A Good Architect-or-Why you should hire one.

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.

the cost of power

Living in New England I do get tired of the rampant NIMBYism that goes on here. Wind power is a perfect example. We would rather get our power from coal and let other people deal with all the mining related issues which seem to me to be far more serious than the negative issues associated with wind. Most of those people who have to deal with the negative issues related to coal are poor and so they have much less political power than us middle class New Englanders. I suspect most of them would be happy to get their mountains back and put turbines on the ridges.

"Finally" by Dana Wigdor

This is a painting from a series by Dana Wigdor that I have long admired for its "Bluetime" feel and its sense of fun. It now resides in my office. I find that art that means the most to me is very strong on mood rather than emotion. Often, art makes me feel the urge to explore my own creativity. I left art school after just one year due to the in-bred nature of the particular school I was going to. I realized that I was better off pursuing an alternative education path and keeping my art personal. I haven't done a very good job of pursuing my art outside of architecture. (or my music either) Maybe it is time to get some canvas and brushes.

Typical Simple Construction Drawing Set

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.

Business of Architecture

Here is a good article by Milton "Greg" Grew for biznik about the biz of architecture. I quick must read for other sole and small practitioners out there.

Vermont Simple House 1 stock plans are finished !

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.

New Website for Bluetime Collaborative (swinburnearchitect.com)

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.

Old Fashioned Kitchens

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.

Why there isn't a market for modern homes

A very good article in the Washington Post by Roger K. Lewis on public perceptions of modern architectureWhy there isn't a market for modern homes

Sizing a New House

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.

Modern vs Conservative (neo-traditional)

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.

How to become an architect

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!

Charlotte and Papa Art

I am a strong believer in not sitting your kid down and telling him to do "art" Charlotte (age 3 1/2) and I have been collaborating on a series of paintings.

Know When to Run

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.

Step Two in Design Process

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.

Octagon Timber Frame Outbuilding

A recent small project to house a Mongolian "ger"

Providence House Progress

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.

EBN on Passive House

Environmental Building News has a very thorough article on Passive house system and its relevance in North America. This is a very good and current third party state of the state of the art in energy efficient residential construction. Passive house represents an important step towards a zero energy home and meeting the 2030 challenge:The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings and major renovations shall be increased to:

60% in 2010 70% in 2015 80% in 2020 90% in 2025 Carbon-neutral in 2030 (using no fossil fuel GHG emitting energy to operate)..

Make that a Barn/Studio Addition