As you can see, once we got the dirt out of the pool we decided it was better to keep it.
But seriously, I have done a poor job of keeping my blog updated. Today I will get you caught up on our progress and hopefully going forward I will do better. For those of you that are new to my blog check out the previous posts to see what this is all about.
My last post (in September!) let you know that we had decided on our architect. We have now met with Rick (and Nicole) several times and the schematic design is coming along nicely.
Our first meeting with Rick was out at our lot. We spent a good hour touring the site and trying to understand its strengths and weaknesses. We then went to our favorite bakery in Pittsford and spent another hour or two sketching over the site plan and experimenting with different locations for the house. It became clear during that meeting that we would need to have an engineer do a very detailed topographic survey of the site to mark all of the elevation changes and significant trees. It was also during this meeting that Rick coined the term "the grove". The grove is a section of our lot that has some very nice old growth trees that we hope not only to keep but make a focal point.
Following this meeting Wendy and I had some homework to do. We spent the weekend filling out a 7 page survey that Rick uses to help him understand the wants and needs of his clients. In addition to filling out the survey we provided him with the list of ideas that we had been compiling. Together these documents comprise the "programming", essentially a list of constraints that when combined with the unique character of the site give the architect the "rules" that he will try to work within.
Several weeks later we met again at the bakery. It was at this meeting that we first met Nicole. (the other architect working on our project) This was also the first meeting that we got "deliverables"! Rick and Nicole presented us with three completely different options for how the house could be situated, each with two variations. The drawings were to scale but only roughly blocked out the spaces. (living, sleeping, etc.) The purpose of these drawings was to show how the spaces related to each other and to the site. To help us better understand each option they prepared a scale model of our lot with clay blocks representing each possibility.
After this meeting our homework was to look over each option and variation and provide feedback about what elements we liked and did not like. They also gave us a few sheets of tracing paper so that we could sketch our own ideas over their designs. As Wendy and I completed this exercise we started to settle on an option that had a single open space for the kitchen, dining and living room in roughly an L shape. We also got excited about the possibility of having the screened porch outside of the living space such that they could share a chimney and each have a fireplace. Below is the sketch Wendy and I made that night. (can you tell why I failed out of architecture?) It was also that night that I coined the term "the knoll". Much like "the grove" the knoll is a feature of our site that we hope to make a focal point. The knoll is a gently sloping area in the south east corner that levels off right before the steep hill forming the southern edge. If cleared and planted with grass it could become a very nice little yard.
Rick and Nicole then took our feedback and began to further develop the schematic design. At this point a direction for the design was starting to form so the next time we met all of the deliverables were more focused and only slight variations on a theme. They provided us with a few drawings at 1/16 scale to show how the design could fit on the site. They also provided more detailed floor plans at 1/8 scale and an updated model. This meeting was very exciting as we began to really get a sense of how the house would be laid out. We also got to see two perspective drawings of the inside, one looking from the dining area towards the kitchen and living room and the other from the living room looking towards the kitchen and dining area. These were really neat as they gave us a feel for the height and character of the main spaces.
Again our task after the meeting was to provide detailed feedback. That brings us to today. Rick and Nicole are again iterating based on our feedback. We could begin to see exterior elevations and rooflines in our next meeting. With each round the design becomes more detailed, more articulated and more exciting! We can't wait to see what the "massing" of the structure will look like. We are probably still several iterations away from completing the schematic design phase.
Below is a sketch Rick sent us that reflects some of our most recent feedback on siting the house and the orientation of the garage. The light green areas represent the setbacks. As you can see the major tress are all plotted as well as the orientation of the sun. (orange shows where the summer sun rises and sets, yellow is the winter sun) We will probably meet with Rick and Nicole again during the next two weeks. I'll be sure to update the blog and add more images of the design. Again, I apologize for falling behind and appreciate that some of you are still interested.
Oh, one more note ... we really did get the pool excavated ... and removed. It actually cost less than we expected and now that surprise variable is out of the way and accounted for. When we break ground in the spring we won't have to deal with getting rid of a swimming pool.
