Kaptein K Design

Previously I presented a series of options for a porch design (see earlier post). I had intended to follow up sooner but my computer was in the shop!

The option chosen by the client was H: the gable roof porch with a small Dutch hip roof at the bottom. Here is the finished construction.

I actually would have chosen a different option, probably E (see drawings below): the porch roof as a Dutch hip across the whole front façade, for a few reasons:

• that version would have fully integrated the porch with the remainder of the house, as if the porch was not an add-on but part of the original construction.
  
• normally I would not choose to have gable roofs with two obviously different pitches on the same side of the house (though a different pitch might not even be noticeable if on another facade) The porch roof height was limited by the sill of the upper window, so the pitch had to be lower if a gable was used.
• a secondary benefit of version E (perhaps difficult to see in the small drawings) is that the overall porch roof & fascia height would have been higher, enough to allow an additional decorative trim (lattice or trellis work) spanning from post to post of the porch while still allowing a bit more light into the lower floor windows. This decorative element could have added even more heritage character to the house.
  

The gable chosen does create a central focus & emphasizes the entry point. This choice also avoided disturbing the existing house roof in order to tie-in to the porch roof.

Materials on the exterior were also changed, with the addition of shingles on the upper wall to match the porch gable, and natural stained wood trim around the existing windows & fascia to match the wood porch structure. This gives visual unity to the whole building – repeating materials and colours.

Next I will look at the design of a small cottage-size home and then the subsequent process when an addition was needed.