Setting your intentions prior to construction.
Design means....
Dreaming - “I just need to have heated floors in my bathroom!”
Hating - “It’s so annoying that I can’t open my current corner cabinet door past 90 degrees…plus there’s so much dead space."
Learning - “I had no idea how important whole-house ventilation can be.”
Changes to design intent made before construction can be absorbed with relatively little impact on cost or schedule. Made in-process or at the end, they become progressively more difficult and exponentially more expensive.
Design is a balance between aesthetics and function
Design for your construction project will include some or all of the following considerations:
- What materials are chosen and why. (How resilient are they to normal use? How intensive are they to install? How easily can they be repaired or replaced in the future?)
- Use of space. Attention is given not only to the layout of a kitchen, for example, but also where art will be hung in the dining and living rooms; and care taken that the flow of the furniture aligns with lighting, power, windows, doors, and supply and return air grilles
- Consideration for the longevity and durability of the building envelope
- How well fresh air is distributed to living spaces.
- How materials meet and interact. Does it look intentional or accidental
- How the occupant will come in contact with, and move comfortably through, the space
- The impact of light. What time of day particular rooms receive natural light? What measures need to be taken to mitigate unwanted heat gain from windows?
- Scale and proportionality. Do the design elements fit the house and work well with each other?
If you hadn’t stopped to think about some of these elements, we’re not surprised! In fact, this list could be considered the tip of an iceberg.
In the words of a Design Professional we trust, “There are literally thousands of decisions that need to be made. The right team of professionals will manage and expertly guide you through them, ensuring that the integrity of the design is both established and kept so the client gets what they hoped for – and often more than they imagined.”