing II: Revenge of the slope
  • Massing III: Embrace the slope

• Thermal modeling: Should I insulate the workshop?

• Interior layout: What goes where, and why

• Pricing: How much do buildings cost, anyway?

Updates

2017 April 3: I’ve postponed the workshop build indefinitely to focus on Subform.

2017 March 1: Added more rendering sketches and annotated all sketches with context around the decisions.

2017 Feburary 8: Added more rendering sketches to hone in on a coherent aesthetic.

2016 November 29: Thermal modeling analysis, or what they don’t tell you about differential equations in school.

2016 August 23: Rough interior layout notes and a new set of massings based on geotechnical feedback.

2016 August 4: Organized pricing notes and got a metal building quote. Looks like $65–70k for stick-built workshop, $45–50k for a steel-frame workshop. Also added initial renderings of the workshop massing.

2016 August 1: Added rough pricing notes.

2016 July 31: Added workshop initial massings, airtightness and references sections.