HH Architects: Summer Newsletter 2022

Good Design During this Time

To ensure we are ready to navigate what’s next for Herscoe Hajjar Architects, it’s vital that we reactivate our space to balance health and safety for our employees and clients. Also, that we continue to respect each other’s well-being. Preparedness, agility, and resilience will be key as we start to consider the “New Normal” and Good Architectural Design is part of this reality.

Understanding Modern Home Design

Good architectural design needs to be more than a pretty house. As architects will tell you, good design is based on understanding the client's activities, the spaces those activities require, an understanding of space, perception, and familiarity with a multitude of building materials and products; all are important in these times.

Good architectural design and home plans must keep water and weather out, and control light, heat, and humidity; it must consider durability and upkeep of the products used, and the access needed to maintain building systems; it must include selection of the optimum structural, mechanical, and electrical systems; it cannot ignore permit fees, energy costs, utility costs, or taxes. Again, all are important considerations in these uncertain times.

Architectural Design In Light of COVID-19

When asked if he is seeing a change in design trends due to COVID-19 pandemic, architect Rob Herscoe says, “Clients are planning for home-schooling and planning tennis courts and basketball courts—a lot of things people would go somewhere to use, are now on their own property. Kids have play rooms and ample outdoor space to build treehouses. And people are building home gyms, knowing they’re not going to use their health club memberships.”

We must look at a perspective project not just as an individual structure, but as an interconnected part of a much larger world. We must continue to study and examine the way that the house design will appear aesthetically in context, consider the position of the sun, and examine the use of the space to consider the best design path for good design.

Architecture has always been an adaptive profession, therefore, we must envision the home during the so-called “new normal” as a place where families could live, work and play and should be “quarantine-friendly.”

What we do at our practice is architecture and design, but it’s also art.

Human experience drives our practice.

All Fired Up: How Architects in Naples, FL are Getting Ready for 2021

The optimistic vibes brought on by the new year will be felt more strongly than ever, given the tumultuous 12 months we’ve all been through. Of course, the talented community of architects in Naples, Florida will be quick to remind you that, despite the welcome arrival of 2021, their daily professional home design challenges remain. As Monday, January 4, brought with it more Zoom meetings with clients, consultants, contractors and everyone in between, not to mention late night CAD & Revit revisions and the traditional tidal wave of caffeinated beverages, it might feel like a big ask to hit the ground running this new year.

Well, fear not: There’s nothing like a good new year’s resolution to focus the mind and stoke one’s motivation once more. Consider this your guide to injecting fresh impetus into your work, and here’s to a healthy and prosperous 2021!

Use 2020 as inspiration for your designs- The past 12 months have been primarily about survival — as an individual, as a family, as a company. Still, that hasn’t stopped architects from flexing their creative muscles to generate new architecture styles and design solutions, aiming to provide healthier, more robust and more flexible spaces for society. We’ve seen adaptable apartment floor plan layouts to aid those working from home, mobile medical units that can be rapidly deployed to where they are needed, and public spaces that take advantage of our evolving urban landscape. Even as the pandemic subsides, try to maintain your spirit of innovation, exercising those create instincts to that, when the next crisis hits, you are well placed to pioneer positive solutions through design.

Keep drawing by hand - By now, it has become something of a clichéd rallying cry, but the assertion that “drawing isn’t dead” remains as true as ever. Computer renderings have their place — despite an awful lot of bad press in recent times — but for the fluid articulation of ideas and the communication of concepts and home plans to clients, nothing beats a good, old-fashioned drawing. Sharpen those pencils and make sure everyone in your studio has one, from director to intern.

Experiment with new materials - With climate change now a constant presence in the minds of designers, it’s critical architects keep abreast of emerging materials and products that help to reduce the environmental impact of construction. Last year’s A+Award winners included acoustic panels made from coffee sacks and shingles crafted from plastic waste, and this year’s program is set to showcase even more material innovations.

Continually research these interesting (and often beautiful) materials, and make sure to impart this newfound wisdom on to your clients. The more they are informed of the environmental impact of their project and the options available to them, the easier it will become to convince them to break with convention and build with something new.

Listen to your local community - Given the year we’ve just navigated through, it’s more important than ever to listen to our stakeholders. Listening to the views of community groups and local residents will help architects better understand the changing needs of populations as their living and working conditions evolve in the upcoming months.

In a digital age when everyone’s voices can be heard, design is becoming increasingly democratic, and architects will retain their cultural relevance by taking all viewpoints into account and showcasing authentic architecture. Join your local community groups on Facebook, follow YIMBY, and attend local planning meetings online wherever possible — you’ll be amazed at what you can learn, and how it could inform your designs, particularly in relation to public spaces and civic projects.

Become an adaptive reuse expert - The pandemic has forced people all over the world to rethink how they live and work — often within the same space. Meanwhile, with many companies shifting to a work-from-home state, millions of square feet of office space have been left vacant. These radical shifts have presented developers with difficult questions — what kinds of homes will dominate future markets, and how can they make those commercial high-rises financially viable in the long term?

It’s up to architects to help their clients turn these challenges into opportunities. Research the world’s best adaptive reuse projects and hone your expertise in this field. Understanding how to transform existing spaces will give you a competitive each in urban centers around the globe — and inform your designs for new constructions, as well.

Read more - With the working hours that architects tend to keep, it can prove difficult to keep your eyes open long enough for a bedtime read. However, if you can allocate only 10 minutes of quiet time to flick through a few pages at the end of each day, you’ll be amazed at the new ideas and fresh inspiration that can be found.

Speak up for what you stand for – the best architects tend to let their designs do the talking, and will undoubtedly continue to do so throughout 2021. However, there is also great value to be found in conversation, whether that is via a live stream on Facebook, a virtual seminar hosted by your local university, or even a TED Talk by the likes of Thomas Heatherwick, Bjarke Ingels or Architizer’s own Marc Kushner Architects can communicate their values and promote great design by telling stories, encouraging people to ask questions about the built environment that surrounds them. Sometimes — just sometimes — it’s good to talk.

Copy Edited & Reposted from: Architizer