Looks very nice. Don't worry too much about the chain, I don't think 8sp/9sp matters that much. I run 42/16 on my Rohloff 700c pothole-basher with 175mm mountain cranks and love it. I'm 195cm though so everything's got to be big.

Chainline for the Rohloff is 54mm, as mentioned on Sheldon's site. I solved the chainline issue by buying a cheap Shimano cartridge bottom bracket with the right BB spindle length to fit the cheap MTB crank and strong steel 42t chainring I had on-hand.

Getting the cabling done right is the most tricky thing. Good luck with that. Get the right diameter (stainless) cables so you don't have to re-cable it anytime soon.