This represents a typical Construction Drawing set for a simple house minus a site plan. It represents a bit over 100 hours of labor. Thought y’all might be interested. A more complete set would have framing on a separate sheet, Interior elevations at least of the kitchen and bathrooms, a site plan, Materials schedules usually called out on the floor plans, and separate electrical plans.
I’m Back from Cape Breton Nova Scotia and feeling slightly tired. The scenery was amazing and I got a 3 1/2 hour bike ride on the Cabot trail (through all the good parts) which was amazing. We stayed one night at Meat Cove and the rest was with the in-laws at a farmhouse on a dirt road in Port Dauphin. There was an empty rocky beach across the road where I had the profound pleasure of watching the sun rise over open ocean on a clear morning.
I found it particularly interesting to study the residential landscape of the Canadian Maritime Provinces as well as the scenic landscape. The residential areas where real people lived (as opposed to us tourists) reminded me of the Maine of my youth. The farther you get from Wal-Mart, the less “stuff” people have in and on their yards. Not just “toys” which seems to be a big cultural difference between Southern Maine and Vermont (the two areas I’m most familiar with) – (branch office in western Maine?) but also a difference in landscaping. The new American northeast approach seems to be to have many trees and shrubs and flower beds rather randomly punctuating an expanse of lawn. What I saw on Cape Breton was much simpler and cleaner. Many if not most houses didn’t even have plants around the foundation, almost unthinkable here in the states. The effect was very serene and peaceful. The houses as one would expect were much smaller and more compact as well. I probably should have snapped more photos but that would have slowed us down considerably and probably not gone over so well with the others in the vehicle.
I think I may have to take a vacation every year.
Dan Gregory, the editor at Houseplans.com had a good blog that I pay attention to. on August 6th he put in a ditty about my Vermont Simple House 1 on sale now. There is also a way cool toilet that has a small sink at the top of the tank to that when you wash-your-hands-evey-time-you-go-to-the-bathroom ( I sound like a parent – wait a minute, I am!) the water goes directly into the flush tank.
toilet
Plans are now up and for sale on one of the largest stock plan publishing houses HousePlans.com in their “exclusive architects” section!
My plan is to produce a series of similar houses increasing in scale and amenities and see how it goes. Houseplans.com is a progressive company with a good vision as to where the market is headed. They also have huge site traffic numbers. Keeping my fingers crossed. It took me forever to finish the plans and model for this first house, I suspect I am being a perfectionist again.
I have a new website designed by Good Bear Productions here at the Cotton Mill in Brattleboro, VT
Check it out! It is very beautiful.
I have learned that I take good photographs but that way too many of my projects are as of yet un-photographed.
Fun Blog I just found. The title says what it is about.
Life of an Architect
As an architect I am supposed to like a sleek modern kitchen with a huge and functional island and lots of beautiful cabinetry. And I do. But what really melts my emotional side is a big old fashioned kitchen with a large table in the center. – The original “family room”. The table is where the family eats their meals, games are played, bills are paid, corn is shucked, dough is rolled… A large pantry is off to one side and may contain the refrigerator and a large window for light. The sink is also large and deep. Of course, such a kitchen calls for a big black woodstove that you could bake in – perhaps a bread oven would be a modern equivalent? It is very hard to find a good image of this sort of kitchen even though those of us with more rural upbringings would find it so familiar. The above image is one I stole out of an old Martha Stewart book I found on a discount rack.
A very good article in the Washington Post by Roger K. Lewis on public perceptions of modern architecture
Why there isn’t a market for modern homes
Most clients say they want either a bigger house because they have kids or a smaller house because the kids have left. It has been my experience over the past few years that 2000 square feet is unacceptably small for most clients. Unfortunately, I most love designing houses in the 1200 to 1800 square foot range. Mostly, people either have too much stuff (oh the stuff I’ve seen) or are simply used to a large house. Try fitting the retired couple into a 2000 square foot house when they have just spent the last 40 years in a 3000 square foot house. They may initially like the idea but when it comes right down to it, they can’t make the mental adjustment. Even if I come up with a floor plan that functions much better than what they have been living with.
Just a small thought. Perhaps I should collect more along these lines. “traditional” design (which is usually not actually very traditional) seems to limit one to creating spaces that are “nice” and “pleasant” and “functional” which is enough for some people. But it is hard, especially when faced with a fantastic view or outdoor space, to create a space with amazing emotional impact within the confines of traditional design.
People often tell me they took a drafting class in high school and thought about becoming an architect. I took a drafting class in high school and thought about becoming an architect. I suspect that few people have in idea of what it takes in terms of the whole process.
First there is admission to a school of architecture. These tend to be highly competitive. My school accepted fewer than one in seven applicants the year I was accepted with admission to the rest of the school being much easier. Artistic talent, leadership skills and life experience were important. High school drafting class counted for nothing. The first year of architecture school is a bit like hazing and typically, about half drop out. Then you are in school (think massive debt) for 5 years at a minimum. Five years gets you a professional degree called a Barch which is a bit more than a regular bachelors but less than a masters. This degree is being phased out because it is becoming impractical to cram all the course work into five years. ( graduated with 181 credits) The new norm seems to be a 4 year degree resulting in a liberal arts type bachelors degree and an additional 2 to 3 years for a Masters degree in architecture.
Then comes post graduation internship (if you are lucky enough to get a position with an architecture firm) Working full time, the requirements for this can theoretically be met in about three years. I have heard that the average internship lasts 7 years but this seems to be a dirty little secret in the industry. My own internship was about 5 years worth of time spread over a much longer period of time because I spent so much time working as a carpenter. It took five years of actual internship because there are a specific set of criteria that must be met to satisfy the internship requirements which are often hard to accomplish without spending some time working in a large urban firm where a regular internship program is in place. Many graduates who go to work in larger firms with salaried positions never get around to taking the qualification exams to become licensed architects. They may not need the license for their job and it can be hard to study when you go home in the evening to a busy family and life.
The Exam(s) – Nine of them when I was becoming an architect. Nine exams which represented over $1000 in fees plus all the study materials which is a whole separate industry. In the old days the exams took place all at once over a 4 day period where you were locked in a room with a drafting table. Now you stare at a computer screen at a cubicle in a small room with flickering florescent lights overhead. (headache)
So, the whole process takes a minimum of 8 years but averages a lot longer. Probably not worth it from an accountant’s point of view when looking at the yearly salary data that comes out courtesy of the American Institute of Architects. Then when you finally have license in hand and can legally call yourself an architect there are all the yearly fees and continuing education requirements that must be met to maintain the license. If you lapse on any of these you are not allowed to cannot continue to call yourself an architect.
Phew!
ch-papa-01
My architect colleagues will do some nodding here.
Sometimes you have to know when to run screaming from a project or risk losing your shirt to someone who probably makes six times your income.
-If I client is in a hurry, step away
-If a client refuses to divulge budget numbers, back away
-If a client has unrealistic expectations and refuses to listen to reason, turn and start walking
-If a client wants something for free run for your life!
The mistake I have made in the past is thinking I can change someone. If this sounds like the stereotypical doomed personal relationship then BINGO. I am limited in my abilities to educate a potential or new client as to the architectural process and rely on references in the form of previous clients and builders (I always give out a list) If after all this, it is clear that the client hears what they want to hear and nothing more or less than it is time to exit stage left.
An example: A few years ago I was hired to do an addition to an old Vermont cape. The addition was to have a large family room, two studies, a bedroom suite with closets and bathroom, a utility room, a porch etc etc. This is a LOT of square footage. I found that I could make a floor plan that made them happy but the resulting massing and scale was far off no matter what I did. I got fired from the job and lost my shirt to someone who can not only afford a second home in Vermont but can afford to renovate and add on. Mental note: future Woe-Is-Me post – why didn’t I become a New York architect so I could afford to live in Vermont. In retrospect, I realized that what they were looking for visually was irreconcilable with what they wanted for a program (the floor plan spaces) The addition was to replace a small shed ell which was quite cute and a good match for the old cape and my job was to make the new addition just as small and cute despite containing 4x the space. Impossible. There will always be someone else who will tell them they can do it. Either an architect or designer who is a better salesperson than me and will do fanciful renderings with lots of flowers that make it look okay or a builder who will say “lets just figure it out as we go” and exude confidence all over the place. Yuck. I must assume they found such a person.
Here is take two on the whole house design from my April 28th post. Feedback was good on that and here I am trying to take advantage of some nice situations and relationships that I could see in the last iteration.
This is a sketch that represents nicely how I often start a project. It is a combination of floor plan, diagram, brainstorming, and notated thoughts. A very streamlined shorthand. Ten years ago my process was more traditional but how I work and think continues to evolve. This sketch is a good representation of this. Preceding the drawing was a site visit, meeting the potential clients to hear what they had in mind and seeing a few images that sparked their interest. A few nights later all that was simmering in the back of my brain came to a boil and I closed my eyes for an hour and laid out a basic design approach in my head which ranged from identifying basic relationships between spaces and the site to specific potential “vignettes” and “details” that could become a meaningful part of the design. The advantage and even necessity of doing this in my head with my eyes closed seems to be that it eliminates the filter of paper and pencil and the inevitable editing which occurs at that stage. I allow myself completely free association with no hierarchy of process – plans, details, parti, spatial relationships, etc. are all given equal importance in this process. This usually seems to happen before falling asleep at night and the next morning I am able to pick up a pad and get it all down in this shorthand. So here is a truly unedited view into the process.
I have resumed work on Providence house with an eye toward the stock plan market. Here is a video flyby of the sketchup model as it stands. There are a few adjustments I need to make to the windows and trim. It is a structural model as well with floor and roof framing so you can get inside and see how simple the framing is.
This is an actual hand rendering of a very large house that I did schematic design for a few years ago. It was to be Timber framed with SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) I never did construction drawings and it was pre sketchup so there were some museum board models and a Vectorworks 3-D timberframe study. It is always an interesting study to design a large home like this and make it look nice. It requires a completely different mind-set than most of my work and really takes a different perspective.
