Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: ceiling heights

[Racheli Gai (racheli]

Here at Sonora Cohousing (Tucson), we chose to have 9' high ceilings in 
the units which
have a second floor.  (There are sloping ceilings on the second floor).
Our reasoning was that adding one foot to the standard will make a 
significant psychological
difference, in that it will make the place seem more spacious.  Since 
cohousing homes
tend to be on the small size (by American standards) - making it easier 
for people to live
comfortably in small spaces seem like a good idea.  While I had 
occasion to regret some
of the choices we made, this isn't one of them.

R.


On Feb 6, 2006, at 12:51 PM, Jenny Williams wrote:

> Cooling is slightly more of an issue here than heat.  But we'll also
> have a whole house fan, that can suck the hot air out in the evening
> during the summer.  My only real concern is the kitchen/eating/living
> room portion of our house, which will be all open.  I'm not sure how
> that would look with 8' ceilings, even with soffits strategically
> placed.
>
> jenny
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Prescott Nichols [mailto:pnichols [at] indigoarch.com]
> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 11:21 AM
> To: 'Cohousing-L'
> Subject: RE: [C-L]_ Re: ceiling heights
>
>
> James makes a good point about the economy of 8'-high ceilings.
> Everything in the residential construction trade fits that by default.
>
> I would hesitate to equate higher ceilings with SUVs and McMansions,
> however. A 10-foot ceiling permits transom windows which will bring
> daylight deeper into the room than lower windows. Make those transoms
> operable and now you can take advantage of the height to "stack
> ventilate" the high warm air from the building at night. These 
> qualities
> increase the livability and energy efficiency of the home.
>
> Small rooms do fine with 8-foot ceilings, and can even seem distorted
> with anything higher, but a typical cohousing living & dining space 
> will
> benefit from higher ceilings. That said, if heat loss, not cooling, is
> your biggest concern, then the lower ceilings might make more sense for
> the bigger rooms, too.
>
> Prescott
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Kacki [mailto:jimkacki [at] mts.net]
> Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 3:08 PM
> To: jenny [at] holodeck.com; Cohousing-L
> Subject: [C-L]_ Re: ceiling heights
>
>
> Jenny, -8' is very standard. Building materials come in 8' lengths
> economically.  It seems that the push for higher ceilings came about in
> the same way that the push for bigger cars, bigger garages, bigger
> houses etc. came about; i.e. material suppliers, developers, 
> contractors
>
> etc. convincing people that they really need higher ceilings, bigger
> this, more of that, for a truly fulfilled life.
> As an architect, my opinion is that if you have the money and want to
> spend it, go for 9' ceilings or 10' ceilings if it will make you happy.
>   However, my experience has been that 8' ceilings are perfectly fine
> and that spatial interplay, window/light manipulation, occasional high
> (even double height) spaces located for maximum effect will give you
> more 'bang for the buck' than an uninspired design with 9' ceilings.
> That's just my opinion, others may disagree, -good luck with your home
> design, & keep dreaming!
> James
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/