Every time I watch Alberto Biagetti’s home tour I want to convert my house into an art museum. Seven samples in, I’ve finally found the right white. Now all that’s left is the painting. And the paintings.
Category Archives: Better
Reset House kitchen
Reset House kitchen, Option 1 (click for enlarged slideshow)
Options abound for kitchens! In the Reset House, the decision for the final (above) was based on my own particular direction for the home. But I wanted to share some more to illustrate how many just a nine feet long strip of casework can fulfill. Obviously, for any kitchen larger, there are nearly limitless possibilities. Take a look at a concept for a modern kitchen design I recently modeled for one example.
In the conclusion above, the decision was made to include a complete range and oven but only a half size refrigerator and small sink. This is a little out of balance for the average family. These particular selections are designed for two teenagers living in the Reset House on the same property as their parent’s house. They’ll certainly need a microwave and refrigeration space for drinks. A full oven can heat plenty of pizzas and other pre-cooked meals from the grocery store (or perhaps their mother). A small sink is adequate for washing a few dishes and produce. It is likely the microwave will get substantial use, but the burners less often, perhaps only occasionally heating water or a frying pan.
Reset House kitchen, Option 2 (click for enlarged slideshow)
Reducing the kitchen appliances further, the range and oven are eliminated in favor of a toaster oven. Many college students are able to survive for years with this arrangement. A hot plate can be plugged in to complete this limited “kitchen.”
Reset House kitchen, Option 3 (click for enlarged slideshow)
Going the other direction results in a full refrigerator-freezer combination and a double sink. Outside of hand washing the dishes, this is a pretty standard set of basic appliances. Unfortunately, now the counter space is incredibly limited. A fold out table or bar from nearby would be a help in food prep, but this kitchen would be unbalanced for practical use without incorporating the workspace and table areas to assist. Notice that the full size refrigerator requires removing the workspace to open the door, and it still sits in front of the window a couple of inches.
Reset House kitchen, Option 4 (click for enlarged slideshow)
With a dishwasher, the tiny kitchen looks stuffed with stainless steel. The drop-in cutting board in one side of the sink provides a little more work area. As in the previous example, a fold-out bar or worktop would greatly assist in providing more practical work area. The stove is again to the left so that only the oven door is obstructed by the stair for optimal day-night sequencing as discussed in the Reset House article on Overlapping Spaces.
Reset House kitchen, Option 5 (click for enlarged slideshow)
In the most trimmed version of the kitchen, the upper cabinets are replaced by open shelving. These are designed to eliminate vertical supports which is why they are a little thicker than standard shelves. This does not produce much of a space savings, but certainly produces a cost savings. Wall cabinets are more than $200 per lineal foot but shelves less than half that. Across nine feet this produces almost $1,000 in savings. There is less possible savings in the lower base cabinets in replacement with shelves because the counter requires significant support and the boxes of the base do this very efficiently.
This exploration focused on only basic casework configurations and appliances. Kitchen design is full of possibilities. Drawers, special storage racks, trash compactors, clever space savers, lighting, sinks, faucet fixtures, gas ranges, and islands only scratch the surface of the palette of options.
And I haven’t even mentioned finishes. Simple material selections are appropriate for this tiny house. But a larger kitchen would want a more complex palette to expand the tone and character of the space in a house used more than any other.
Continue to follow the articles here or reference the Reset House category to see the entire collection.
Porsche by Design
What does Porsche have to do with architecture?
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s 1898 electric car, the “P1.”[ref] The front is to the left (note the steering wheel at top). The motor and slightly larger drive wheels are on the right, at the rear of the car, like his future designs for the original VW Beetle and the Porsche 911 model still sold today.
In 1898, Ferdinand Porsche designed his first automobile at just 22 years old. He drove it to win a 24 mile car race and finished 18 minutes ahead of second place, despite half the field retiring from technical issues. He called it the “P1,” as if to designate it the first in a long line of expected successors. The most interesting part? It was electric.[ref]
Porsche continues using numbers to identify models today. Although many have recently begun sporting names as well, enthusiasts still refer to the numbers because they more clearly explain the evolutionary results of development. This is striking because it acknowledges Porsche’s insistance on continually improving through an iterative development process. Models are not simply scratched each time new thinking comes along. Instead, model numbers are advanced or referenced to designate the trail of continuing exploration, investigation, and testing.
This is exactly how better architecture works.
Design begins even before sketching. Research and analysis are conducted on the site, the code, the budget, and the schedule before resolving aesthetics. (See Dream for some insights about this early process.) I begin by sitting down with clients to explore and survey the existing facts and discuss ideas before deciding what the building will look like.
Once these factors are properly considered, they begin to contribute to the design. A series of investigative revision cycles evolve the forms and materials within the context and bounds already established. The project grows and develops into maturity from a framework rather than jumping out of inspiration. The end isn’t reached until all the interests and concerns have been accounted for and balanced along the way.
1965 Porsche 904/6 prototype. Photo by SteveHallArchitecture.
Porsche’s iterative approach to design illustrates form following function as well as any example from architecture. Obviously, a high performance automobile can not just look fast. It must also be fast. This requires efficiency. To accomplish the purpose, both mechanicals and bodywork must be simple and reliable. Even in 1898, Porsche understood that performance is equally as important as finishing the race!
The cars above and below are only six years apart. There is a strong heritage in the later car from the earlier. How many visual similarities can you spot? Enthusiasts can quickly cite over a dozen. My photograph of the 1968 Porsche 908 model stitches them together even more closely. See any more? Email me and I’ll send you my list. You may even spot a few similarities to the VW Beetle!
1971 Porsche 917K. Photo by SteveHallArchitecture.
Despite automobile design following what seems to be a pretty standard formula, Porsche proves that success is a constantly refining process. Just a few years later, at the end of an era in the 1973 oil crisis, the Porsche 917 became the most feared racing car in the world. With twice as much power as today’s Formula 1 and NASCAR entries, it was capable of 260 miles per hour despite pre-computer aerodynamics and materials. Fortunately, Porsche didn’t stop there.
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 R Flywheel hybrid with over 600 horsepower. Photo by SteveHallArchitecture.
Now more than a century after Dr. Porsche’s first electric, the company is still exploring. Two current models, deceptively called “hybrids,” create engine power with flywheels and braking in addition to more conventional hybrid battery and electric motor systems. The racing version above has five times the power of a Toyota Prius. The remarkable new Porsche 918 road car has almost seven times the power (a staggering 887 horsepower) at 78 miles per gallon!
As an architect, I find the processes for continual advancement by Porsche inspiring. Buildings and architecture have not progressed enough in a hundred years. There are many basic technologies that have not been incorporated into homes and commercial buildings despite the possibility of ten times energy savings. Would you join me in pursuing better design?
This article was inspired by my visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art exhibit entitled Porsche by Design. See my photographs of all the cars on display at my Porsche by Design Pinterest pin board.
Big Problems Little Projects
Fabian Oefner’s exploding paint balloons (as seen on Wired)
Even tiny projects are rarely simple. The type I run into most often are so small that no architect has been involved. Unfortunately, the encounter is after it has unraveled. Then, my ability to proactively solve problems is limited, and the fix ends up being more expensive and time consuming.
In Code Check, I introduced some general areas of concern for a typical small project. I can illustrate three specific situations related to toilet fixtures that often crop up on projects in spaces constructed only five or more years ago.
As mentioned in the previous articles, codes are changing all the time. North Carolina discarded its customized accessibility code in 2009 to adopt the national code, ANSI 117.1. There are dozens of differences between the two.
Toilet clearance change
One of these is the required clearance beside an accessible toilet. The previous code required only 48″ clear around the toilet fixture. The lavatory was allowed to overlap the 60″ toilet clearance by 12″. But in the current code, the full 60″ must be preserved. This means that any single space bathroom completed just five years ago will very likely require adjustments to achieve compliance.
Unfortunately, this implies that either the toilet or the lavatory must be relocated along with several adjacent walls, toilet accessories, and maybe the door. In one of my recent projects, the lavatory was adjacent an exterior wall where it couldn’t move farther away from the toilet. So the toilet had to be relocated instead.
This is expensive. It requires tearing out the concrete slab, existing wall, door, water supply, vent pipe, grab bars, and toilet accessories. The under-slab sanitary drain must be re-worked, and the concrete slab patched back. Then wall studs, drywall, toilet accessories, ceiling, paint, and a door are installed to get back to a finished condition. Sometimes even the lighting and HVAC venting must be re-worked as well. Expect something like this to cost $10,000 or more. All because of a 12″ code change!
Toilet grab bar dimensions
Another recent code change is the additional requirement for a vertical grab bar on the side of a toilet. This is an inexpensive change since only the bar and its installation are required. On rare occasions, a toilet accessory like a toilet paper dispenser may interfere with the required location and also need to be adjusted.
Toilet fixture count requirements
The building code has a number of major occupancy classifications with further minor use type stipulations. Together, they specify the maximum quantity of occupants in any given space. The plumbing code then has a table which requires the minimum number of required plumbing fixtures based on this calculated occupancy. In the table excerpt above, the water closet quantities required are shown for the number of occupants in Business (B) and Mercantile (M) occupancies.
As you can see, the quantities differ significantly. A typical calculation would require only one fixture for a ground floor retail space of 15,000 SF. That same space, used for exercise, would require seven water closets.
Any change in occupancy requires recalculation of the required number of toilets. Even a seemlingly minor change can increase the number of required toilets, lavatories, or drinking fountains.
I would like to be able to help more building owners and tenants navigate code issues. It is simple to run just a short analysis and determine the feasibility of any required changes before signing a lease or starting a renovation!
Pinteresting Wood Screens
Studio R / Marcio Kogan
Wood screens are a dynamic way to create a partition. Light is soft and filtered as it passes through it. The material itself is organic with grain and subtle texture that continue to be interesting up close or far away. I love them.
There is a tremendous strength in visual images without words. Pinterest is a powerful visual catalog of ideas. I have recently begun to assemble pins there on wood screens. There are over 300 images to date, so rather than post them all here, I’d encourage you to browse my Pinterest collection.
If you start a Pinterest account, you will be assembling pins in tiles like these from content all over the web. It isn’t necessary to upload your own content, although you can if you want. You can easily re-pin other people’s pins, follow one of their collections, or follow them.
Follow Steve Hall Architecture’s board Wood Screens on Pinterest.
A collection of pins is called a board. This is the real power of Pinterest. I make boards for topics of interest and can create them for any specific project or client, even a specific color.
Although it started out mainly for recipes and wedding ideas, Pinterest has grown rapidly. It now has over 70 million users and is ranked by eBizMBA and GeekWire among the top five most used social media sites, surpassing Twitter.
Take a look at Pinterest. If you are visually oriented, it may be a simpler tool to assemble your ideas than writing notes or bookmarks. I’ll be posting more of my finds and collections here in future articles. For now, please leave a comment below or contact me if you have a suggestion for a board.