Stepping up the “room insert” scale a little, began with a hexagonal deck frame made from 2x8's with sides 6' long, and with internal members just under 4'. The total area is 93.4 sq.ft. It is 10'4-3/4" from side to side, and 12' from point to point.

         

   There was actually room for storage or sleeping, and a small built-in desk area on an elevated platform. Other built-in features included a workbench a couple of “downstairs” sleeping lofts, and a small storage room that could be converted into a bathroom.

   The original roof frame was made out of wood, based upon the hexagonal deck structure described earlier. The tricky part was cutting pieces so they would form a shallow dome. Each piece needed a hump in the middle, and strange compound angles on each end. Unless you particularly love problem-solving, leave this one alone (for the benefit of those less wise, I recommend the precision use of a hand saw.

  The advantage of this was that I could fit clear corrugated plastic to the triangles and hexagons – another significant challenge.

 

   If I were to do this again, I would do the vertical portion of the frame with six pillars extending one foot in each direction, at each point. These pillars would be sheeted with 1-foot-wide strips of plywood on each outer side, leaving 4-foot-wide openings on each of the six sides. This would make it possible to join a series of them together to make a multi-roomed dwelling.

   In the structure I built, some of the floor sections are covered by plywood lids so I have storage underneath. In some cases the boxes have bottoms on them, others give direct access to the earth beneath.

   I had begun an indoor well project (see water) beneath one of them, but ran into difficulties at a depth of about 30 feet.