I decided to build it before reading your review :-D I kept my version of the pagoda a bit simpler by only building three pieces -- a bottom unit that will have a screened bottom for summer (a layer of shavings under that screen in winter will allow circulation while dampening chilly breezes), a hive body that holds twenty frames (each one approximates a deep turned sideways), and a top unit that functions much like the bottom piece -- a screen for summer and shavings above in winter to serve as something of a quilt. The things I find attractive are the taller / narrower frames -- fewer breaks for bees to cross (most of my winter clusters have not been any wider than this frame will be), the permeable barriers above and below and the experimental nature of the thing. As to simplicity, there are only three pieces to it -- no different than my Langstroths. The hive body shouldn't ever weigh more than two full deeps. I expect to choose an apiary space carefully and only move it when good friends owe me favors. I realize that it is not at all interchangeable with any other hive parts that I have, but I make most of my equipment anyway. If I want or need to mix or match, I can build some sort of adapter to make things match up. I will likely populate this thing with a swarm or a package. I plan to cut drawn comb from older frames to fit in a small number of frames to get them started and let them draw foundationless frames for the balance. My hope is that the first year will result in twenty drawn and filled frames. If that works well, I would build a super for next year. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel with this project, but, at the same time, a different take on that wheel may prove instructive. I may even learn a new way not to keep bees.
One thing that may have contributed to this interest is that I have on hand some 22 inch wide poplar boards. No two are the same thickness. It was just easy to make the basic "I" shape of the pagoda as demonstrated by Mr Chandler. Again, I made mine with only one section in the hive body. As an afterthought, I noticed that if I wanted to use a piece of foam insulation from top to bottom I can easily fit it onto the sides between the overhang of the endcaps.