Hi, I am a graph paper enthusiast looking for a medium. I have settled on my 'dream home' design, but am now faced with the details I don't understand completely.

My design is basically a longhouse with rooms along either side and a central gathering area. The 'rooms' all have loft areas directly above them. Sort of a communal living/ survival retreat concept.

so my questions are as follows:
Can ICFs be used for pillars?

How do ICF walls need to be anchored?

if an atrium were attached to the south facing long wall, are small (perhaps 1-2 ft square) windows for air circulation possible?

here is my basic floorplan, the entire structure would be variable in length. what horizontal supports are recommended  (such as across the central hallway)?
.________________
|..|..|..|..|..|
|  central hallway
|_|_|_|_|_|_'_'_|
__atrium__entry_


its probably just another impossible fantasy on my part, but any help you could offer would be fantastic.

Yes, ICFs can do columns or pillars, as well as windows. ICF walls are usually connected to a footing by rebar pins, or in the south, a slab on grade.

What you want to avoid for ICFs is cantilevered or non-stacked walls. Because of the weight of concrete walls they can't be hanging out there. Of course there is variables.

For pillars, I would consider using 8x8x16 concrete blocks (often called CMU) stacked to form 16" square pillars for simplicity and lower cost. Use of an ICF for this application would be difficult at best and a total waste of the insulating properties of the form.

For connection of the ICF wall to the footings, I used 5/8" Grade 60 rebar dowels with an "L" on the lower end that were wet set into the footings every 16" on center. This is pretty standard practice and shown in most ICF manufacturer's installation manuals.

Small windows or openings are easily incorporated into ICF walls. An even simpler and lower cost solution for air ventilation would be to install large 6" or 8" pipe sleeves through the ICF forms at the desired locations prior to the concrete pour. These air ducts could then be opened or closed by manual or automatic HVAC dampers installed in the ducts.

thank you so much, you've been very helpful