Timber Home Living Drawing Board: Bonus Points

Looking to add a guest bedroom or bonus room over a timber frame garage?  If so, you won’t want to miss the article in the current issue of Timber Home Living magazine, “Bonus Points”!  

Architect Jeremy Bonin gives tips for handing ceiling height and headroom issues, heating and cooling issues, and accessibility issues specific to second floor access.

Read an excerpt of the Timber Home Living article on the Press page of our website.

Factors Impacting Home Design:

There are two basic factors in home design:  fundamental and elemental.

Fundamental considerations are tangible. For example, how many people will be living in your home? How much do you wish to invest, both financially and emotionally? Is it a home you’ll use after retirement, which might dictate single-level living? Only you can determine the emotional investment you’ll have in the house. This varies from person to person and typically affects how much day-to-day input you’ll have in the home’s development.

Elemental considerations are less tangible. The three I find most important are light, views and permanence. Light makes visible the spaces we inhabit. Light also has its own characteristics such as intensity, color, texture and depth, so light and its absence must be considered when designing. For example, if you have two identical rooms—one on the east side of a house and one on the west—each space will be perceived differently, even if they have the same colors, furnishings, textures, volume and design. Yes, it all comes down to sunlight. For example, if you’re not a morning person, it might not be a wise move to place your bedroom on the east side of the house.

Views come next. One of the advantages of timber homes is the ability of timbers to frame views of different spaces. A pair of posts might define the entrance from the dining to the living room; and a floor girder might delineate the dining from the living room in the same manner, acting as a soffit between different ceiling heights. Our experiences in a space often are based upon what we see or feel from it even before we enter a room.

The last is permanence. Obviously, a home is more than shelter. It can be a place of retreat and serenity, and when we can see and understand the structure that protects us—the posts, beams and braces—we gain a primal understanding of security. Again, many timber homes built long ago are still around today. We might not understand the comfort and security these structures provide, but we all perceive and feel those qualities the minute we set foot in one of these homes.

~Jeremy Bonin, AIA NCARB LEED AP

Bonin Architects & Associates, PLLC

Licensed in NH, VT, ME, MA, RI, and CT

Timber Home Living article

Check out one of our newly built timber homes in the latest issue of Timber Home Living (October 2011).  

Afraid you won’t be able to the features you want in your timber home?  In the Pro Pointers article titled “Design Details”, New London, NH Architect Jeremy Bonin describes design elements that work well in timber frame houses.  

Bonin gives trends and pointers for incorporating these into your home design:

Wine cellars

Open floor plans

Lofts

Clean line

Timber frame homes are very similar to conventional homes as far as the systems and features that can be integrated into the design.

Looking for a timber frame architect?  Call Bonin Architects or stop by our office on Main Street in New London today!

Building a new timber home

You’ve made the decision to build an energy efficient timber home but may be no further in the process than that initial decision.  Bonin Architects & Associates is ready to help you design and build a home that not only matches your needs and fulfills your desires, but also meets your budget.  Throughout the architectural design and construction administration process, we will help you give consideration to the impact to both the site environment and to the building itself in terms of stewardship and environmental quality.  
 
Here are five factors Bonin Architects & Associates will urge you to contemplate when building a sustainable, energy efficient timber frame home:

1. Site consideration
2. Water efficiency
3. Energy and atmosphere
4. Materials and resources
5. Indoor environmental quality

There are many material choices and alternative energy solutions available in building a timber home that is considered truly green.  Our architects will present many of these to you during the design phase of the project, keeping in mind your project goals and budget.  Some considerations are:

• Recycled and reclaimed materials: Wood species, Roofing material, Decking
• Insulation systems: Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)
• Renewable Energy Systems

By mapping your objectives and goals during the design process, Bonin Architects will then work with you to exceed your expectations in building your green home.  The end result fulfills more than the basic need for shelter – your sustainable home will provide maximum return on your investment, require minimal maintenance, and satisfy the innate desire to create a nurturing environment in which your family can flourish.

 Call us to discuss your project at 603-526-6200 or email info@boninarchitects.com

Bonin Architects Featured in Luxury Home Quarterly

The September / October issue of Luxury Home Quarterly features a vacation home design by Bonin Architects & Associates of New London, NH. The home featured in the article is located in the South Peak Resort Development, Lincoln, NH and is a timber home that also won a National Dream Home Award.

Luxury Home Quarterly calls the home “a marriage of beauty and efficiency” found in the “form in the design of New England Homes”.  The home design features five bedrooms and 3 ½ baths within a timber frame structure.

View a slideshow of this award winning home.

Timber Frame Barn

One of our clients building in northern Vermont would like to build a timber frame barn on their property to complement their new timber frame farmhouse being built this fall. 

Here is the preliminary design for the barn, which will house a few animals along with a tractor, snowmobiles, ATV’s, and hay storage.

The timber frame design features a Principal Purlin framing system which is common in barn construction.  Learn more about the types of timber framing on our other blog posts.

Timber Frame Renderings

No doubt, timber homes are gorgeous and can be designed in any architectural style to match your lifestyle and setting.

Included in our architectural design services is to create renderings of the timber frame interior for clients to visualize the space and volume of the rooms in addition to the overall home design. Check out this great timber frame we are designing for one of our clients:

If you are thinking about building a timber home, here are five reasons why you should consider using an architect to design your home.

To see our other timber home designs, check out our current projects and timber homes under construction!

Timber Home Living “Designing the Perfect Smaller Kitchen”

If you haven’t seen the latest issue of Timber Home Living magazine Special Kitchen & Bath Issue (June 2010), be sure to pick up a copy at your local Border’s!

The article, “Living Little” by Janice Brewster, focuses on how to have an efficient kitchen that won’t break the budget. It’s true, when you are planning to build a new timber home, kitchens and bathrooms can be the most expensive rooms in the house.


If your wants exceed your budget needs, your kitchen may end up smaller than you had originally planned. No worries - you can still have a terrific kitchen! Brewster interviewed Architect Jeremy Bonin on tips for kitchen placement, maximizing storage space, and flooring options.

Are you building a timber home and need help getting everything you want in your kitchen? Let Bonin Architects help!

Residential Architecture: Schematic Design

Some clients have already put a lot of time and effort thinking about the new timber home they want to build and come to us with magazine clippings, notebooks, and sketches of their new timber house. Others are in the beginning stages of the design of the home and are just starting to consider their needs and the flow of the floor plan.

In these cases we can prepare schematic design drawings to help our client visualize the scale and location of the rooms as well as the shape of the home’s footprint. Also shown in the schematic design drawings are boundaries, setbacks, vegetation, and the driveway approach to the home.

More detailed information, including the location of garage doors, fireplace placement, timber porches, decks, and outdoor spaces are also specified on the schematic drawing. Any changes or alterations to the layout of the home are easily accomplished in this stage.

After any changes are made to the layout and the schematic design is approved, more detailed floor plans are drawn depicting room sizes (erased from this example), furniture layout, and square footage. Notice in this example the first floor bedroom near the entry was eliminated.

Learn more about our architectural services and design fees for timber frame homes on our website, and feel free to ask questions specific to your project!

Timber House: Factors Impacting the Home Design

There are two basic factors in timber home design: fundamental and elemental. Fundamental considerations are tangible. For example, how many people will be living in your home? How much do you wish to invest, both financially and emotionally? Is it a timber house you’ll use after retirement, which might dictate single-level living? Only you can determine the emotional investment you’ll have in the house. This varies from person to person and typically affects how much day-to-day input you’ll have in the home’s development.

Elemental considerations are less tangible. The three I find most important are light, views and permanence. Light makes visible the spaces we inhabit. Light also has its own characteristics such as intensity, color, texture and depth, so light and its absence must be considered when designing. For example, if you have two identical rooms—one on the east side of a house and one on the west—each space will be perceived differently, even if they have the same colors, furnishings, textures, volume and design. Yes, it all comes down to sunlight. For example, if you’re not a morning person, it might not be a wise move to place your bedroom on the east side of the house.

Views come next. One of the advantages of a timber home is the ability of timbers to frame views of different spaces. A pair of posts might define the entrance from the dining to the living room; and a floor girder might delineate the dining from the living room in the same manner, acting as a soffit between different ceiling heights. Our experiences in a space often are based upon what we see or feel from it even before we enter a room.

The last is permanence. Obviously, a home is more than shelter. It can be a place of retreat and serenity, and when we can see and understand the structure that protects us—the posts, beams and braces—we gain a primal understanding of security. Again, many timber homes built long ago are still around today. We might not understand the comfort and security these structures provide, but we all perceive and feel those qualities the minute we set foot in one of these homes.

Maine Post and Beam Home

Our timber frame home design in Maine is under construction!

The timber home, designed using sacred geometry to define the building proportions, is 2086 square feet and utilizes energy efficient building materials including an Insulated Concrete Form foundation (ICF), evacuated tubes on the south facing portions of the home for domestic hot water and heating, and SIP panels (structural insulated panels) for the walls and roof which will surround the posts and beams that create the beautiful structural frame of the home.

Timber Barn Reconstruction

Bonin Architects is design and renderings for the reconstruction of the 4200 square foot Tattersall Farm timber frame barn in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Once a large and magnificent working dairy barn comprised of heavy timber construction, it was partially destroyed by fire many years ago and eventually the barn collapsed. Today, only a few of the original timbers are still located at the site, which we hope to incorporate into the design for aesthetic and historical purposes. Part of the original foundation and two silo foundations are still present; the main barn foundation will be replaced. Currently planning is underway by the board of trustees to reconstruct the barn for multi-use purposes which will be available to the public for educational and recreational uses once funding is secured. The main farmhouse is still intact and is used as the caretaker’s residence.



The timber frame barn will be a multi-use building able to host educational seminars, conferences, and outdoor social gatherings on the spacious stone deck. Check out our other timber frames and timber houses in our On The Boards section of our website!

Japanese Style Home

A couple who attended one of our free green home seminars in Sunapee this winter asked us to design their new Japanese style timber home in Bradford, New Hampshire.

This design for the 2100 square floor timber home, inspired by traditional Japanese homes, will incorporate large overhangs supported by timber exterior brackets which will help contain sun from overheating in the late summer months.

The timber home features an open floor plan containing the kitchen, living, dining areas as well as a first floor master bedroom suite. The second floor which will feature incredible distant mountain views will contain a second potential master bedroom suite with a balcony, a loft/office area.


An exterior bridge connecting to a screen porch will allow for quiet nights enjoying the views and serenity of the property. The entire area around the house will become a wonder ‘rock’ garden of sorts, utilizing many of the existing rocks abundant on the property, with the house rising from the highest point. It will be very dramatic and presents a varied amount of flexibility in the landscape design as well.

We had a chance to also review our project with our local solar expert for his input on incorporating solar domestic hot water, solar space heating and photo voltaic power generation. With the orientation of the timber home on the site, our clients have several options for solar energy.

House plans for this Japanese home will be posted soon!

Timber Frame Design

The timber home utilizing sacred geometry frame drawings for the timber frame design are under way. Site work has started, and construction on the Insulated Concrete Form foundation (ICF) is ready to begin.

The home design was drawn using Sacred Geometry. The Golden Section was used to define the building proportions - scale of massing elements, room layout, height and width, even door layout and size, as well as to create tangential arcs within adjacent squares of the golden rectangle. The Fibonacci Series determined proportions of the building elements. The intersecting mirrored Fibonacci spiral design became the anchor element seen throughout the home, as in the stair balusters, trim details, and floor patterns.

SIP panels (structural insulated panels) will enclose the timber frame walls and roof, creating a high performance insulation system for the home. Evacuated tubes will be installed on the south facing portions of the home for domestic hot water and heating.

Types of Timber Framing

There are two general types of timber frame systems, each having several variations: Common Purlin systems consisting of King Post, Queens Post (see modified Queen Post Truss below), and Hammer Beam frames for example, and Common Rafter systems such as Collar Tie, Principal Purlin, and Ridge Beam frames. There are many reasons to choose one frame type over the other and costs vary as well.

Common Purlin systems, or timber frame bents, are typically assembled on the first floor deck, then raised as whole units into place by a crane (see photos bottom), connected with the joinery, and secured with wooden pegs. Because of the structural integrity of these bents, this system of timber framing allows for an open, flexible floor plan.

Common Rafter systems are raised either as ‘walls’, one timber at a time. Timbers are erected in succession; one end post erected first, then a connecting beam at the second floor level is secured to the post, then another end timber is joined to the beam. Timber ends are fastened with some form of mortise & tenon joinery. Joints are typically fastened with pegs, which can be cut flush to the joinery or left protruding for decoration.

If you already have a timber frame design in mind, most likely the design will dictate which kind of timber frame will be used according to spans and interior walls; however if you would like to incorporate a specific timber frame (or a combination of timber frames) into your home design, your timber frame architect can design the home around the timber frame.

Timber Frame Design in Maine Utilizing Sacred Geometry

Check out this timber frame design for a timber house in Maine using sacred geometry. In this instance the Golden Section and Fibonacci Series which will become the basis of our client’s home design.

The Golden Section will be used to define the building proportions: scale of massing elements, room layout, height and width, even door layout and size. In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in proportion if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger is the same as the ratio between the larger and the smaller. Examples of architecture utilizing the Golden Section are common throughout history, examples such as the Parthenon and the Great Pyramids are most notable. In Art, a great debate still exists as to whether or not Leonardo da Vinci proportioned his paintings according to the golden ratio while creating the Mona Lisa and De Divina Proportione.

Additionally, the Fibonacci Series will determine proportions of the building elements. The intersecting mirrored Fibonacci spiral design will become the anchor element seen throughout the home, as in the stair balusters, trim details, and floor patterns. The Golden Spiral below is created using tangential arcs within adjacent squares of the golden rectangle.

If you take one point, and then a second point one-quarter of a turn away from it, the second point is PHI times farther from the center than the first point. The spiral increases by a factor of PHI or 1.618.

With the completion of the preliminary design, we are beginning the design development phase of this 2100 square foot home. Western Cedar has been specified for the timber frame which will be hand crafted and assembled by a local timber framer.

Our client requested incorporating many sustainable energy systems into the home, such as an Insulated Concrete Foundation (ICF), evacuated tubes on the south facing portions of the home for domestic hot water and heating, Structural insulated panels for the walls and roof which will surround the timber frame, a greenhouse in which they will grow many organic vegetables, and a root cellar in a portion of the basement.

Floor plans will be posted soon. Keep your eye on our current green home designs and timber homes!

Timber Frame Home Design Trends

Trends in timber frame design are following the general trends in home design, moving away from specific rooms and space to materials and energy efficiency. This is good news, as we strive to become more energy conscious.

Here are some of the current trends in timber frame home design:

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle: More and more homeowners are looking to purchase recycled building materials to use in their new timber frame home. Reclaimed timbers, siding, decking, trim, doors, brick, and stone are all very popular. Simple, bio-degradable materials are replacing resources that harm the environment.

2. Here comes the sun: Solar energy systems, particularly solar hot water heaters and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to produce electricity are extremely popular. The current tax credit helps, giving you back 30% of the total cost (product + installation), now with no upper limit.

3. Size and flexibility matter: Smaller, energy efficient timber frame home designs are more popular than the rambling, spacious mansions of the past. Homeowners are addressing changes in lifestyle by replacing separate dining and living areas with large, multi-purpose family rooms, and adding sliding or pocket doors which allow flexibility in living space. First-floor bonus rooms which can be used as a home office or additional bedroom address changing needs.

4. Save a buck: Let’s face it: low maintenance is in. Popular low maintenance materials include green flooring, tankless water heaters, ENERGY STAR appliances. Low-maintenance landscaping using native plants has a positive effect on the site by reducing irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers – which means less time you have to take care of it.

5. Accessibility: Universal home designs address the comfort of people of all ages and abilities. Features that may be eliminated are spiral staircases, sunken or raised living rooms, and high cabinets or shelves. Wide hallways and low storage areas are incorporated into the timber frame home design without sacrificing the home’s beauty and appearance.

Going green makes $ense: with green technology and materials flooding the market, prices continue to come down, saving you money over the life of the material. The home design is the start of the timber frame home’s life cycle – and undoubtedly it is the most important phase, as the home’s space, features, and systems are designed to work together as a whole for your benefit and comfort – and the environment’s.

Green Timber Frame Homes Outperform Conventional Homes

Green timber frame homes stem from an overall concert for their environment. The timber frame design, building materials, and heating and cooling systems focus on energy efficiency - seting them apart from conventional homes. For example, green timber frame homes, whether they are traditional timber frame, post and beam, or a timber frame hybrid, outperform conventional homes these areas:

Environment / Site: Landscaping which focuses on using native plants has a positive effect on the site by reducing irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers. Tree selection and preservation can reduce energy costs by creating buffers from winter winds and providing shade for summer.

Timber Frame Design: Using passive solar design techniques such as maximizing southern exposure and south-facing windows helps keep the timber frame home warm in winter and increases natural light. Green timber frame homes have a minimal footprint, which keep energy costs low.

Exterior Shell: Energy efficient materials such as SIPs panels (structural insulated panels) and ICF (insulated concrete form) foundations provide a thermal barrier against winter cold and summer heat. Energy efficient windows with low-E coatings reflect infrared light which helps heat the home in winter and cool the home in summer.

Building Materials: Durable, low maintenance, recycled materials for the roof, siding, decks, porches, trim, and fencing reduce replacement costs, save money on installation, protect against water and insects, and provide longer warranties. Purchasing pre-built factory components, such as pre-cut SIP Panels and a timber frame, uses raw materials efficiently, reduces on-site waste, and energy costs to deliver materials to the site.

Heating, Cooling, and Water Systems: Green timber frame homes use less energy than conventional homes. Having heating and cooling equipment and water systems correctly sized for the home saves money. Water conservation techniques such as reducing overall consumption by specifying low-flow water fixtures, low-flush or composting toilets, installing aerators on all taps and nozzles and installing grey water systems reduces energy costs and water usage. Solar and geothermal systems heat and cool the space in green homes and provide hot water, reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Interior: Green timber frame homes include natural interior products such as Marmoleum (made with flax, rosins, and wood fiber), wood, concrete, wool carpet, tile, local slate, and cork. Also, low odor / low VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and environmentally-friendly finishes for wood and stone help create a healthy indoor environment. ENERGY STAR appliances contribute, using an average of 30% less energy over standard appliances.

Green timber frame homes are designed to combine systems, materials, and features reduce energy and impact to the surrounding environment. Consult with your green architect and builder to help you design and build an energy efficient home you will be able to enjoy for years to come.

Timber Frame Homes and LEED

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most well-known, visible rating system for energy efficient, high performance buildings today. A program of the US Green Building Council, LEED is taking the lead in educating professionals and consumers in the green building movement.

Can a timber frame home be LEED certified? Absolutely. LEED for Homes awards certification based on point totals in eight categories. Categories include:

• Innovation & Design Process
  
• Location & Linkages
  
• Sustainable Sites
  
• Water Efficiency
  
• Energy & Atmosphere
  
• Materials and Resources
  
• Indoor Environmental Quality
  
• Awareness & Education

An important first step in building a LEED timber frame home is to interview and hire a LEED architect registered in your state to design your home. After you have a timber frame design, your architect will help you find a qualified builder to construct the timber frame home and document certification points throughout the construction process. When the home is completed, a certified Rater inspects, tests, and certifies the home as Certified (45.0 points), Silver (60.0 points), Gold (75.0 points) and Platinum (90.0 points).

Energy savings is just one of the benefits of a LEED certified home. A green home that reaches a LEED Certified or LEED Silver status will enjoy a 30% reduction in energy usage over a conventional home. A LEED Gold home increases that savings significantly, using 48% less energy, while a LEED Platinum status home can see the biggest energy reduction - 50%-60%. (Home Energy Rating System (HERS) scores compared with International Energy Conservation Code standards).

Jeremy Bonin, AIA NCARB LEED AP
Registered in NH, VT, ME, MA, NY, RI, and PA

Timber Frame Design

Timber frame designs, including schematic drawings and renderings, help visualize what the inside of certain areas of a timber frame home will look like.

The one story home design below will have a timber frame roof system with SIP panel walls and roof, which wrap around the timber frame to create a high performance energy efficient thermal envelope and leave the beautiful timbers exposed to the interior.

Color renderings with foliage and landscaping bring the elevations to life and demonstrate the various approaches to the home.

Click for more details and a project description of these one story house plans. If you are interested in timber frame design, see our architectural services and fees.