Another final push for some votes for my Who’s Next competition entry which is actually doing fairly well. I should also apologize for my lack of attendance here on the blog lately. I just spent a week under a pile of blankets on the couch with the flue. I’ll put up some juicy pics of a project later.
FreeGreen Competition Entry
This is the contest synopsis for those who asked
FreeGreen.com is looking for talented designers who can bring progressive design ideas to mainstream America. With 400,000+ visitors per year, 36,000+ house plans distributed per year, and 20,000+ registered members FreeGreen.com is the largest source of Residential Design in the world. Now we want to use this audience to promote new Architects and designers, and increase the influence of thoughtful and sustainable Architecture in the Residential arena.
Whether you are a young designer or an industry veteran, Who’s Next is the perfect contest to kick start a new firm or revitalize an existing one.
All entries will be promoted in an online environment – and the stars will be you. Unlike other competitions the purpose of Who’s Next is to expand your viewing audience, and encourage them to reach out to, and communicate with, you as their favorite contest entrants.
FreeGreen.com is looking for talented designers who can bring progressive design ideas to mainstream America. With 400,000+ visitors per year, 36,000+ house plans distributed per year, and 20,000+ registered members FreeGreen.com is the largest source of Residential Design in the world. Now we want to use this audience to promote new Architects and designers, and increase the influence of thoughtful and sustainable Architecture in the Residential arena.
Whether you are a young designer or an industry veteran, Who’s Next is the perfect contest to kick start a new firm or revitalize an existing one.
All entries will be promoted in an online environment – and the stars will be you. Unlike other competitions the purpose of “Who’s Next is to expand your viewing audience, and encourage them to reach out to, and communicate with, you as their favorite contest entrants.”
The folks over at FreeGreen have a home design contest :
The challenge of the Who’s Next competition is to re-envision the typical suburban home in an ecologically conscious manner that also reflects today’s modern lifestyle.
So…I entered with a fairly conservative and elegant design to be built to “Passive House” standards. I am banking on the fact that most entries will be variations on the glass box modern prefab look or else simple be too ultra-modern or complicated to appeal to the judges. Already there are lots of fun designs including many interesting and expensive looking schemes. The judging is 50% by public vote so get on over there to vote for your favorite – (Here is a link to my entry ) (HINT) – voting officially starts March 2 but I see that many entries are voted on already (what’s up with that?)
Who's Next entry
I was walking by my fern house yesterday during the snowstorm.
Along the lines of; How I spend my time when surfing the net, I spend some time every week looking for what’s out there in the architectural world with focus on residential and small scale projects.
Here is a Firm whose website is great, the work they do is inspiring and they have a great blog that fosters thought and conversation. They are located in Seattle.
TED:Ideas Worth Spreading is a collection of talks and presentations that help me keep the world in perspective.
We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.
also GoLogic homes in Belfast Maine is worth checking out. They have some great prototype small passive house designs. When I look to the future of my own firm, This is a great model for one possibility. Although if I were to go this route I would worry that it closes me off from being the small town architect for lots of people and doing more non-residential projects.
Here is my new business card created by EM Letterpress in New Bedford, MA. The picture doesn’t do it justice I’m afraid. It is incredibly beautiful. I am not worthy. I went to school with Eli of EM Letterpress and he went on to not practice architecture. Check out their website and flickr photos.
check out lots more letterpress at ETSY.com
You get what you pay for. This is a primer on what you can choose from for architectural design services and most of my projects fall into one of these three categories.
1. I will often do very small consulting jobs on an hourly basis. These are usually brainstorming sessions, structural consults, maybe a simple photoshopped rendering showing what something may look like without hard construction drawings. I enjoy these jobs but tend to lose money on them when I put more time and effort into it than I can reasonably bill for.
2. Most of my addition/renovation and new house jobs are of the second category of basic design services. This is what you get for 6 – 10 % of construction cost from most architects. We start with a basic analysis of needs/desires/budget and enter a process of design (which is lots of fun) there is usually extensive use of sketchup modeling early on. These projects are tough on me as an architect because there isn’t time in the budget to explore all options and really flesh out all the possibilities in a scheme. I go into the finished project and see lots of little things that could have happened with more rigorous design. Missed opportunities, changes from the drawings for the worse etc. I often see changes that were due to the builder saying “it’s easier to do it this way” without understanding the ramifications either aesthetically or structurally or my personal fav Simplifying the framing in a way that makes finish work more complicated later. At this level I try to get all the big things right and rely heavily on the builder to make good detail decisions. I try to build a lot of flexibility into the design so if, for instance, the concrete sub screws up and pours a wall wrong, (often happens) the plan can adapt. I have been fortunate to have worked with many very good builders. I tend to lose money on these projects as well because I am a perfectionist.
3. At 10 to 15% you get into full bid services and/or construction administration. This is the fun stuff that I rarely get to do, mostly due to where I live and the type of clientele I attract. The design process is as thorough as it needs to be. Subcontractors are utilized in the design process in a more integrated fashion – lighting, kitchen, interiors, landscaping, structural etc. Less is left to the discretion of the builder. This is where I would design the built-ins rather than just leaving room for them as in the second category. We more fully explore material and finish options, appliances and lighting, analyze methods of construction and perform energy modeling. This is the arena for clients who, regardless of budget, understand the value in such rigorous design. These are often people have have built a house before and want to do it right the second time around and are willing to forgo a few luxury items (the standard granite countertop argument for those in the industry) in the budget to pay for full architectural services. This is the standard level of service for many larger and more established firms where there is often an in-house team of experts working on every project. This is also the standard for non-residential projects.
I seem to usually have a mix of the first two project types on my desk at any given time and every few years the third type comes along. Hopefully in the future I will be able to focus more on full service projects.
Lots of good passive house stuff on Youtube.
A passive house is being built in Whistler B.C. for the Austrian team and delegation for the 2010 olympics. I am a big fan of Passive House and hope to attend a seminar soon and look into getting certified as a Passive House consultant.
More on the small house argument and a better rant than I could have pulled off myself:
http://arch.designcommunity.com/topic-31500.html
Plus one of the better sites that I spend a lot of time on:
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/
Here are a bunch of snapshots of the stone library project from a few years back. This was a gut remodel of a stone faced concrete block building from the 60’s that had been used as a private library. We used Loewen windows with Richlite window sills, some cool metal work, a talented mason and a clever builder. Note the very small skylight in the last photo up near the big chimney. This is directly above the fireplace in the view of the great room interior – tiny window = big effect.
After about 8 years of post secondary education, a number of years working for other architects and a decade of running my own design firm with over 100 projects to my credit, I am starting to become a good designer. It is not that I am so un-talented that it took me so long and so much effort to reach this point. It is more a recognition of the standard I hold myself to. See my previous post “What Architects Don’t Know”. There is a certain amount of frustration when I see ads for local building firms offering design services or even architectural design (illegal) and realize that most people think of design as not much more than a floor plan or drafting. I’ve always been a good drafter but drafting is just a tool in my toolkit to get the job done, not an end in itself as some hand-drafting cermudgeons seem to view it. (more on that later) Floor plans whether for a new home or other project take more skill, talent and experience but are also a small part of the whole picture. I am often in a situation where I make a simple move on paper that will save the clients thousands of dollars and save the builder a headache during construction and no one but me will ever know it. Thus this blog. It allows me to pat myself on the back a little bit once in a while.
Here is a photo of my office dog Peter Q Puppy taken a few years ago. He is ten years old now and has arthritice from various sports related injuries. he also had surgury for a torn ACL a few years ago (he wiped out on the ice) His ancestry is border collie, greyhound, sheppard…..
I thought I’d write a post, mostly for myself but also for those of you who are interested in the what-it’s-like-to-run-a-small-rural-architecture-firm aspect of my blog. Well, to start with, I have just had my best year yet despite the economy. I think I have achieved a “teachers salary” this year which doesn’t always happen. Around here, outside the medical profession, teachers make good money in comparison to the local average. Oh wait, there are also the aspects of being self-employed relating to health insurance, vacation time (none), higher taxes, 401k’s and stuff like that. In most past years there have been several months during which I am under-employed – time to get the firewood in and work on the barn. But this year I was right out straight with projects. I completed three new houses, one of which is finishing up construction and one just starting, four substantial addition-renovation projects, and assorted small consulting projects. I suspect that I turn out as much “work” as a 5 person firm and really should charge accordingly. I did not manage to make any progress on my dream of creating an internet home plan business (VermontSimpleHouse.com) although with another year of research under my belt, I still see a niche waiting for me to fill it. I also had some very good press. I have tried to maintain my integrity as a small-house “green” architect although in a parallel argument to the S.U.V. issue, most people think it doesn’t apply to them “How could I possibly live in a two thousand square foot house? I have two kids!” – architect rolls eyeballs. I am also trying to become a better businessman. I have done much networking with other architects, many of whom I went to school with and attended some seminars on the business of running an architecture firm. I have gained greater understanding of my strengths and weaknesses and what I can do about them. New issues have cropped up that need addressing now that so much of my initial contact with people comes via the internet. I have had some issues with clients owing me money and “disappearing” which is something I’ve heard about from other architects but something I had rarely experienced before this year. A risk one takes when working with non-local clients I suppose. I get myself into situations where I put a lot of time and effort into a problem to arrive at a solution that looks simple and obvious – then the client doesn’t believe I did anything more than sit down for ½ hour and sketch it up. Also, many times this year I spent too many hours and given out too much free consulting and design advice on projects that never materialized. On one hand I know that people really appreciate this and I enjoy doing it but on the other hand when I look up at the clock and realize that I just spent 3 hours on an email then look over at the stack of bills next to the desk, well….
For this coming year, goals include getting Vermont Simple House up and running, hiring someone to deal with my website (which really needs some work), Photographing recent projects to pursue publishing and submission to competitions, getting melons and squash started indoors in early April, racing my bicycle up Mt. Washington in July being an amazing father to my daughter and dog, husband to my wife and taking a real vacation (with the above). Anyone have a place on a quiet lake in Maine?
I am a fan of Marianne Cusato. She is the creator of the marvelous “Katrina Cottages” and has recently published a most helpful book “Get Your House Right” And she is a master at getting good press. I would love to work for her designing a series of small homes for a northern climate starting with my Providence House I recommend checking out her work at MarianneCusato.com
Architecture is one of those professions where the more you know the more you know you don’t know. Many architects don’t know this. There are some who “float” and others who are in a constant state of continuing education. I am reminded of this by the large number of architects who state on their websites “We have always been green” but then you look at their projects with a trained eye and see otherwise. Geothermal heating or solar Photovoltaics on a house with 2 x 6 walls, probably insulated with fiberglass batts is an infraction I commonly see. Those architects who read this and don’t see the hyppocracy in this example would be the example of “floaters”
I have the .pdf file of the plans for the Metal stair completed along with the sketchup model for a nine foot floor to floor configuration. At some point I will modify it for a 10 floor to floor as well. Upon purchase, I will send via email the sketchup model (download a sketchup viewer here) and the .pdf plans which you can have printed at your local print shop. The plans constitute a license to construct one (1) stair.
Here is a google checkout button. I’m new to this e-commerce thing so I hope this works. Also be aware that I have no legalese stuff on the drawings about safety and local codes.
This doesn’t happen to me often enough and, unfortunately, this is not my client. I have been following the process of a house being built in Northern VT on the blog Building Green in Vermont They had been working with a designer and had come up with a rather large and boring house (in my opinion) then this happened:
And the bids we received for materials like siding, roofing, windows, etc. were higher than we could really afford. It became clear that the best thing to do was reduce the size of the house.
The more we thought about the prospect, the more excited we got. We are all about going green and yet we missed the most obvious strategy of all…reduce the building’s footprint. In addition to cutting the materials needed for construction and thus saving resources, a smaller house means lower energy usage. It also means disrupting a smaller part of the site.
I think they went from 2160 square feet down to 1568, ended up with a much nicer house that any realtor worth his job would tell you they could sell quicker and for more if given the chance. I expect the owners would never give a realtor that chance. this is what they ended up with
“I was surprised while traveling in Sweden two years ago to learn that triple-glazed windows have been, essentially, required by code in that country since 1976.” Alex Wilson writes in a Green Building Advisor article. He also mentions Serious Windows which I have been hearing a lot about lately and am anxious to try. Pricing seems very good and I have heard tell that the quality is excellent. I believe that parts of the U.S. will move towards such code legislation in the near future as the severity of the global climate crisis becomes more obvious to Americans.
I am bringing this post forward because, well, because I like it.
As I have mentioned before, much of my work is for people who would never have gone to an architect in the first place, thinking that they could never afford it. Designing a custom home for someone is an incredibly complex endeavor. You can buy a set of plans relatively cheaply that may go 75% of the way towards fulfilling your needs and end up with a descent house. Most people go this route. However, some of my best work to date has been for people who are more concerned with money and value. I have been hired by clients to say “no, you can’t afford it” when they lose focus in the process of building a home and start to make a decision or series of decisions that would blow the budget. A good architect should be able to save a client at least the cost of architectural services if that is one of the stated goals. If you have $250,000 to spend on a house you can buy a plan and build a house that is worth $250,00 or you can spend $20,000 on an architect and build a house for $230,000 that gets you a better looking house with a more efficient and flexible floor plan and nicer spaces that fit your lifestyle more comfortably, a house that costs less to maintain over the longer term. Notice that I keep saying “good architect”. As with any profession there is a wide range of talent and specialties. Always ask for and check references. Find an architect and a builder who you are comfortable with. You need to develop a good relationship with these folks. They’re not just there to sell you something.
This also from an older post:
I see many houses around here that would have benefited from some professional design help. It seems that people like to spend more money than they need to . These houses look complicated (if it looks complex then it is expensive) and yet they are obviously intended to be low cost housing. Not many people (or banks) “get” that spending money on an architect or designer up front can save them much more money in the months to follow during construction. Perhaps it is similar to solar hot water systems. Spend 5k to 7k up front and it takes 5 years or so before it is paid off in savings and then it starts saving money. It’s like putting and extra $50 in the bank every month. That’s an extra $6000 dollars over the next 10 years not counting for interest and certainly not counting for rising oil, gas or electricity costs. There was a picture in this month’s “National Geographic” showing a Chinese subdivision from above. Many of the houses had solar hot water systems on the roof. They must be smarter than us.
My apologies for not posting much recently, overworked and sick kid are my two excuses. Here are some quick model views from a current project. I am developing two schemes for an addition/renovation to a small house, part of which used to be a “sugar shack” (In VT where you make maple syrup in February and March) Here also is a link to my picassa album with some project photos.
