what would you do to the exterior of this house

I'm building a modern house and it's not turning out the way I would have liked.  I think the roof pitch and the overall shape are kind of distracting.   I'm hoping this can be remedied by some very cool modern siding.  I've attached some elevation images.  The home is just about framed, so there is plenty of time to decide what to do on the exterior, and I can change certain things like size of window and door openings, etc.

 

 

I'm thinking of doing wood and galvalume, something like this

http://www.michaeldeleonphoto.com/New/090807II/new.htm

 

The roof will be metal (gray).  And the windows hopefully will be milgard thermally improved aluminum.

 The garage door will be a clopay avante aluminum and frosted glass...

What would you recommend for the siding?

 

And how about the front door?

 I had hoped for a storefront window look... all glass.. but I keep running into problems with the fascia overlapping where I wanted glass, and needing a big header above the doorway, etc. (because this is all stick framed,  not steel)..

 

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The photos of that other house are cool. They definitely used the siding and the wood to bring out the "modern" flavor. The thing I think that that house has that yours doesn't is a strong horizontal presentation. Of course, they used the wood and siding to do that for them, so I think you are barking up the right tree. The thing about the images of your house that you have shared.... and I don't want to offend, this is just my opinion.... is that it strikes me as more of a 1980's contemporary than a modern house. I think the curved roof and the more traditional approach to the windows is what makes it that way. If you are wanting more glass in the front - and I'm speaking of the area to the right of the front door (the living room?) I'd say go for it! Remember, if a header is there you can extend the windows down as far as you like. In other words, why not have windows that start at the floor level and go up? While you are at it, and you said you might make changes to the structure if need be, why not align the top of the windows in that room with the top of the entrance door? Go from the floor to that point, and then if you want more windows above the door line, install some clerestory windows on top of that, perhaps mimicking the three windows above the garage. That way, you are getting your store front window vibe AND you are creating a stronger sense of the horizontal that evokes a more modern feel. Additionally, unless the wall area to either side of the front windows is a shear wall, I would recommend widening the front windows as far as you can, structurally. If there is shear wall, you can reduce the size of it by substituting Simpson strong walls. Of course, all these changes would have to be approved by the city and would have to be sussed out by a structural engineer. The curved roof bothers me personally. Maybe consider leaving the top of that flat or at a slight slant. Then, you could put windows on all four sides creating a light well. Even better if those windows can be opened so the hot air in your house can rise to the top of the well and escape out. (You could also have a ladder that goes to a small crow's nest type of reading area...) I would also suggest considering railings at the back that have horizontal members as opposed to vertical. That's my two cents... -R.

We used bare galvalume on our garage and we love it so much, I wish we would have used it more elsewhere.  We also have smooth 4x8 and 4x10 Hardipanels.  You can see our pics at www.nutterresidence.blogspot.com.  I wanted more glass too, but for efficiency and structural reasons similar to yours, we have a more traditional glazing layout.  I still think ours is kind of a modern aesthetic though.  There's another home, West Seattle Modern that purekrista has posted - hers is Hardipanel and cedar - very similar to your link and nice.  Splatgirl has a blog at www.moderninmn.blogspot.com and hers is very modern - hardipanel and metal, cool exterior.  Her house is all ICF, no stick framing I believe.  Hope these help!  It's always a balance of budget and aesthetics.  Good luck!

have you considered  omega-lite or max panels? both very modern and clean looking. you can also vary panel sizes to help the house look more interesting.

Previously brano rataj wrote:

have you considered  omega-lite or max panels? both very modern and clean looking. you can also vary panel sizes to help the house look more interesting.

 

How would you install these over a large surface area?  Could you install them with exposed fasteners like you would do with Cembonit?  What is the longevity of the product?  Could you use it in a high traffic area like the interior of a porch?  Can you imagine it on exterior soffits, any color you want?  What is the material cost per square foot?