Aesthetic. She hasn't seen this exact detail in person so she can't decide how she feels about it. I should have mentioned that I'd also take opinions on whether it's a good detail, aesthetically--I like it but I may be too close to it.

I like the idea of it. I question whether the standing seam would work there, the 2" standing seams might look a bit odd.

Yeah you're probably right. It wouldn't be bad with EPDM on the roof and the rest in unfinished white cedar, like the rest of the exterior.

What about glass? *runs away*

I'd like a flat seam zinc panel.

Or freedom gray copper. https://www.reverecopper.com/freedomgray-and-tcsii-brochure

Is that an American product? It sure rings like freedom.

Most standing seam manufactures are not going to warrantee a product with 1/4" slope (which is probably why you're not finding many examples). You would have to use something higher grade like zinc or copper, and even then, I'm skeptical. Did you have a product in mind?

Good points, I hadn't thought through the details yet. Of course you're right that standing seam isn't appropriate. I've done flat-seam copper and lead-coated copper (when that was still a thing, pre-Freedom Gray) but never tried it with painted steel. Maybe we do an EPDM roof surface and the rest could be painted steel panels. Though I know they'll oilcan. Maybe I should just do a sloped roof on brackets, like I usually do...

SneakyPete, glass is an option, or acrylic... I had been trying to find photos of one my friend Bob Swinburne designed, finally got it: http://www.mindelandmorse.com/modern-camp.html. In my memory the roof was thin steel but it's a steel frame with clear acrylic panels. The firewood is in a thin steel enclosure, not unlike the Olsen Kundig project below. 

WG, I'm late to the party... vacation and all that jazz... but like those above, Standing seam looks out of place in that installation. If glass is an option, I'd get a steel shop to manufacture nice brackets and blades and mount a reverse channel (mitered corners, ofcourse) at the end... Glass on offstands for a sloped roof with enough gaps between the panels for draining. my 2 cents. I've had a difficult time detailing standing-seam roofs in small areas.

I freaking LOVE polycarbonate, that project is sweet. It's a shame that the power company made such a mess.

Make sure you let them know about the sound during rain. :)

Yeah Bob's super talented, as are the builders--they have a good, mutually supportive relationship. I see what you mean about the service entrance but I've seen much worse. I prefer to bring power in underground when possible, but it's not always practical. I usually spec conduit and a weather head when I do arial service; I think it looks neater than stapled cable.

Scroll down this page and you'll see Bob's "Fern House," his screen-room guest house about 150 yards from his house, deep in the woods. I slept there a couple of nights with gentle rain on the polycarbonate roof. Pretty magical space. https://www.bluetimecollaborat...

That sleeping structure is lovely, and I think the model is great!

Edited to add: Bluetime and the explanation is very compelling. Makes me want to move somewhere and open my own shop. Too bad I'm too frightened.

Great website WG.

Oh that's very close! Thank you.

I mean, the intent is similar, but this looks like custom break formed stainless steel panels about 6' long welded together, Probably otherwise basically what you are indicating. Though even in your detail given the slope i'd suspect you'd want a much more robust underlayment product under this than under the sloped roof.

I know some good steel fabricators who could do it in stainless, zinc or Freedom Gray copper. There is a chance we'll switch from metal to asphalt shingles on the main roof for budget reasons, which would free up our options for the brise soleil/awning roof/pent roof/whatever-it-is.

That's amazing!

Do you think it's solid painted steel? I like it, low maintenance and you can see where it's needing a fix (bubbled or missing paint, rust, etc.)

no, just structural paint

csi div 099096 - high performance coatings

Very High Performance coatings ;D

I can't imagine it being anything other than painted steel. Above I posted this project with a steel firewood holder: 

I saw it a couple of weeks ago. it's definitely powder coated steel plate, probably 3/4" - Woodguy, we are using a similar "solid shade brow" over some large south facing windows, mainly for snow and water protection, sistered onto the bottom cord of the trusses, you probably could go into the joists of the floor? I don't trust those face mount steel brackets if you have ice build-up.

Good point about ice--here in Maine we have a fair amount of snow, which will slide off the main roof, and ideal conditions for ice dams as well. The floor joists are designed to be exposed hemlock timbers, but I could change to brackets that attach to the side of the stud with a flange to screw up into the top plate.

B3, thank you but could you explain your feelings? I am concerned about snow and ice sliding off the main roof breaking glass or plastic. If the eave side faced directly south, I'd want a solid roof or slats to block summer sun, but this one faces southeast so it won't do much sun-shading anyway.

The concept seems ill-suited to the climate and the style of the house.

I appreciate your honesty, Miles. This is the house my client showed me as inspiration: https://www.gologic.us/2300-model-a. It's by a firm near me and I wouldn't copy it verbatim anyway. I know my design isn't quite as sexy, but that's the general aesthetic we're going for. My backup plan is looking like sloped awning roofs on brackets over each door, and keep the siding change as shown. But I'd rather push the envelope a little; too much of my work is boring by default. My successes are usually when I take chances. It's funny, I've asked this on another architect forum as well, and got roughly equal feedback of love vs. hate.

I agree with Miles. I grew up on the coast of Maine. Maybe climate change has warmed it up there significantly. When I was there the shade was 15 to 20 degrees cooler.

I'm with b3tadine about the glass/plastic. If only because it will end up just being dirty and gross all the time. I have some real issues with a lot of glass canopies that get built. They also have a lightness about them that can be really jarring if not designed correctly with the rest of the building.

I'd also comment, that I do quite like the example house. And I think some of the issues people in this thread are taking with the contrast between the design elements you've presented are not actually about the fundamental shift, but rather that the base building lacks a few of the commitments to modern aesthetics that the example has which helps tie the two parts of the design together. For example, the very careful alignment, sizing, and placement of windows.

Yeah this is a bigger house and with the complicated program it was a huge effort just to get the fenestration as good as it is, but it's not as clean as the inspiration house. Good points about clear roofs.

Z1111, interesting. This house will be in Cumberland, near Portland, nestled into the trees on the edge of a 10-acre field. It sits back from the road but will be pretty visible, and the town is getting overrun by huge "modern farmhouses" with lots of dormers and details, so this is kind of a minimalist statement against all of that. It will be net zero energy, all natural materials, etc.. Climate change has warmed things here--we just set a record of a 78° dewpoint, which is very humid--and our summers are getting very hot, and winters not as cold. I guess I don't see how that applies to this roof, though--the idea is to let sunlight in and keep rain and snow off the doors. The house faces SE so an overhang that would block sun would have to be very deep.

I was farther north around Belfast +60 years ago. We lived in a 150 year old saltbox style house. I remember that anything that created even a partial sun block on the windows was problematic. My only suggestion would be an 4 foot wide open projected volume 4 feet deep at the doors. A small house at the entrance.

It's also quite possible with what they did that it's simply a flatroof product with a standard basic drip edge detail... like the carlisle detail here: https://www.carlislesyntec.com....

Not as attractive from above IMHO, but could get the result, and you could technically just buy the drip edge pre-made from the company. You'd still have to do some sort of metal panel on the turn down of course.

Z1111, I'm not far from Belfast, halfway between there and Augusta, in a 1830 Cape-style home with original windows (or possibly replaced in the later 1800s as they are 2/2). One difference is that we'll use triple-glazed Marvin Elevates on the Cumberland house, with fairly low solar heat gain coefficient, vs. the uncoated single-pane glass (plus triple-track storms) on my house. The Marvins are about U-0.25 with a SHGC of 25. Both my house and the Cumberland house face SE so they see the morning sun, low on the horizon, not the high midday sun, so overhangs--even 4'--wouldn't do a lot. I appreciate your input; designing high performance homes is often just good design, but there are a lot of technical differences as well.

I've done similar many times, though probably not as nice as the one you show. In this case it's more about keeping rain off the doors and to some degree the windows, vs. keeping sun off in summer.

Thanks, I have a feeling we'll end up with something like that. I don't like floating pent roofs and the span at the windows is pretty large. Maybe we'll just do another more traditional porch, like the entry side.

Question: why not just make it a bigger covered patio with posts, and mirror the footprint of the patio?

Because it's Maine and dark for half the year, and they want the sunlight. And the budget is super tight; we're already about $200K over what they wanted to spend and they can't go higher. But I love the idea; this layout is based on one I designed for myself and my wife, and that we just started talking again about building. Ours will have a grape arbor covered patio on the south, and possibly a greenhouse or high tunnel too.

Nice! Grape arbor, chair, cold beer, summer day = perfect

The house will sit on the edge of a large field. Nobody will ever see the top of the roof from outside, only from the second floor. EPDM is more common here than TPO but I use it regularly and it would work fine. I've occasionally done flat-seam copper for high-end work but this is on a tight budget. (Tight being $600K.)

For the brackets, I have a few good local fabricators but it costs extra for them to go to the site. So something shop-fabricated and carpenter-installed works best. It's a high-performance home so I can't have big thermal bridges, and the interior is exposed beams so I can't hide framing. 

I definitely accept your point about prioritizing the fascia and soffit. 

Gone with the Wind would be uninhabitable in Maine.

for some reason I always saw these as mushroom houses

Mycelium is starting to looked at for insulation.... so soon we will have mushroom houses...

Beautiful, but... no. ;-)

It would fit right in, without the porches. This house isn't exactly supposed to fit in, though....

That's very pretty.