No, the blog hasn't died! There are so few castles out there, much less the ones that are on the web, and even less the ones that are owner built. I've "niched" myself out of publication. I guess I could switch blog premises and post all castles being built, heaven knows I see enough palatial homes and, I kid you not, castles being built on Long Island and Westchester County. But alas, that's not what I'm about, and my wallet isn't so fat. Castle dreams and an apartment budget!
At any rate, I'm still working on the most recent Sketchup castle. I've changed quite a bit and added some details. I know I've said it before, but the details are a real pain. Lining up roofs, ensuring there are load bearing walls in the right place, where on earth do I put what room and what to do for windows. All are time consuming, require imagination and more than a few complete "re-dos". I've drifted away from the "stone box" without too many features and headed more towards half-timber and Germanic styles. I've added a pitched roof instead of a plain flat roof, some corbeled windows and just other odds 'n ends. It's still a work in progress; this picture is from the opposite direction of the previous pictures and shows the greenhouse, which is attached directly to the kitchen. I hope to figure some way of capturing the warm air heated by the sun in the greenhouse for circulation around the house during the colder months, plus use the plants as natural air filter for the air in the home. The location off of the kitchen may also allow for use of greywater in the plants, or a specific greywater planter designed to filter and use the water instead of dumping it into a sewer.
Good to have you back! 1 month with no posts...
ReplyDeleteI like your overall layout, but the paranoid schizophrenic in me wants a truly defensive structure. I know in this day and age, a castle for defense is useless, but I would like something that would baffle the random burglar, and possibly allow me to hold off a mob of angry neighbors...
I also like the idea of a greenhouse, but I figured to have it as more of a second floor atrium.
If you are looking for passive heating/cooling, have you looked at passive cooling towers and/or earth air tubes? The tower of course could be built as one of the corner towers, but the earth air tubes need some sort of slope.
Thanks for the comment, Kirk!
ReplyDeleteI have been busy of late and it doesn't allow much time to fiddle with the model, but I'm still refining it as well as trying to figure out the interior design. Who wants a tract-home drywall interior in a castle?
I have looked at passive systems; a cooling tower is an excellent idea, but it is dependent on where the building is located geographically, the local humidity quickly puts a stop to any effectiveness to be had with a cooling tower. Also, with walls being used as thermal mass to retain cooler temperatures during warmer months, condensation could also be an issue.
That leads me to your other method, earth tubes. I read an article (I think it was by Rob Roy) about his personal experiences with earth tubes. The idea is good in principle, but again there are issues with condensation and mold growth in the pipes. The condensation collects in the pipe and puddles, it is very difficult to clean tens of feet of pipe, the only method he came up with was to leave a wire or rope snaked through the pipe and tied to make a loop of rope. Would tie a rag or sponge to the loop and pull it back and forth through the pipe to clean it. Time consuming and not very effective, especially if you use a ridged, flexible pipe.
All in all, the cooling tower would be the most practical and effective if you weren't in a humid climate, it would be best in a dry climate such as the the Southwest. I'd personally skip the earth tubes.