Space Planning and Design Fundamentals

A client has telephoned you, asking you to meet her and her husband at their new home. They say their home has ‘good bones’ and that the natural setting is what sold them on the house. They are confident that with a good design, the space can be updated, comfortable, even elegant and serene. How do you begin?

Arrive early if you can and take a minute to notice the home and the natural setting around it. Good designers are keen observers. What did you notice first? Sketch out the front of the residence and by the sketch, write some descriptive adjectives: “Traditional front but with a cottage feel due to the combination of wood and stone, and the woodsy setting....” As you enter the space, look about in all directions, up and down, noticing the flow of the rooms, the direction of the home on the site—does the front face North, South East or West? What is the tone of the space if you were to set it to music? What abstract impression do you get: quiet, lively, solid, vaporous, dignified? What is the layout of the rooms? Is there symmetry? Consider the value and color of lightness or darkness. Note the height of the ceilings and the openings in the enclosure. What is the spatial combination of the rooms? (Read pp. 50-51 and 65-69.)