Pattern Builders: lake house

All-nighters like this one will always be an enjoyable part of my business. Last weekend, Pattern Builders held an intensive on-site design charrette for a new home project in New York.

Western NY has an enchanting geology and spectacular fall

The new home will sit atop a shale-cliffed site on the shore of Lake Erie. The project owners will use their new home primarily as a summer retreat, and in several or more years as a full-time residence. Many others have been similarly inspired, and we found ourselves not far from Frank Lloyd Wright's celebrated Graycliff summer home for Isabelle and Darwin Martin.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Graycliff

That's quite a neighborly precedent. So we thought it was only appropriate to follow a long tradition and organize an on-site design charrette where we could verify existing conditions, gather inspiration, and respond directly to the site as we put our initial thoughts on paper.

Everything about a site is important. The climate, seasons, orientation, geology, plants, animals, access, local resources, and history - in both geologic and human scales - contribute many factors to consider. Overlay the client's goals, local patterns and materials, and you're off to a good, inspirational start.

view from the site, looking west

I have been working on conceptual ideas for the project for over a year, and have had many conversations with the clients and visits to the site in every season order to prepare for this charrette. While not always possible, it was certainly helpful in this case.

Last Friday afternoon, in about 4 hours, John Nahra and I set up a fully functioning studio space in a bungalow on the property. We used a picnic table as our computer/printer/scanner station, sawhorses topped with a sheet of plywood made an excellent model/cutting table and platform for a portable drafting board, and another portable desk was set up for sketching and watercolor paintings.

John and Scott in our temporary studio

After setting up our temporary studio and walking the site for several hours, we picked up the third member of our crew, Scott Aker, at the airport, grabbed our final items at the local Home Depot, and met with our client over dinner at the Dog Bar in West Falls, New York. The clients hadn't met John or Scott before then, so this was a great time to get acquainted. We enjoyed a nice dinner and a few Canadian beers while we reviewed our goals, building program, and conceptual ideas.

Saturday morning at 5:30 AM, we loaded up with coffee, headed to the site, and began our 30-hour charrette.

Walking the waterfront site at sunrise, with more coffee, we established a division of responsibilities according to a flexible work plan while we also verified compass orientation, approach, views, elevation, wind, etc.

Sunday morning, after 30 hours of effort, we produced the following initial conceptual boards. We reviewed our work over brunch at our little bungalow studio while several guests drifted in and out (sleepless, so did we).