Wave House model on Google’s 3dwarehouse

I’ve recently uploaded a Sketchup model of the Wave House to 3dwarehouse so if you want to insert a 3D model of the Wave House into your Sketchup world please feel free to download it for free, from here (2 people have). Or, if that link doesn’t work, go to Google’s 3dwarehouse (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/) and search for “Wave House”.

What’s with the roof?

The shape and structure of the roof serve several functions. I’ll explain each one in more detail in future posts but here’s a quick summary:

1. The upward-pointing eaves on the northern side provide shade in summer without shading the windows in winter (southern hemisphere location).
2. The upward pointing eaves on the main roof and the open structure of the southern awning prevent heat traps which affect more conventional shaped eaves and verandas under a summer sun.
3. The roof also slopes down towards the east (as you can see in the north elevation) so the roofing material can be corrugated iron where the corrugations run parallel to the main valley.
4. The roofing battens will run parallel to the rafters (they might even be the rafters) making it easy to include a space immediately under the corrugated iron to allow convective air flow during the daytime. This will provide a source of warm air in winter and a method to cool the roof in summer.
5. The corrugations of the roofing material run perpendicular to the fall of the roof and the large upward pointing eaves on the lower part of the roof will make the roof very safe to walk on. If solar collectors are on the roof then making it safe and easy to keep them clean means it’s more likely they will be kept clean to maintain their efficiency.
6. The slight curve on the southern lip of the roof is to provide some weather protection to vents on the top of the southern wall and it completes the wave effect.

Underlying Principles

The Wave House was conceived following the principles of structure, environment and design:

Structure – The four foundation principles are:

1. The wind blows hard
2. Water runs downhill
3. Damp comes up from the ground
4. Termites eat stuff

Environment – Whether we are inside or outside our homes we are in a living, breathing, dynamic environment.

1. Outside – That’s the atmosphere, water, climate, plants and animals. What we do to build a house and how we live in it affects the rest of the world.
2. Inside – We can deliberately alter the inside environment so it’s comfortable and so it has less impact on the outside.

Design – A house should look good…it is, at the very least, a courtesy to the innocent observer.