Main hall

Designed for the building posted below. I "cut" the segment free and started working with it. I shortly found several problems; it was only 15' wide, you could over the space in 3 good paces which means there was barely enough room for a couch with a decent coffee table which would leave you staring at a wall; there was a lot of wasted vertical space (some height is needed to make the cathedral style, though) and the window placement and height didn't work.

The modifications needed: Add more, smaller windows, widen the building, raise the eaves and lower the roof's peak. Now it measures 22' wide x 28' long, including the rounded end, usable floorspace without the fireplace and hearth, which will knock 2-4' off the length. The fireplace sits roughly where the camera is but inside the model's boundaries. There are some modeling errors, but nothing I can't live with seeing as this is only for visualization. The only other change I might make is to simplify the windows and make them one large pane instead of 3 panes apiece.

Again, I'm trying to make it look complicated and interesting without going overboard. The hammerbeam structures won't be solid, but will be layups of 1/4" or thicker ply or solid wood. The stone will be veneer, and the walls will be dry-board with plaster. If you download the model, you'll be able to see the 6" thick walls, the exterior with "buttresses", the basement below (you'll have to imagine the total height of 9') and see where the building rests on the ground plane. It's designed to have only 4' or so of the basement below grade in order to give the building a sense of greater height.