Page 20 RAIN November/December 1984 Framing Hexagonal Floors: A Lesson by Richard Conviser Not everyone has a favorite shape, and I am hardpressed to account for mine. Perhaps it has something to do with the many hours I spent as a child staring vacantly at the floor tiles in the bathroom of my parents' house. Especially when it comes to buildings, most people seem content to inhabit rectangular rooms in rectangular structures. But from the moment I bought some land in rural southwestern Oregon, I knew that I wanted to build a hexagonal cabin. I did not do so right away, however. My youth and early adulthood had been spent working with books at desks, and the prospect of designing n11y building, much less a hexagon, humbled me. My previous designing experience consisted of a single bookcase. In addition to that, my previous building experience included the assembly of a harpsichord from a kit. Period. So when it came to putting up a first cabin, I settled for a set of purchased plans. These enabled me to build a yurt-an adaptation of the traditional nomadic Mongolian structure. With the yurt-building experience behind me, I felt ready to proceed with a hexagon. It seemed reasonable to begin with seven supports, one at each corner and one at the center. But how to frame a floor over those supports remained something of a puzzle. One way to do so would be to lay out floor girders surrounding the hexagon's perimeter, with an additional girder laid between opposite points. Joists could then be evenly spaced over the girders, parallel to one another, as shown in Figure 1. There was little question in my mind that such a pattern would work. Yet it did not sit well with me, for it seemed to be based on the pretense that a hexagon was.a rectangle with its corners bent in. I was seeking a floor design that took account of'the unique features of the hexagon. I was guided in this quest by three factors: my experience in building the yurt, a background in mathematics, and-as would soon become evident-a complete lack of appreciation for what I was getting myself into. The yurt's round floor had been supported by 10 triangular wedges, which joined together like slices of a pie retrac- -~~~~ .... ----~ ~;;.;~ Figure 1. Standard Floor Framing Design r=:::J Gird er - Joist c::;:;:;:J Jois't ouer girder Figure 2. Flooring Pattern in Shelter Figure 3. Triangular Girder Design Ornrui11gs by Richnrd Co11visCT n11d his Mnci11tosh co111putcr
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz