Early Spring, 514 AV
When it came time to build, Kavala was a planner. She tended to have all the research down before she got too far in the way of construction costs and maintenance. So before she sat down with the construction crew, there was a ton of information to research. She needed to compile it all before she got too far along the process. Basically there were choices she had to make on what sort orangery or greenhouse she wanted. And while the design could be flexible, there were requirements in location that weren’t.
Kavala had combed the library in town for information and had a notebook full of notes that she reviewed before her big meeting today with builders from Riverfall. And though she was a reimancers and planning on doing most of the work herself, the bones of the greenhouse had to be metal and thus had to be put together by professionals before she could glass it in. Thus.. she needed to know what she wanted to ask for BEFORE they showed up at the meeting. Kavala didn’t want to waste their time nor effort.
And while she had a location in mind, she needed to make sure the location was perfect. So for that, she’d taken notes on what was good and what wasn’t. One unquestionable fact was that the greenhouse needed to be located where it could get maximum light both in the season it was built and in opposite seasons. For that reason alone Kavala had staked out the location of the greenhouse where she wanted it last winter and had watched the lights and shadows play off all the buildings the rest of the year to be sure it was getting maximum light.
So, placement came first.
She reviewed her notes:
- Located to get Maxium Sunlight.
- South or Southeast of a building or shade trees preferred.
- All Day Sunlight best, but morning sunlight on the east side is sufficient
Kavala had to research why morning sunlight was best and the answer had surprised her. After talking to the owner of the large facility outside the city, she found out that Morning sunlight was most desirable because it allowed the plants food production process to begin early, thus maximizing growth for the day. And in Riverfall, locating a greenhouse on the east side would capture the winter sunlight. Second best sights were southwest and west of major structures. They would get sunlight later in the day, but still get a good dose of it.
That wasn’t where accounting had to end though. Deciduous trees that shed their leaves during the winter might shade the greenhouse either desirably or undesirably during the summer months when they did have their leaves. So it was best to have them planted or locate the structure to where the deciduous trees blocked the most intense sunlight of the summer afternoons to prevent things in the greenhouse from cooking in the heat.
Goal In Regards To Sunlight:
- Maximize winter sun exposure and minimize intense sun in winter.
The next consideration was drainage. Good drainage was a must. Kavala wasn’t worried about this because she could manipulate the ground how she saw fit in terms of drainage. But in general, things needed to be above the surrounding ground – in regards to intense dedicated growers – so that rainwater and irrigation water could drain away.
Kavala knew that wasn’t a problem so she checked it off. There were other considerations, of course, but most of those weren’t that big of a factor. These were such things as sources of heat, water, and shelter from the wind. She also wanted to make sure that access to the greenhouse was facing the right directions, convenient, and that there were plenty of exits in case of emergencies. Kavala also planned on a big enough greenhouse to house trees and thus also one big enough to house honeybees so the plants inside would get pollinated.
She thought she had all the requirements down, accounted for, and working in favor of way the literature said it should. So, Kavala moved on to the types of greenhouses there were.
Greenhouses came in all sorts. They were attached to structures on one end, which often provided an economical way to build. Some where even spanned which meant they were continued off a full sized building and were themselves huge. These types borrowed the architecture of the building they were attached too, but had serious drawbacks in location, lighting, and not being freestanding.
Other types of greenhouses were attached to the south or east side of a building on the windows. They took advantage of the buildings heat, but were often too small to do any good at all for what Kavala needed. She would have to go far larger,
For Kavala’s design, she wanted a free standing greenhouse… one that wasn’t dependent upon other structures. It would be part of the botany and herbalism classes she’d teach at the college of animal healers. One advantage the freestanding structures had was cost. One could get them anywhere from ten to fifty feet across with multiple walkways, benches, and places to plant and work and utilize as storage. The cost of a freestanding structure was relatively low too. Larger greenhouses were easier to manage temperature wise because small greenhouses had fluctuations on temps, humidity, and other things in seconds whereas larger ones took hours. Smaller greenhouses had large exposed area through which heat was lost or gained. Air volume had a lot to do with it, but Kavala wasn’t complaining. She didn’t need an excuse to have a large one. She NEEDED a larger one. The Sanctuary went through too many herbs in healing and cooking to not start supplying some of their own.
Kavala added to her notes, almost ready for the meeting. She’d be outside staking out the real area of the greenhouse if it hadn’t already been done. But first she wanted to be sure of a few more decisions first… and she wanted her math to work out.
There were multiple types of designs of greenhouses. Most of them went by shape starting with the half round Quonset that moved into curved upside down V shapes like the Gothic. There were A frames and Rigid-Frames and good old fashioned post and rafters types. Kavala wasn’t interested in anything that didn’t have straight sides, so everything was out beside the rigid frames and post and rafter frames. Between those two designs, the Rigid frame appealed to her more. It had less wood and more solid construction than the post and raftor. It was a single span that had no support beams. It required a heavy foundation but that was not a problem. So Kavala decided that’s what she needed.
She would cover it herself with a glass like stone that concentrated sunlight. Kavala had already been experimenting with her reimancy to form just the right see-through quartz like substance. So that saved her a lot of money in glass alone. This, some sources stated, was the vast majority of the greenhouse expense. The only other thing she’d have to worry about was flooring. Strong granite foundations would be raised to make the builder happy.
No one recommended that a greenhouse’s floor be permanent stone. Kavala would have liked it to be that way, but all the reading and interviews she’d done on the subject stated that it just wasn’t feasible due to the enormity of the cleanup. She would have stone walkways once they laid out the greenhouse inside, but beneath where the plants were there would be soil and gravel for drainage. Gravel was also nice because if it was wet down on hot days, it could shoot the humidity up and cause the air in the greenhouse to remain wet as long as they needed it too.
Kavala sighed. Managing and maintaining the greenhouse would be a full time job. That meant another employee, no doubt, if not two.
Now… dimensions. Kavala wanted a 16 feet wide by 24 feet long greenhouse. It wasn’t huge but it would suit the schools needs perfectly. If it were a rigid-frame freestanding greenhouse with those dimensions, it would also be 12 feet high at the ridge, with 6 feet sidewalls…
two long sides 2 x 6 ft x 24 ft = 288 ft2
two ends 2 x 6ft x 16 ft = 192 ft2
roof 2 x 10 ft x 24ft = 480 ft2
gable ends 2 x 6 ft x 8 ft = 96 ft2
A = 1,056 ft2
She would need a wood or coal furnace to go with it, one that could heat such a monster. On that, she’d take the builder’s advice and install something underground beneath the greenhouse or off one end and have it professionally done.
Kavala would also need ventilation in the form of windows or screens that could be opened at the tops, sides, and ends of the greenhouse. Those were built into the designs and she made a note on them. Her designs were almost drawing themselves. She had dimensions, notations on furnace, where she wanted ventilation, and for cooling there was no issue. She could cool the air if needed, but also a thiny woven black tarp that was large enough to cover the structure but allow light in would do the trick to cool it in a very hot day.
The final thing she wanted to do was put a well in the greenhouse itself. There were no structures in the Within directly below the greenhouse, so reimancing a well being dug shouldn’t be a problem. If they had to carry water for the system, which in essence they did, she didn’t want anyone carrying it too far.
So with that notation, Kavala was ready for her meeting with Larkus Construction and Lars Varakas’s himself. She’d call the staff in for the meeting, have them join everyone at high noon for the discussion of the plans and everyone’s roles and to get her estimate for the greenhouse.
Kavala picked up her notes, checked the time, and moved to the big Common Room table with her notes. Lars wouldn’t have a problem finding it. He’d helped her design The Wthin, after all. Then, when she was all settled, Kavala sent Cadra to fetch Xira and Lysaea for the meeting proper.
Count; 1,729
