Submitted by Dr Waisanen on Sun, 02/14/2016 - 22:27
Barns have:
- Spacious interiors
- High centers
- Multi-angled roof
- Drafts (difficult to insulate)
Octagonal barn:
[Imagine the walls with handholds, the upper levels with static belay challenges]
Bank Barns:
- Built into hillside; entrance to upper side at top floor, lower entrance accesses ground floor.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_barn
- Potentially very high interiors with exterior perceived as modest height
- Multiple levels possible and still enabling high floor to roof
- Needs section of topology to be relatively steep (e.g., steep hillside)
- Retaining wall
- Engineering to keep water off the wall and floors and to divert any other water around the structure
- Construction costs typically considerably more than the costs for a self standing building
- 12" masonry walls on a free-standing structure will give most of the same thermal benefits as a 'bank' barn but without the drainage issues and expense.