Pattern Builders: 2 posts from December 2009

Since our October charrette for the Lake House project, we have met with the client a few times and developed the following sketches.

bird's eye isometric

I really wrestled with the curve; debating whether was a good idea or some purely artificial construct owing to AutoCad. If it was the latter, it was going to have to go away. Anything, really, may be buildable, but we wanted clear answers for what the curve did for the project, how we came to it, and what it meant for costs and other construction issues.

first floor plan

The curve was generated by a desire to resolve many angles on the site, to bend the home and focus its presence on an arriving party, make the most of the site's best views, gracefully resolve garage access issues, and bend its windward side into what can be severe headwinds - those were fundamentally very good reasons for it.

second floor plan

The curve also stretches out the lakeside edge of the home to give a greater than 180 degree view, and seemed to draw one into and through the home...

kitchen from lake room

...while adding a pleasant dimension and character to the interior and exterior. The kitchen evolved to include a banquette or booth for built-in seating to capture sunrises through the forest trees beyond.

lakeside arcade

History was reassuring with its many historic examples of buildings curved for both formal and fanciful reasons such as St. Peter's square and Marie Antoinette's cottage, Petit Hameau.

lake room

Curves have since become a larger theme here. I'm hoping to use at least 2 trees from the site to make the lakeside posts and exterior braces, and provide a flitch-sawn, curved, overhead girt in the lake room above. A gentle curve on the lakeside window muntins might be very nice, too.

So, we feel that the curve's benefits appear to outweigh the costs. It reflects forms on the site, there were some good reasons for it, it makes fun spaces, and we know we can build the curved walls and roof. We've decided to keep moving forward with it and see how it comes together.

The sketches above are all freehand studies and will continue to evolve especially as I focus next on the structure and details of the home.

And I can't wait to see what the Master Suite's timber frame wants to be...

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).