At Teak Bali, we are always challenging ourselves to design unique hardwood home plans with ideal living conditions which are harmonious with the local environment. Our talented design team wanted to create an exclusive Octagonal Home Plan. As the Teak Bali team was studying older more traditional methods of building, we reviewed the indigenous shelters and saw many were often built in round shapes such as the Mongolian Yurt, the North American Teepee and the Greek Tenemos. Researching the Octagonal shape, we found the roots of the Chinese Pagoda came from the belief that the octagon symbolizes good luck and completeness, in Buddhism 8 sides denote completion as well as the 8-fold path, in Taoism there are 8 immortals, in Hebrew 8 is represented by the letter Chet symbolizing life and for Christianity it denotes the eight beatitudes.
Influenced by authentic and traditional Chinese Pagodas, the Teak Bali Design team was inspired to create the “China Cat Floor Plan” named after a song from the famous American rock band “The Grateful Dead”. The China Cat is the first proper two story pre-fabricated structure to break into the Teak Bali collection of Balinese and Hawaiian style hardwood homes. Created with decks on both the first and second floors to take advantage of client properties with attractive view corridors, these generous patios create an expansive outdoor space on both the first and second floors. This tropical hardwood structure measuring in with 2,228 square feet (207 m2) of living space will fit nicely on a plot of land with mountain or ocean views. Due to its octagonal design, the China Cat can offer 360 degree panoramic views. The China Cat was originally designed with a resort presentation in mind (Perhaps having 10 China Cats lined along the beach) and this floor plan can easily be modified into a two-bedroom model.
An operative characteristic of an octagonal home plan is the inherent adaptability to work within the surrounding environs. Another strong advantage of the 8 sided structure is that hurricane force winds will move naturally around an eight-sided building. With no perpendicular angles, strong winds will deflect where a four-sided structure may be broadsided by strong lateral loads. For this reasons, one of our Caribbean based clients insisted on designing multiple 8 sided structures for his project, please view our Caribbean Project CA-01 page for reference. While having the same perimeter as a square, an octagonal home floor plan encloses space more efficiently by approximately 20%. When we minimize the external wall surface area, this will reduce heat loss and gain. It also allows more natural light to flow into the home which will keep the house warmer for longer periods, an efficiency that will save you on electric bills. Some spiritualists theorize that energy gets trapped or dies in the right angles of a corner and that there is more energetic flow possible in a curve linear shape.
The China Cat is the perfect design for those who looking to build a development of villas or set up a boutique resort as well as for singles or couples who would love to live tiny. To see the entire stable of Teak Bali designs, please click through to our floorplans page.