CHRISTOPHER ANDREWS ARCHITECT & TOWN PLANNER
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| AN INTEGRATED SOCIAL AND
ECOLOGICAL DESIGN PROCESS PART
VII:
HOW THE PROJECT NARRATIVE INFORMS THE BUILDING PLANS
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 Lakeport Residence Building Section and Floor Plan
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Human activities define the environmental patterns and typologies of buildings. These responses are unique to a place and its inhabitants. A critical part of the design process is understanding the project's particular system of significant patterns and transforming this network to realize the emergent vision. The structure of the plan itself follows from the social structure of the client's family or community. The project narrative allows us to utilize this structure to form a functional building plan. In the Lakeport residence (building section and plan above) we had an expansive attenuated site, with a good amount of topographical variation, and a building program that required that the family members spend a good amount of time on their own. Consequently the main building plan itself reflects the variety of the site, and provides many places for privacy and contemplation. Conversely, the Calistoga plan (floor plans below) is much more compact and intimate. We often are in the position of persuading our clients to build smaller buildings, as this is one of the primary ways we can pursue sustainable design. With the Calistoga residence a family of four originally came to us with a rough plan for an 8,000 square foot building. After they showed us these plans we visited the clients in their present residence, a small ranch home. It was clear that they were very close to each other, in fact, the two teenage daughters, when we asked them what was important to them, they said they wanted their bedrooms close their parents. We suggested that the plan for their new house was at least twice as big as it needed to be. We are now in construction, with a four bedroom main house that is 2,500 square feet and a garage/studio that is 1300 square feet. So it's not just about the size of the ecological footprint. Socially, within the culture of this family, a smaller house is what they really wanted. They just didn't know it. They were looking at the fabled "resale value". Another thing that came out of this meeting was, that the clients did want to be close to each to each other, but the layout of their present home made them feel they needed a bigger home. What they needed was a better layout for their house, internally, that allowed for both intimacy and privacy and also a house that was better connected to usable exterior spaces, extending into and bringing in the landscape.
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Calistoga Residence Floor Plans
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GO FORWARD TO PART VIII: THE USE OF STUDY MODELS & PERSPECTIVE SKETCHES
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GO BACK TO PART VI: THE PROJECT LANGUAGE
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GO BACK TO THE INTRODUCTION/TABLE OF CONTENTS
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