Site Evaluation
master plan
- KQ to make a permaculture plan
minimize ecological damage
- Try to avoid making new roads
- Build where people have built before, if possible (least intrusive)
- If there's no vehicle access:
- how will you get materials to the site?
- how will you get groceries, laundry, etc. to the house in the rain/snow?
- emergencies? fire trucks?
- close to vehicle access is best!
soil/drainage
- Dig test pits in extreme locations (hilltop, valley bottom, disturbed areas)
- what's beneath the surface? bedrock, clay, toxic waste, or well drained garden soil?
- ideal for building: well-drained top soil with rock 18" deep
- ideal for garden: permanent saturation 24" below silty soil
- DO NOT build in a flood plain
- Check local records for floods, don't get caught in 1000 year flood.
- If the site has poorly drained soil, build on a slope to create artificial drainage around the building
- Build on the most solid subsoil you can find
microclimate
- Trees/vegetation keep a site cooler and moister
- In hot summers, look for afternoon shading via trees on the west/southwest
- Deciduous trees are best, since they'll shade only in summer
- Harvest trees to the south to save the larger environment by using less energy for heating (in all but hottest climates, you want south open)
views
- Try to have one far horizon view
slopes
- Slopes allow good views, aid drainage, water drainage.
- Naturally provides levels to the house
- Also better to take up the slope with your site and leave flat ground for agriculture
- Use wastewater downhill
- Avoid west slopes in all climates
- Avoid north slopes unless the climate is very hot
testing
- Try to visit the site at various times in the year: storms, hot July afternoons, etc.
- Are there undesirable lights shining into your would-be bedroom at night?
- Are there paper factory smells at certain times of year?
- Does your lake view still exist when deciduous trees fill in in the summer?
- Are the bugs untenable at certain times of years?
avoid
- Steep north slopes
- Flood plains
- Incompatible neighbors
- Sensitive ecologies
- No solar
Patterns
- 104. Site Repair
- 105. South facing outdoors
- 106. Positive Outdoor Space
- 107. Wings of Light
- 109. Long Thin House
- 110. Main entrance
- Ensure the main entrance is visible when approaching the building (placement and visible shape)
- 113. Car connection
- When choosing a parking place, make sure that the shortest path into the house (kitchen, living rooms) is through the main entrance.
- Use a room / carport for the parking space
- 114. Hierarchy of open spaces
- Orient outdoor spaces with a "back" looking out onto a larger view.
- e.g. garden seat looking at garden
- 115. Courtyards which live
- Make the courtyard an ambiguous realm between inside and outside
- Entrance into courtyard should have a roofed veranda or porch.
- Building should have 2-3 entrances into the courtyard, such that the shortest path is through the courtyard
- Courtyards should have views into larger spaces
- 127. Intimacy gradient
- Arrange spaces into a sequence with the most public parts near the entrance, leading gradually to the most private parts.
- Place sitting areas at each degree of intimacy
- See 142 (seq of sitting spaces)
- 128. Indoor sunlight