Like all of Ms. Coleman's designs, Atrium 2 was originally designed for a client who wanted an energy–efficient, passive solar home. You can build this house facing in whatever direction suits your needs, but if you're interested in building it as a passive solar home, please read the section below titled Passive Solar Info for specific information on orientation.

First Floor
The center of this home is full of light thanks to the atrium, which also aids in natural cooling. The centrally located hearth, for either a wood stove or a fireplace, adds character to this unique home. The master bedroom suite is close to the main living area, yet still has acoustical privacy. Both the bedroom and the bathroom have vaulted ceilings, and the living room, dining room, and kitchen are vaulted as well (rising from 8' at the exterior walls to nearly 12' at the edges of the atrium), making the house feel open and spacious. The porch off the dining room provides access to a deck that could also be built as a sunroom.

Daylight Basement
The daylight basement has room for up to three additional bedrooms, a study area, and a large living space that leads to a walkout patio.

Garage
The detached garage can be either a two–car garage with a workshop space, or modified to accommodate a third car or a tractor. It could even be semi–attached via the laundry room, if the layout of the land allowed.

Passive Solar Info
To maximize its passive solar design, the front of this house should face northwest (or northeast if reversed). The 35 pages of specifications that come with these plans (see Please Note below) will give your builder precise details on all the passive solar issues pertinent to the construction of this house.

Construction Info
The plans for this house call for 2x6 stud exterior walls. However, they can easily be changed to 2x4 stud walls by your builder, or to SIPs walls by a dealer in your area. If you plan to change the walls, we recommend that you purchase the plans in CAD format.

Foundation Info
This house was originally designed to have a basement foundation. However, if you prefer a crawlspace or a slab foundation, these are fairly simple and inexpensive changes that your builder can often make for you. If the basement design is not displayed in the Floor Plans, it's because it is unfinished.

Similar Versions Available
There are seven similar versions of this plan – Atrium, Adirondack Atrium, Adirondack Atrium 2, Atrium Breeze 3, Cottage Atrium, Garden Atrium, and Mountain Atrium – available on this site. For easy access to these other versions, click on the Architects button on the left side of any page in our website, and scroll down until you see Ms. Coleman's name and photo. Red links to each of her plans appear below her bio, in alphabetical order.

Please Note
Ms. Coleman's plans include 35 - 8.5"x11" pages of specifications to help your builder construct this house as it was designed. These technical specifications are organized to follow the CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) format, and apply to the various aspects of the home. They also include detailed information on numerous passive solar and energy–efficient aspects of home construction.