I took the BigU design and cut it back on the upper and basement levels. I sketched out several sections just to get an idea of how things would all come together. I also made rough calculations of the existing grade at several points around the perimeter to try to get a better feel for how it fits into the existing landscape.
I had intended to take a 12’x12′ cut out of the NW corner for road down to a garage door. I do like the idea of cutting one of the corners off that piece, but obviously forgot until I was looking back over the initial sketch.
I like some things about this overall design. In some ways I like it less than BigU though, it feels a little chopped off and I’m not sure if I like the driveway being right at the edge of the building in the SW corner. There’s also the fact that I believe that the driveway should be sloped to shed water. In BigU I never made the sections to show it, but I had been planning to slope the driveway 2′ down to the north while keeping the portion of the slab west of the driveway level. Not sure how to accomplish the same here.
The last image shows the existing grade elevation above 2700 at each of the points around the perimeter, based on the current positioning of the footprint. I think there might be the possibility to bring the whole structure west so I’m not cutting in to such a deep hill in the SE corner. I had been thinking roughly 2710 for the FFE on the basement level but it’s also possible it could be improved by raising it up a few feet. It’s really hard to visualize, I think the next step should be a study model including representation of the terrain around the footprint.