The just freehand sketches were overlayed onto a AutoCADdrawing and the scale of the different spaces was again reviewed. Minor modifactions were made but the overall design of the building footprint was almost complete.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
From Conceptual Design to Design Development
Having gravitated towards a design option that looked like it would satisfy our needs and requirements, the pencil and pen sketches were further refined to a more accurate layout. The exact placement of the rooms aren't 100% set but they were getting tighter.
The just freehand sketches were overlayed onto a AutoCADdrawing and the scale of the different spaces was again reviewed. Minor modifactions were made but the overall design of the building footprint was almost complete.
The just freehand sketches were overlayed onto a AutoCADdrawing and the scale of the different spaces was again reviewed. Minor modifactions were made but the overall design of the building footprint was almost complete.
Conceptual Design Phase II
If a picture is worth a thousand words, follow the images to see the progression of the design concept. Every line seemed to lead to a new idea. Eventually the idea of going straight up over the entire house changed to only going up and affecting the basement where it was unfinished. Instead of staying within the footprint of the existing structure we pushed things out towards the back of the yard. The garage / carport was removed and a new garage designed.
By Pushing out the back of the house there was an opportunity to create a bigger more functional kitchen. The garage area was reduced but this also allowed for a back entrance / mud room.
The Exterior started changing. No matter what was done the house was going to stand out in the neighborhood so heights and angles and elevations needed to be addressed.
Taking in account the sun rise and setting changes over the course of a year the idea of using the solar power in a positive way to impact our energy comsumption began to formulate.
By Pushing out the back of the house there was an opportunity to create a bigger more functional kitchen. The garage area was reduced but this also allowed for a back entrance / mud room.
The Exterior started changing. No matter what was done the house was going to stand out in the neighborhood so heights and angles and elevations needed to be addressed.
Taking in account the sun rise and setting changes over the course of a year the idea of using the solar power in a positive way to impact our energy comsumption began to formulate.
Conceptual Design Phase I
Straight up. That was the idea. We knew we wanted to add additional bedrooms and enlarge the master bedroom but we didn't want to affect the yard. Turning the house into a storey and a half looked to be a logical solutions so we quickly sketched up a viable option.
The idea was to turn Sarah and Joshua's bedrooms into part of the Master Bedroom with our existing bedroom turning into the ensuite/closet/dressing area. The stairs to the second floor would be accessed just off of the Dining Room and the Laundry facilities would move to the remaining space there. The Kitchen would be opened up to the dining room and while the foot print wouldn't increase the overall feeling between the two spaces would give the illusion of a bigger kitchen.
With the roof pitches and setbacks, the second storey would have shorter walls along the perimeter but full height walls in the center. The upstairs would have space for Sarah and Joshua's bedrooms , the Office, a Washroom and a Guest Room. With the height requirements for the stairs we would have a center area that would be perfect for a second storey Craft Room
From Conceptual to Design drawings a set of Preliminary drawings were created and submitted to a Structural Engineer. The design was doable - we would need to add additional support throughout the center points of our house. This proved to be problematic as the previous summer we had just finished the basement. I didn't really want to re-do all of the finishing that we had just completed. There had to be a better way.
The idea was to turn Sarah and Joshua's bedrooms into part of the Master Bedroom with our existing bedroom turning into the ensuite/closet/dressing area. The stairs to the second floor would be accessed just off of the Dining Room and the Laundry facilities would move to the remaining space there. The Kitchen would be opened up to the dining room and while the foot print wouldn't increase the overall feeling between the two spaces would give the illusion of a bigger kitchen.
With the roof pitches and setbacks, the second storey would have shorter walls along the perimeter but full height walls in the center. The upstairs would have space for Sarah and Joshua's bedrooms , the Office, a Washroom and a Guest Room. With the height requirements for the stairs we would have a center area that would be perfect for a second storey Craft Room
Conceptual Workings
Hopefully not as long as my last post - we shall see.
The idea of adding to the house is exciting. Having lived through an addition way back in 1984 when my parents added to their house I wish I can say that this is old hand. Reality is I was only 12 and didn't fully understand the concepts and the situation. I do know that it was that addition that started me along the path to become a designer. Hopefully I can talk Sarah and Joshua out of it if similar ideas become planted in their heads :)
In the Preliminary Design Process, much of the time is spent getting to know the Client. We find out what they like, dislike, what their needs are, their motivations for doing the work, budgets, time frames, ideas, etc. With this project this was our life so we were able to start immediately into the conceptual designs. Having lived in the house for almost 5 years (at the time) we knew where and what we wanted - or so we thought.
The idea of adding to the house is exciting. Having lived through an addition way back in 1984 when my parents added to their house I wish I can say that this is old hand. Reality is I was only 12 and didn't fully understand the concepts and the situation. I do know that it was that addition that started me along the path to become a designer. Hopefully I can talk Sarah and Joshua out of it if similar ideas become planted in their heads :)
In the Preliminary Design Process, much of the time is spent getting to know the Client. We find out what they like, dislike, what their needs are, their motivations for doing the work, budgets, time frames, ideas, etc. With this project this was our life so we were able to start immediately into the conceptual designs. Having lived in the house for almost 5 years (at the time) we knew where and what we wanted - or so we thought.
The Design Process
You would think that this part would be the easy part - as a Professional Interior Designer I design renovations and additions for a living. The trick is that those designs are for other people. With our Clients we always try and come up with the best design possible for the requirements as determined in our pre design meetings. We build on the design concepts as the project is moved forward but there is always the underlying question - "what is this going to cost me in design fees". We all have a personal connection to your homes and this is always a sensitive conversation. I always try to explain to Clients that it is important to "make our mistakes on paper" as these are easier to change now then when the Contractor has already built it. Unfortunately when Clients are looking at another couple of hours of design time versus being able to have the latest __________ (insert material item here) the design experience tends to loose out.
When ever I start a new design I like to pose the question to the Client - If you had a million dollars to spend anyway you want, what would you have or do (this is assuming that the budget is below a million dollars to begign with and that would be a large un-attainable number). This helps people to take the blinders off and think outside the box. Most people when dreaming of an addition or renovation tend to think "just enough". The believe that their true dream would be too expensive or unrealistic that they have already shot down most of the good ideas before they even get to the design process. By removing the blinders we are able to dig deeper and hopefully the resulting design brings their dreams to reality. Clients will come up with ideas that they never had thought possible. Not everything is attainable but there is more than one way to do something so you will suprised with what you can do.
An important design step is to remember that the Client is actually part of the Design Team. As Designers we are interpreting the Clients dreams and expectations and then creating a solution based on their needs and wants. With all of todays TV reality based design programs I would love to see the true reactions of the homeowners. One third of the design process is the Preliminary Design stage where we come up with possible solutions and some are embraced and some are rejected (some more emphatically then others). With true design being a reaction to your presentations how can the evolution of the project exist without having the full design team present.
Love and Hate are two extreme human emotions - on either end of the spectrum. Immediately upon seeing something you get a response either positively or negatively. You might not know why you like or dislike something but you just know that you do. In the design process I ask Clients to start two folders and put images or concepts in each. You can probably guess what the names on the folders are. As we go through the design process these image folders help to shape the resulting design solutions. If you don't like glass blocks and everytime you come across an image of a glass block window it is filed in the hate file I better not come back to you with a design that has glass blocks as a predomenant design feature.
Back to our project, like I said it should be easy to design our addition. Well... maybe not. When you aren't constrained by an outside source like design fees and you have some time to really dream - what would you do.
When ever I start a new design I like to pose the question to the Client - If you had a million dollars to spend anyway you want, what would you have or do (this is assuming that the budget is below a million dollars to begign with and that would be a large un-attainable number). This helps people to take the blinders off and think outside the box. Most people when dreaming of an addition or renovation tend to think "just enough". The believe that their true dream would be too expensive or unrealistic that they have already shot down most of the good ideas before they even get to the design process. By removing the blinders we are able to dig deeper and hopefully the resulting design brings their dreams to reality. Clients will come up with ideas that they never had thought possible. Not everything is attainable but there is more than one way to do something so you will suprised with what you can do.
An important design step is to remember that the Client is actually part of the Design Team. As Designers we are interpreting the Clients dreams and expectations and then creating a solution based on their needs and wants. With all of todays TV reality based design programs I would love to see the true reactions of the homeowners. One third of the design process is the Preliminary Design stage where we come up with possible solutions and some are embraced and some are rejected (some more emphatically then others). With true design being a reaction to your presentations how can the evolution of the project exist without having the full design team present.
Love and Hate are two extreme human emotions - on either end of the spectrum. Immediately upon seeing something you get a response either positively or negatively. You might not know why you like or dislike something but you just know that you do. In the design process I ask Clients to start two folders and put images or concepts in each. You can probably guess what the names on the folders are. As we go through the design process these image folders help to shape the resulting design solutions. If you don't like glass blocks and everytime you come across an image of a glass block window it is filed in the hate file I better not come back to you with a design that has glass blocks as a predomenant design feature.
Back to our project, like I said it should be easy to design our addition. Well... maybe not. When you aren't constrained by an outside source like design fees and you have some time to really dream - what would you do.
Renovations
To renovate or not to renovate. That was our dilema. At 1150 sq ft our house is a well planned 1955 bungalow. The kitchen is small and dated but it is functional and in needs of an overhaul. The bedrooms while smallish by todays standards are generous for their time. The basement is partially finished and is perfect for the kids to entertain and have fun. We could always use more space but that is as much a product of where we are as a society as it is with needs.
In the spring of 2007 a house with the identical foot print of our house and similar finished conditions sold one bay over. The selling price was over 200% higher than what we had paid when we bought in 2002 so it started the ball rolling. Our original plan when we moved back to Winnipeg had been to buy a house, find a school and then move closer to the school. Instead we found a house that worked, we found a neighborhood that was perfect and decided to stay. To sell now means we would have to buy a new house that probably wouldn't have as many positives and we would be spending the next year and probably $50k in renovations and landscpaing to make it livable. The seeds of a renovation were planted.
Beginnings
This is it. After many delays I finally decided to actually sit down and try and record the renovations to our house and other ADI group projects. Hopefully I will get in the habit of having a daily report - the updates, the status and the pictures. We shall see. I will try and update everything in a couple of posts over this weekend and then stay current from there on in.
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