Yesterday, I posted about the functional features of an outdoor space to create a backyard escape. Today’s post is about how to make an outdoor space livable and most importantly fun. Heat and Cool the Outdoors So, how do you heat and cool a great indoor/outdoor space? Better yet, how do you best heat and…
Nearly all of our residential projects include backyard resorts. This project includes a pool, expanded upper open porch with see-through fireplace, a lower indoor/outdoor place with kitchen, pizza oven, and accordion door unit. The carpentry and masonry compliment the great design by Jones Pierce’s Angel Shockey. With Angel at the helm, successful design was a…
A few months ago, we discovered a Solar Tax Credit hack, and we’d love to help you take advantage of the opportunity. The federal solar tax credit, also known as the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) allows solar array customers to deduct 30% of the cost of installing a solar energy system from their federal taxes. The…
What is the right prescription for southern high performance residential architectural design and building? In our evolving practice we now recommend a prescription of high-performance solutions on every project. From a humble renovation to custom new home built to Passive House criteria we consider features in an following order of priority according to our client’s…
Is it possible to enjoy of journey? We’ve all heard the horror stories—budget over runs, delays due to poor planning, small details ignored during design becoming emergency decisions during construction, and on and on and on. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. Yet, the journey of creating a new space or transforming an old…
We think our clients want to integrate project management technology with the project process so they can be aware of what is going on, feel included, and communicate on their time. We want to create a work around to avoid common information sharing problems when building residential custom architecture? Clients typically focus on the project when our office…
Can you fast track construction? Is it safe? The project has the Team in place. The design was adjusted to pricing reality. Owner has agreed to a price based on a design, assumptions and allowances. Is it possible to start a fast track building process understanding the need to speed while finishing construction documents? Like…
Reality check Successful projects need a reality check before finalizing the construction package at about the 50% complete point in the design process. The design team will help establish allowance amounts for unselected items that will satisfy the client’s goals about quality without having to make all selections and designing all detail. The reality check…
Teamwork At a recent grand opening we celebrated the 100% completion pf a residential project and the great results of teamwork. It was hard to remember who on the team was most responsible for driving the design. The architectural principle could see the initial ideas were carried through design and construction. The Project Architect controlled…
What is project stewardship mean? Sometimes project stewardship is literal; like when we were recently commissioned for our 5th project for the 3rd owner of the same property. Other times the project stewardship involves helping clients make good long-term decisions about using advanced building science strategies to create healthier, more resilient, lower operating cost buildings….