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Jason,
I made my pier off-centre because I had an alt-az mount on a wedge, and I wanted the scope (an SCT) in the middle. This worked well.
A few years later, I replaced the scope with a larger one, and got a equatorial mount. With the pier still off-centre, I can see all parts of the sky through the slit in the observatory dome. It's not ideal, but it works ok.
In terms of pier height, you really just need to measure or calculate (with respect to a reference point such as the base of the mount) the height of the eyepiece over the range of likely targets, and then work out how high or low you want to be when you're using the scope. When my scope is looking low in the west, I need to stand on a step, and when it's looking towards the zenith, I need to adjust the observing stool to its lowest position.
Cheers, Chris
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