This is the design I’ve settled on for now. It has everything. When I do a walk-through the design flows and everything is in a logical place. I can rearrange the bathroom to accommodate an outside door and still have the loo in a separate little room.
I can build a semi-circular greenhouse in the angle where the two front pods join when the final two pods are in place. See the image below for the atrium footprint.
The bonus is the design can be total handicapped accessible with only the removal of a cabinet (the one beside the toilet). I don’t intend to build a lip on the floor around the shower. The bathroom floor will be one continuous pour. Where the bathroom joins the shower the floor will have one row of angled tiles slanting into the shower to help contain the water.
This image shows the initial and projected construction. The floors are a few inches above ground level and the patio is brick. We have really good drainage here, and the site is at the top of a ridge with the ground sloping away from the house in all directions. I am planning on PAHS, so want full contact with the ground under the house. The brick patio, landscaping and driveway will protect the PAHS umbrella.
Once the second pod is constructed a brick patio will be installed to protect the weatherproofing and insulation around the front and west of the house. The patio at the third pod location will be pulled up when construction of the third pod begins. When the fourth pod is constructed the bricks under the fourth pod and the bricks connecting the main patio to the master bedroom patio will be pulled up. Once the fourth pod is complete the bricks will be applied across the front of the fourth pod and around the front of the atrium to make a roomy patio for outdoors living.
I’ve broken out the construction steps into separate images here.