WIP: Cozy Keep

[Green-Pilgrim]

So I've been playing around with a small keep idea for a while. I think I've even posted some stabs at ideas on here a few times and this is another incarnation. The basic premise is that this would be a small keep situated near a moderate sized village. It would be large enough for the local lord and his family to live within as well as a respectable number of servants and guards.

Step 1: Concept and Previz.



As this is a keep, the idea is that the buildings that comprise the structure would be situated to create an internal space that would be secured from attack. Rather than in a full castle or purely military structure, the 'cozy keep' uses the walls of its own buildings as the first (and last) in its defenses. Using the space between the watch tower (a) and the stables (d), a psuedo-barbican is created that would monitor who could enter the keep and provide at least a minimum degree of security should they ever come under siege. The smithy (i) lies just inside the courtyard and is braced against the barracks (H). The left wing of the keep (E) would house the great hall and some other rooms with the right wing (g) would house some of the servant's quarters and such.


Previz (thank god for sketchup) gives me a sense of how high the various buildings are in the structure. Most of the side buildings are only a story tall where as the two wings are two stories and the keep is three with a sort of smaller structure on top.



The structure would, conceptually, be totally whitewashed to give it the appearance of being a new, clean and solid structure with roofs covered in either slate, tile or something non-thatch like.

I'll be adding floor plans soon but what do ya'll think?

-GP