How this award-winning Architect designs homes

Summary

In this insightful discussion, an architect shares his creative process, revealing the journey from concept to final design. He emphasizes the importance of understanding client needs, site analysis, and the iterative nature of design. The conversation highlights the architect's use of sketching and 3D modeling to explore ideas and communicate them effectively. The architect also discusses the significance of engaging clients in the design process, budget considerations, and the collaborative role of builders. The script provides a behind-the-scenes look at the architectural profession, showcasing the blend of art and science in creating meaningful spaces.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker's interest in architecture was sparked by a childhood fascination with design and drawing, particularly influenced by a book on tree houses.
• 🎨 The process of architecture is more intriguing to the speaker than just the end product, emphasizing the journey from concept to completion.
• 📚 Continuous drawing is recommended for developing architectural skills, regardless of age, to maintain and improve one's drawing abilities.
• 🖌️ The speaker advocates for a loose and fun approach to drawing, especially when starting with a blank page, using tools like fat markers.
• 🛠️ SketchUp is highlighted as a valuable tool for the speaker due to its intuitive nature, ease of use, and ability to quickly iterate on design ideas.
• 🏗️ The speaker's workflow begins with understanding the client and their site, focusing on the client's connection to the property and their needs.
• 🌐 The design process is described as an iterative one, involving gathering information and gradually refining it into a coherent design narrative.
• 🏡 Residential architecture is valued for its ability to tell a unique story for each client, setting it apart from a generic house design.
• 📈 The importance of budget considerations from the outset of a project is emphasized to ensure the design is feasible and meets the client's financial expectations.
• 🤝 Collaboration with builders and contractors from the early stages is advocated for, to ensure their input and buy-in to the design process.
• 📚 The speaker references 'The Good House' as a favorite resource that discusses using contrast in design to create a compelling narrative.

Q & A

What sparked the architect's initial interest in design?

The architect's interest in design began with drawing, specifically after finding a book on tree houses at the public library in Zanesville.

How does the architect describe the process of arriving at the final architectural product?

The architect finds the process of arriving at the final product more interesting than the end product itself, emphasizing the journey from sketches to the final design.

What does the architect suggest for someone looking to improve their architectural drawing skills?

The architect advises to 'just keep drawing' and not to stop, as the skill level will remain stagnant if one stops practicing.

What role does storytelling play in the architect's design process?

Storytelling is crucial in the architect's design process as it helps to synthesize disparate information and create a narrative that resonates with the client.

How does the architect approach the initial design sketches?

The architect starts with simple sketches and site diagrams, gradually developing the design and involving the client in the iterative process.

What software does the architect recommend for architectural modeling and sketching?

The architect recommends SketchUp for its ease of use, intuitive interface, and the ability to quickly test design ideas.

How does the architect integrate the client's personal story into the design?

The architect listens to the client's experiences and desires, such as wanting to stargaze with their daughters, and incorporates these elements into the design narrative.

What is the architect's approach to handling different views and orientations in a design?

The architect considers the distinct characteristics of each view and orientation, assigning appropriate functions to different parts of the house based on these attributes.

How does the architect ensure that the design is within the client's budget?

The architect discusses budget from the beginning and uses the information from ongoing projects to give the client a realistic expectation of costs.

What is the significance of involving the contractor early in the design process according to the architect?

Involving the contractor early allows them to have input and feel a sense of ownership over the project, which can lead to better collaboration and execution.

What book does the architect recommend for understanding design principles and narratives?

The architect recommends 'The Good House' for its insights on using contrast as a design tool and developing narratives in architecture.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 The Artistic Origins of Architectural Passion

The speaker reflects on their friend's perception of architecture as a mysterious and intriguing field, similar to the 'dark arts', and how this curiosity aligns with their own interest in the process of design rather than just the final product. They recount their childhood fascination with drawing and design, sparked by a book on treehouses, and how this early exposure to design principles influenced their career path. The speaker emphasizes the importance of continuous drawing practice for aspiring architects, sharing personal anecdotes about the evolution of their sketching skills and the role of sketching in their professional life, including the use of 3D modeling and hand sketching to convey design ideas effectively.

05:02

🌐 Embracing the Design Process: From Site to Sketch

This paragraph delves into the speaker's typical workflow when engaging with new clients. It begins with an initial video conference to understand the client's needs and site characteristics. The speaker highlights the importance of site appreciation and the iterative design process, which involves gathering information, asking questions, and gradually refining the design. They discuss the significance of understanding the site's restrictions, the client's tastes, budget, and legal regulations in shaping the design. The narrative approach to architecture is underscored, where the architect's role is to synthesize various inputs into a coherent and compelling story that resonates with the client.

10:03

🏡 Crafting a Personal Haven: The Englishman Bay Retreat

The speaker narrates the conceptual journey of designing the Englishman Bay Retreat, a project deeply influenced by the client's personal history and emotional connection to the site. They describe the client's vision of creating a special place for family bonding, inspired by childhood memories and the desire to stargaze with his daughters. The design process involved understanding the site's unique features, such as the moss-covered boulders and the trail穿过 the woods, which became integral to the design narrative. The speaker discusses the evolution of the design from initial sketches to a U-shaped plan that embraced the site's natural elements and the client's emotional needs.

15:03

📈 Balancing Creativity and Client Involvement in Design

This section focuses on the importance of involving clients in the design process to ensure they feel part of the journey. The speaker discusses the use of sketching as a tool for client engagement, allowing them to contribute their interpretations and ideas. They describe the iterative presentation process, starting with site plans and gradually introducing more detailed elements like floor plans and perspectives. The speaker emphasizes the need to present multiple design schemes to clients, enabling them to explore different possibilities and make informed decisions.

20:05

🛠️ Integrating Three-Dimensional Thinking in Design

The speaker elaborates on the importance of three-dimensional thinking in architectural design, explaining how they approach the design process by first considering the site and plan before moving on to massing and volume. They discuss the use of simple forms and the influence of site features on the design's geometry. The speaker also touches on practical considerations such as budget and the involvement of the construction team from the early stages of the design process, highlighting the collaborative nature of architecture.

25:05

📚 Architectural Inspiration and Design Philosophy

In the final paragraph, the speaker shares insights into their favorite resources and design philosophies that inform their work. They mention a book that discusses the use of contrast in design and how understanding these principles can help create a narrative that clients can relate to. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of considering all senses in the design process, not just sight, to create a rich and immersive experience for the client. The conversation concludes with an appreciation for the speaker's approach to design and their ability to articulate their process clearly and engagingly.

Keywords

💡Architecture

Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. In the video, the term is central to the theme, as the speaker discusses the process of architectural design and the evolution from concept to final product. The script mentions how architecture can be likened to 'the dark arts' due to its complex and mysterious nature to those outside the field.

💡Design Process

The design process refers to the series of steps involved in creating a functional and aesthetically pleasing structure. The video emphasizes the iterative and incremental nature of this process, highlighting the importance of understanding the client's needs, the site's characteristics, and the constraints of the project. The script describes how the process involves gathering information and gradually refining ideas to arrive at a final design.

💡Sketching

Sketching is the act of creating rough, preliminary drawings to explore and communicate design ideas. The script frequently mentions sketching as a vital tool in the architect's arsenal, allowing for quick ideation and the ability to convey concepts to clients. It is portrayed as an essential skill that can help bring a design to life and make it relatable.

💡Inspiration

Inspiration refers to the influence or idea that causes someone to attempt to achieve or create something. In the context of the video, the speaker talks about finding inspiration in various forms, such as treehouse books and other architects' sketches, which motivate them to improve their own architectural designs and drawings.

💡Treehouse

A treehouse is a small structure built in the branches of a tree or on a platform supported by the trunk. The script uses the treehouse as a metaphor for the type of architecture the speaker aspires to create – something that is elevated, connected to nature, and evokes a sense of wonder and exploration. The client's desire for a space where he could stargaze with his daughters is likened to the experience of being in a treehouse.

💡Iterative Process

An iterative process is a series of repeated steps that refine and improve a design or idea over time. The video script discusses the importance of this approach in architecture, where initial concepts are tested, modified, and gradually developed into a final design that meets the client's needs and the project's constraints.

💡Conceptual Design

Conceptual design involves creating a preliminary idea or concept for a project, which can be expressed through sketches or models. The script mentions the use of conceptual design as a starting point, where architects begin with a blank page and develop ideas based on the site, client's preferences, and other factors.

💡Site Analysis

Site analysis is the process of evaluating the physical and environmental characteristics of a location where a building or structure will be constructed. The video script describes how architects use site analysis to inform their design decisions, taking into account factors such as solar orientation, wind patterns, and views.

💡3D Modeling

3D modeling is the creation of a three-dimensional representation of an object or environment. In the script, the speaker discusses using 3D modeling software like SketchUp to visualize and refine architectural designs, allowing them to test ideas quickly and adjust the design based on the model's output.

💡Contrast

Contrast in architecture refers to the juxtaposition of different elements, such as light and dark, to create visual interest and define spaces. The script mentions a book called 'The Good House' that discusses using contrast as a design tool, which helps in developing a narrative for the building and making the design process less abstract for clients.

Highlights

The importance of understanding the process behind architectural designs, not just the end product.

The speaker's love for design began with drawing and a book about tree houses.

The inspiration from treehouse book drawings and the desire to improve architectural sketching skills.

The advice to architecture students to keep drawing and not to stop, regardless of age.

Using 3D modeling and hand sketching to sell designs to partners in a firm.

The preference for SketchUp for its intuitiveness and ease of use in conceptual design.

The benefits of SketchUp in allowing designers to explore proportions and perspectives.

Incorporating material sizes in 3D models to quickly test design ideas.

The workflow starting with video conferencing and getting to know clients and their sites.

The significance of the client's appreciation for their property in the design process.

The iterative process of design where every meeting reveals more about the client and site.

The challenge of balancing the architect's vision with the client's expectations and budget.

The use of site analysis and the importance of understanding the site's restrictions and opportunities.

The narrative quality of architecture and how it separates it from mere house design.

The process of presenting multiple design schemes to clients to guide their decision-making.

The importance of involving the contractor early in the design process for input and team collaboration.

The use of books and resources for design inspiration and methodology, such as 'The Good House'.

The speaker's approach to starting with a simple plan and gradually adding complexity to avoid paralysis.

The emphasis on considering all senses in the design process, not just visual aesthetics.

The necessity of discussing budget constraints from the outset to avoid inefficiencies.

Transcripts

but i have a friend who watched one of

my recent videos he's like you know

architecture might as well be like the

dark arts he's like i have no idea

how it comes into being rather than just

the end product the glossy photos

um it's so much more interesting to me

to to learn about

how you arrived at that final product

growing up you know i think that is like

where my love of maybe design began

and it started probably with drawing i

remember walking to main street

in zanesville to the public library

finding a book

and the book was called you know tree

houses that you can build

the drawings in the book are amazing and

it just captured

captured my attention

when i see your sketches that they make

me want to be

a better architect they make me want to

draw they they draw me in

in a way probably not dissimilar to the

way that the sort of treehouse book drew

you in

but i see that and i'm like yeah that's

why i did this because

i want to be able to draw like that and

i look at my sketches and i say

my sketches don't measure up to this for

people who look at your sketches in the

same way that i do

and and find them inspiring is it

literally just

finding inspiration somewhere and trying

to copy or do you

do what are resources that people can

use if they're interested

in kind of replicating your style like

how would someone do that you know what

i i tell

our staff members and i tell my daughter

and you know

architecture students i've run into is

just don't stop drawing

i i feel like you will draw as well

as you drew when you stopped drawing

so you could be 50 if you stopped

drawing when you were eight

you'd still draw like an eight-year-old

so

you know just keep drawing just don't

stop and

as much as it it's like daunting to look

at the blank piece of paper

be loose about it sure and you know use

a fat marker

and have fun if you want to do good

design

and and you can be fasted at the same

time you don't have to like

explain it to anybody you know i worked

at a 50 person firm out of school

and it was not as design driven as we

are now

so if you wanted to do design you had to

be quick

otherwise you had people saying hey

you're spending too much time there i

worked for 150 person firm right out of

school and i had the very same

experience i started modeling the stuff

in 3d and then hand sketching over it

because it's the hand sketches that sold

it to

all the partners and then once you do

that then you then you get in a little

designer box and they bring you into

the office with all the other partners

and you get to sketch with them

instead of doing the bathroom details

upstairs i'm i'm a big

fan of sketchup there are times where i

can be drawn into

putting too much detail on sketchup but

i want to do enough detail

or enough modeling that i can then take

the pen

and trace yeah and you know explore

uh from that messaging model but what's

great about sketchup is you don't have

to construct the perspective

it's there the proportions you know you

can play with proportions with your pen

but you can you know at least get it

close yeah you know

in a model you can move around it i do

similar things in fact

i'll even model like material sizes so

if i'm checking out board sizes or some

certain kind of detail i'll just copy

that across the face of something

and it ends up being a quick way to test

ideas then of course you're you're

sketching over the top of it right

using it as a base layer it is a good

hack and you can be fast

now i do think there are this was you

know early 2000s when i got into

sketchup so

i think you know nowadays there are

programs that have caught up with it

and you know are you know probably just

as good but for me

i i know it so well it works for me

and it's also the kind of thing that i

find is super intuitive for

people to use and interact with so like

sketchup models you can easily send to

clients

for them to spin around and you know

interact with and you can

sort of have a viewer on your ipad and i

just always found that the learning

curve for that i mean it's free

number one right fast free and easy to

manipulate

intuitive i mean this is just so much

more accessible so yeah i think it's

still pretty relevant actually

what's nice about it i find is and we

use archicad for our construction

documents we're a mac based office okay

purely a mac-based office

and you know we archicad is a monster

and it's super expensive yeah um but if

if you want to do a conceptual

design you know and start with a blank

piece of paper an archicad

it's tough because in comparison to

sketchup you know in archicad if i want

to make a window opening

you know it starts asking archicad

starts asking me a bunch of questions

about the window

you know that i don't want to answer how

thick is the glass

what's the jam thickness you know what's

your sash size

i don't want to go there yet um and

sketchup affords you that opportunity to

just

cut an opening just um be better and

move that wall

yeah so that's why i fell in love with

it

what's a typical workflow for you guys

someone comes to the office and they're

interested in hiring you

walk us through what that process is

like i mean do they have do you guys

have an interview process and i realize

during covid it's probably a little

different but you know do you have a

waiting list like how does it

how does that work you know it starts

out with a video conferencing tool

called go to meeting

we're getting to know our clients as

best we can

you know with that tool um our clients

and their their site

our first you know step is okay

let's walk the property with you usually

our clients are absolutely in love with

their property

and and that's actually a cue for us

like it's a part of what can make a good

good client is an appreciation for what

they have

we try to ask a ton of questions and

then and really that's probably what

we're doing more often than

anything else is teasing out right yeah

like

being open so don't don't show up there

on site with

a solution all right i know what we're

doing here

you know i you know what's funny though

i sometimes i feel like people

have that expectation that as an

architect

you have this special set of eyes that

when you arrive in a place

you immediately know what the right

solution is and so for me it's

oftentimes it's about educating the

client beforehand

about that process that it is this kind

of incremental

iterative process that we learn a little

bit you know

every time we meet together i learn more

about the client i also learn more about

the site by spending time out there or

you know we have to sort of pick and

choose the the sort of overlay of

restrictions that are going to guide the

design process right because you're

you're talking about the site right but

the site has all these this huge set of

restrictions then of course you have

your

your clients tastes and then you have

budgets and you have

like laws and regulations and what you

can and can't do and yeah

so it's it's interesting um to hear you

guys kind of

you guys really zone in on the site as

your sort of first

play in the design process is that right

you're sort of gathering a bunch of

lines

and it sounds simplified the first few

marks that you make on paper

you're going to start making some lines

and you start out with thousands of

lines

and they're all are informed by what you

learned about the person

that you're working for and their site

and so

you know some of those lines might be

you know the solar orientation

you know the wind patterns you know some

of those lines might be

regulatory and what you've learned from

the survey some of those lines might be

bearing points on a particular island

view

or lots of different lines just add up

to this

massive puzzle yeah and

and what your goal of an architect to do

is gather all those lines together

and you know start making those marks on

the blank piece of paper

and then you're slowly pulling out the

ones you don't need anymore until

eventually there's a design revealed

sometimes it's the it's the lines that

you don't draw the information you don't

put in there

that the client then interprets in a

certain way that's the thing that that

moves the design

process forward and i i see so much of

that in your sketches but i also think

this is guy who walks on site and like

that's in his head

like i think that and and i know and i

know better as an architect i really

want to get into that

okay we've we've started gathering all

this information and then at a certain

point

you have to you have to start making the

marks on the paper like i really want to

know

what that process looks like right can

we use englishman bay retreat

as an example how did it come to be what

what did what preconceptions did they

come

to you with if any and how did that

process go

our client at englishman bay i designed

a home for his cousin

and it was you know two miles north of

the site and so

he just out of the blue called us one

day and

he was describing something um that

you know for me uh personally was

exciting and it was because i think

because he was talking about it like

the images that were going through my

head were like swiss family robinson

treehouse you know based on our tree

house discussion earlier you can tell i

was like i was all in

yeah tell me more yeah i came to learn

this later

but he had lost a a daughter

in life um which had to be a tremendous

blow to him

well he had two other you know two

daughters still

in his life and you know obviously his

wife as well and this

place and spending time with them here

in maine on the coast with their family

was super special and you know he didn't

say that in the first conversation what

he talked about was

all these cool things he wanted to do

with his daughters you know

and you know one of the things he

mentioned was sitting under the stars

and looking up at the sky

with a telescope you know and he

described you know opening

opening a hatch on a sailboat

and climbing up to the top deck and

you know being under the stars and a

sleeping bag intent

come on what client says this in the

first phone call

of course i want this project when do we

start yeah

yeah when do we start exactly so you

know the site itself

um has been in his family for a long

time and he sort of grew up

running around in these woods the entire

understory in the in the woods there is

covered with sphagnum moss

and so you're walking around on kind of

the spongy

you know i'm sure you've you've seen it

before it's everywhere yeah yeah

um it is everywhere there and you know

he described

really loving that his parents own

uh cabin in the next property over

and that that's where he had you know as

a kid sort of spent time

they would traverse across the property

that the retreat is on now

to a pebble beach and over time they had

basically worn a path

across this property as i'm thinking

about marks the first marks that you're

making on a page like that pathway

becomes one of those marks right and you

don't know

what that's going to lead to you don't

know what that means here's an edge

yeah you know how do you think of a

puzzle i got to find the edges of the

puzzle totally

yeah yeah um and so that was one edge i

found there's also a very tall

rocky outcrop just as high as the first

floor level

is you know in the house right now which

the house sits up on

steel columns i mean that's a very

conscious decision right

in itself i'd be interested to hear how

that yeah how that happened part of it

was that rocky outcrop

you know influenced that because that

rocky outcrop when you're standing next

to it

you feel kind of in a bit of a

depression for where the house wants to

want it to go sure and so your ability

to sort of

experience the coastline and the water

were you know affected by that

and i would say also it was influenced

by our client in that first conversation

we had about

a tree house yeah essentially it feels

like a bit of a tree house

yeah so you're out on site assimilating

all this information that's coming in

from the client and

you are you have some understanding of

what the program is

i'm assuming at this point right what

spaces are you actually going to be

designing the rough square footage

what does that first kind of conceptual

like are you doing

three concepts are you doing just just

sketching

are you sketching out there are you like

how does that what what are the nuts and

bolts of that process what does that

look like is it three schemes is it

tell me about that it was you know two

schemes

you know the other scheme i essentially

separated

the living space completely separated

the living space

from the bedroom space and they were

sort of two bars if you will

you know connected by a bridge this the

resulting scheme that they sort of fell

in love with

was more of you know still the living

and the bedroom wings were absolutely

separated but it has more of a sort of

courtyard like feel to it yeah um and

it wraps in a use u-shape which

the way i described it to him is that

the u-shape was a

continuation if you will of the trail

along the water that they had worn into

the woods

and i wanted to bring that path or trail

into the house

so that uh you know as you sort of

traverse the circulation of that hue

you are inwardly looking at the rest of

the house and the activity that's going

on in there

and at the same time the trees branches

are brushing against the windows

and you're sort of traversing that you

know coming up with that story

and that narrative is just as important

as the marks you make on paper

so one of the things that i love most

about residential architecture is there

you know rather than the 150 or 50

person firm experience that we had there

where it's all about

slam slam slam get it right this you

have some room

to think and you know conceptualize

and actually put together a story that

someone can really buy into and it

sounds like your client came to you with

sort of uh maybe a kernel of an idea

and it was you who started sort of

writing the plot and infilling the

details and really

coloring the characters in it the

narrative quality of architecture is

what separates it from being just

you know anyone can design a house i

mean we've all lived in homes we all

know what they feel like and we

probably would design one very similar

to what our childhood experience was

because that's home that feels

comfortable but

you know the job of the architect is to

really as you say synthesize

all of this disparate information and

and hang it around a story you know

what makes this place so unique and so

cool and that that i think is a

particular gift of yours to

to be able to look at tho all that

information but then build that story

that resonates with that client so

is the presentation then all hand

sketches is it

like do you like before you know as i'm

looking at some of those sketches that

project

you have like a site analysis that

you're doing like is that literally the

starting point and then you start

developing the floor plans from there

and

elevations or how does it actually come

into being well

just as much as you have to tell a story

and and

come up with a narrative for the design

you don't want to

be so far ahead of your client that they

aren't a part of the process

that's that's what i think uh drawing

has the ability to do

better than a computer can when you are

sketching and drawing

it allows the viewer to fill in the

pieces that aren't

photorealistic with you know their

interpretation

of what they're seeing and you know they

become a part

of iterative process that you're sort of

undertaking

much more so than if you show up and say

hey here's your house it's done

we don't show them everything at the

beginning we got to start with

you know hey here's here's your site

here's

all of the lines that we've sort of

gathered from the survey

from our site visit uh from google earth

when we were on site we noticed there's

this beautiful moss covered boulder

that you know is special and here it is

you know on our drawing

sort of identifying all these things

because what you want to do is you want

them to

kind of be there looking over this with

you and saying oh yeah that's special

that's important

because if you're able to do that then

moving forward they're

they're in the they're in the boat with

you totally you know you don't you don't

want them in the other boat

you know sort of not understanding what

what's happening you want them to be a

part of what's happening

but the other scheme that you had i

presume you you presented both schemes

yeah yeah so what's what's why they get

in one boat and not the other what's the

was it all story or was it the visuals i

mean what's your

what do you think pushed them i i always

i always feel like you almost

have to have uh two or three schemes

to sort of show your client that you

have

proved this out and you may have one

that you want to

sort of guide them to yeah but you can't

get there if you only show them one

i think it would be almost impossible

because they will always be wondering

well was there another solution that we

should have looked at or not yeah

so you've got to show them at least two

or three schemes and the way i look at

it

is you you want to sort of show them

what they're expecting

to see or you perceive they're expecting

but also show them something that um

they weren't expecting it's that one was

two schemes and they pretty

quickly like they just gravitated toward

the the one that you ended up with or

was there was there a back and forth

because sometimes i show them things and

they're like well i definitely don't

like that and that helps to kind of

point you in the right direction too

what happened was on that particular

site okay the rocky outcrop

sits in the sort of middle of

two completely different views okay one

one is wide open ocean where it is

expansive uh windy

noisy waves crashing that rocky outcrop

divided in that wide open somewhat scary

southeast view from the calm

cove much more intimate more

wooded side of you know the other side

of the rocky outcrop

and it was just a sort of natural fit

when i described it to the client

at the first presentation you know the

the scheme that we ended up with

fit that divide much better than the

previous one

sure yeah yeah and you know being able

to say that's where the bedrooms belong

the quiet side and this is where the

living space belongs

big view side noisy side that sold it

you know i think for them

i'm looking at this sort of um

presentation and i don't know if this is

your presentation board but it has

a site plan with the sort of maybe some

of these marks that you're talking about

it's got

prevailing winds it's got the solar

aspect it's got views and things like

that and then you have sort of three

perspective views of the house is that

something you presented to like was that

the presentation

uh yeah i think it was um i think you

know what what ended up happening

in this particular presentation is i

actually flew out to boulder colorado

where they live because at that time we

were

working at such a distance from them and

they could not travel to maine for the

presentation

i felt like i needed to show up with as

much as possible

in order to sort of somewhat be

efficient normally we probably would not

show the perspective in the first

presentation because

if you start start showing their

perspectives um

sometimes they're not totally on board

and not ready for that

so you want them to buy into the

the site diagram and the plan first so

it's a site diagram really because

i mean that's where i start too i mean i

would start with a site plan just

knowing conceptually like you said okay

this is where the living spaces are

sleeping spaces are here this is

generally how you're gonna arrive to the

site

but then i mean there there has to be a

massing component to it too

right you have to be thinking about this

thing in three dimensions i mean

naturally as you're sketching

i imagine this idea evolved

the idea of a treehouse obviously is

it's up lifted above the ground can you

talk about like

how does the three-dimensional component

like where does that start for you

and i would be blown away if i was a

client and i saw these

conceptual drawings because they are

they are i see them as conceptual not

everything's figured out and but also as

an architect i think wow i mean

that's a lot to invest in like one of

say

maybe three schemes um so talk about

that process and how it evolves like

do you see this as you're sketching

you're like oh yeah this is definitely

lifted up

and this is a tower piece over here or

how does that come to be

you know people outside the

architectural world think that you start

in one

one end of the sort of blank piece of

paper and end up in the other corner and

you're done

you know and it just doesn't happen that

way it's it's a collection of lines and

i i think the same thing applies to the

3d

aspect of this you know while i'm sort

of diagramming

on the site and and i want to sort of

emphasize this because i i've learned

this

drawing at sort of 1 to 20 scale for me

is important because i'm able to sort of

you know look at the big picture i think

it's easy

for a young architect and i did this

when i was

younger it's easy to you know jump into

the

detail and start drawing that quarter

inch scale well what happens is you

forget about sort of all those

lines that are coming in from further

away and so i've i've forced myself to

come up with a floor plan at 1-20 scale

it's tiny yeah right but what what

happens is

you know i'm thinking 30 000 foot view

and remembering okay that's the big open

ocean view

that's the quiet cove side my approach

is from

you know this side of the house what

does that mean

um you know to the internal spaces you

know i learned this from

a guy by the name of jim leggett i

showed up at a aia convention in chicago

one year and he was given a presentation

he talked about draw as small

as you possibly can he would draw these

you know very small perspectives and

sketches

and then he would take him over to a

copier blow them up

you know and then you know and it would

just develop over time and get more and

more detailed

with a larger scale i love it i always

found it really intimidating to start a

project at a larger scale because

i felt like the plans felt open and

undeveloped

in a way because there's like you said

there's like so much you don't know

about the building so just starting at

that small scale is a great hack for

really

they're conden these condensed pieces

and it forces you to think in in

just a larger scale like approach and i

presume you were thinking

about these masses and volumes as being

like okay well this is lifted in the air

and this is a tower and i mean do those

elements all start as kind of

geometry like square geometries like

orthogonal pieces

or are they are you do you say well

that's a view so i want this to be a

shed roof or how does that work

speaking specifically to the the

englishman bay retreat

um you know those two sides that i

mentioned earlier

of that rocky outcrap turned into two

wings of the house

and i always sort of try to think in

terms of

you know less complex when it comes to

3d

the less complex the better especially

here in maine i feel like in order to

sort of

shed snow and rain as simply as possible

so those two wings in my mind at the

time i knew i

you know wanted to shed water you know

in a certain direction

the plan has to work first and it's a

part of

training my mind to not sort of like try

to figure it all out

all at the same time yeah which you know

would lead to

you know the inability to put a mark

down right

yeah it's paralyzing right yeah exactly

yeah so

uh or get writer's cramp whatever it

might be you know you just can't do it

yeah

so those two wings i knew you know where

those were headed and then i also

knew you know in in speaking with a

client

and you know working this through with

him and him wanting

this amazing sort of rooftop deck that

he could spend

time under the stars with his daughters

yeah you know that was another sort of

guiding principle and it turned into the

tower

you know when you were up there and the

evening is it feels like the edge of the

earth

it's just an amazing spot so i knew i

had this sort of vertical element

and i i knew i had these two wings and

in plan

i i knew i wanted to keep it simple i

mean just budget ever when does budget

come up

i mean we all know it's a big part of

this thing right um but

it's something that i think a lot of

architects don't really talk about is

that a first phone call kind of thing

for you it has to be a part of the

conversation it has to be otherwise i

feel like

you're setting yourself up for failure

we don't want to

be inefficient in our process and you

know

draw all the way to the end and realize

oh

this isn't going to work this is way out

of my budget so we have the conversation

from the beginning and we will be very

candid with them

you know based on what we're working on

and we've got

10 to 12 projects going on at a time and

we're seeing these budgets come in

we're able to say hey here's what we're

seeing you know yeah

um and you know let that inform

our process okay and i would say also we

have an incredible respect for the build

community here in

in maine yeah and there are some

incredible builders

and you know we tell our clients we want

that person that's going to be building

your home

on this team as soon as possible i want

our contractor to have some ownership

you know to just be handed a set of

instructions and say okay build this

right you know without ever having input

on it

i i wouldn't be able to do that as a

builder i'd much rather you know

hey you guys thought about this what

about that and let them be a

a team member

as i look behind you i see a wall full

of books and like

you know my instinct is to go grab some

of those because i see a bunch that i

don't have

what do you have favorite books or

resources i mean you you must be someone

who references these books all the time

the um what what are some favorite

resources that you have

they're maybe not beautiful picture

books which i love those as well i love

picking up the you know tom cundig and

um looking through you know beautiful

architecture and drawings

i love that but there are other books

that i also appreciate just

reading sort of the methodology behind

coming to the narrative yeah um so

there's a book

uh called the good house contrast as a

design tool

and it's like it's a read it's about

using contrast

you know in out up down dark

light and how that applies to

architecture

being able to develop a narrative off of

those principles and those methodologies

can make it feel so much less abstract

to a client finding the the edge between

light and dark if you think about you

know everybody wants to sit in the

window at the restaurant

right because it's at the edge of dark

and light and

it's a beautiful spot the book is about

that

and you know all of those contrasts that

can

you know inform your design i love it um

it's interesting because when i hear you

talk about walking this

site you know and and talking through

these ideas with your clients

and hearing you talk about this idea of

contrast just reminds me that

i think one of the things that

architects bring to the design

process whether that's a house or a

commercial building or a school

is this ability to see things which

you may sense and feel but aren't

immediately obvious because when you

were talking about that site i think

about you know not only the light

contrast of light and dark but

also this idea about sound and you know

changing of seasons and what it smells

like and how it feels

underfoot like all of those senses

bringing those to bear on the story of

design

is um it's so relatable to the client

and like you say you know that's the

thing that invests them in the design

process and makes it

a richer project and i you know i just

want to commend you

for your work i really admire your

design work and

i admire your ability to talk about your

process

in a real down-to-earth way i think that

is what makes you successful

in in realizing these really beautiful

projects and

thanks for taking all this time this is

so much time you've given me and

for as someone who is also a principal

and a firm i know how valuable that is

so really appreciate it

hey i love this it's fine i'll talk to

you soon okay bye

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