Pergola posts

Our architect is proposing to make our pergola posts be a composite of four 4x4" posts in a four-square arrangement, with 4" spacing between (that's "lumber inches", so 4" is really 3.5"). It sounds like a neat idea, and we haven't seen it before, though we did come across this photo of an example on Flickr (click to see larger). Our only concern is whether the composite post would be too "beefy" (it would be 10.5" square, though not solid). The posts in this photo look quite beefy, although if I'm eyeballing it right, those are four 6x6" posts. We just need to reassure ourselves that four 4x4" posts won't overwhelm the scale of our modest pergola (it'll be about 9' by 10').

We're not sure yet how the top of our posts would fit with the beams. In many pergolas, the beams align with the top of the posts, or even set on top of them. In this example, the posts rise above the whole structure (with an attractive "collar" cut). Don't know how that would look if we also had a third level of 2x2" rafters.

I also really like the end-cut on the beam and rafter tails. It's a nice clean modern line that would suit our house well. For our house, I don't think many of the more ornate end-cuts would look right, and I prefer more straight lines to round. Some modern pergolas just have a flat end with no cut, but George doesn't like that.