Design Approach
Every new project is an opportunity to design something unique & specifically tailored to the needs of the client(s). Every family is different, every site is different, & every budget is different — so each project deserves a customized solution.
When designing a new home, there are a number of primary factors that we want to consider from the outset. They generally fall into two categories - programmatic and environmental.
The programmatic category includes the basic prosaic things that make up at home. How many rooms? What type of functions? How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? How many people do you want to be able to host at Thanksgiving dinner? Specific needs can also come into focus, such as the need to be adaptable for current generations and anticipated future generations or the need to be “age-in-place” or adaptable to different mobility needs.
A lot of the customization of program includes specific needs for how you want your kitchen and service spaces to function. For example, you anticipate the need for a front kitchen and a messier back kitchen or Butler’s pantry.
Determining this initial list of program requirements and assigning each an approximate square footage helps us to understand if we are aiming to design a 2000 square-foot home or a 5000 square-foot home.
The other major consideration to establish early in the design process is the environmental category - asking questions like where will the home be located? Is this a city house or a country home? Is it located in a suburban neighborhood? Or is it located on a family parcel of land with ample acreage? Even more importantly, what region of the country will the project be located in (projects in the southwest demand a far different approach than projects in the Pacific Northwest or the south or the mountains). Any major geographic considerations should form the design from an early stage.
For example, a house located in Wyoming needs to take into consideration the orientation to prevailing winds, to the sun, and there needs to be an understanding and consideration for how to handle seasonal snow falls. A house in the Pacific Northwest may need to accommodate snowfall, but it may also need to be designed to take careful advantage of sunlight, yet also provide generous overhangs and protection from rainfall.
Homes in the south and southwest often have to balance very hot summers with very wet, fall and spring seasons. The orientation of large expenses of class can have a huge impact on the energy performance of the house and the comfort level of an interior. The style and design of roof shapes, overhangs, and wall exposures can also shape how well a house handles the heat and wet cycles.
Many additional factors go into the conversations and design process. Owner preferences like architectural style desires such as more or less privacy, preferences for exterior material treatments, additional outdoor programs (such as garage, shops, gardens, pools, and other major landscape elements). All of these elements need to enter the conversation at the outset of the project.
Figuring out how all of these factors mesh together is a defining part of the puzzle of design that makes each project unique, custom, and individually tailored to the client(s).