Sunroom Addition
These clients came to us with a beautifully manicured backyard with a southern exposure, but a very dark living room with no windows to showcase all of their hard work. They knew they wanted a sunroom to take full advantage of the view and light, but they had not settled on a design and were not sure how the interior of the addition should interact with the existing house. We produced several computer models, exploring the idea of a sunroom completely open to the living room, partially open, and completely closed off. In the end, the clients settled on an addition that could be completely closed off with a 15-light pocket door. This allowed one spouse to entertain friends without disturbing the other spouse — something they could not do before because of the relatively open floor plan. We also added Sun Tunnels to brighten up the living room.
For the exterior design, the clients wanted something more than a simple box stuck on the back of the house, but they also wanted the addition to blend with the existing style of the house. They had the idea of clipped corners to create a wrap-around view of the yard, but had not considered what the roof would look like. Accepting the challenge, we designed a multi-plane hip roof to cover the addition and set the fascia lines to match the existing house. When they saw their idea combined with our roof on the computer model, they knew they were looking at their future addition.
The clients then wanted the inside of the addition to have at least as much character as the outside of the addition. We explored the idea of soffits around the perimeter, but they initially seemed to close in the addition. Then the idea of a 9’ ceiling with 8’ soffits presented itself, and again the computer model showed that we found a balanced composition.
The designs’ elegance hides quite a bit of engineering. The details are best left for the rest of the presentation, but please see how we addressed the shear wall bracing requirements of the code, and how we resolved the thrust loads in the hip roof.
The details include a full lighting package with ambient light from the fan light and accent lighting recessed in the soffit. The windows are white vinyl Progressive Glass Technology (PGT) windows. A Mitsubishi split-ductless A/C and heat pump provides heating and cooling to the addition without having to install additional duct work.
The clients now have a beautiful place to sit quietly in the southern light, read, visit with friends, and enjoy the view of their backyard.
For the exterior design, the clients wanted something more than a simple box stuck on the back of the house, but they also wanted the addition to blend with the existing style of the house. They had the idea of clipped corners to create a wrap-around view of the yard, but had not considered what the roof would look like. Accepting the challenge, we designed a multi-plane hip roof to cover the addition and set the fascia lines to match the existing house. When they saw their idea combined with our roof on the computer model, they knew they were looking at their future addition.
The clients then wanted the inside of the addition to have at least as much character as the outside of the addition. We explored the idea of soffits around the perimeter, but they initially seemed to close in the addition. Then the idea of a 9’ ceiling with 8’ soffits presented itself, and again the computer model showed that we found a balanced composition.
The designs’ elegance hides quite a bit of engineering. The details are best left for the rest of the presentation, but please see how we addressed the shear wall bracing requirements of the code, and how we resolved the thrust loads in the hip roof.
The details include a full lighting package with ambient light from the fan light and accent lighting recessed in the soffit. The windows are white vinyl Progressive Glass Technology (PGT) windows. A Mitsubishi split-ductless A/C and heat pump provides heating and cooling to the addition without having to install additional duct work.
The clients now have a beautiful place to sit quietly in the southern light, read, visit with friends, and enjoy the view of their backyard.
Country: United States
