by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
As with everything over time, architecture too has changed.
Deryl Patterson of Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects and Planners, Inc. spoke before the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council last month to address three of the major changes she has seen.
When designing detached homes under 2,500 square feet, Patterson said there are three things to keep in mind - the challenge of lot size and shape, the ability to minimize and maximize garage space and to eliminate redundant rooms.
“Why am I doing a presentation on only under 2,500 square feet?,” said Patterson. “That is really where the meat of the housing market is. Most of the new homes sold in 2003 were less than 2,400 square feet. It has been for a number of years.”
Due to the overwhelming response of home building and lack of land to build it on, lots have started becoming thinner but deeper, thus creating a need to design differently to fit the lot.
Patterson discussed designing a home on a smaller lot and how difficult, but imperative it is to make elevations look different and units look different with a unique style.
“We think ‘How the heck are we going to design 20-foot wide house and make it livable?’” she said. “There are some challenges.”
Some of those challenges lie with the garage. Many times, they will put the garage at the back of the house, or set back in the front where it almost aligns with the front porch, creating a unified look to the front of the house, without sacrificing garage space.
“You want to try to give some long views into the house with maybe a staircase,” said Patterson. “You always want have the family/living space all together with the idea of the kitchen, breakfast and family room functioning as one.”
Today, since most homeowners also own more than one car, they require more parking space. Patterson showed some different house designs with three car spaces in different configurations.
“The lot shape often determines the best garage solution,” said Patterson. “Builders really need to re-think their products or their current inventory may not fit on available lots.”
Flexibility is the key to eliminating redundant rooms in new construction.
“Living and dining rooms are no longer sacred,” said Patterson. “We need to add flexibility and have bigger breakfast and family rooms.”
She said builders should throw out room names and let the buyers decide what they want the space to be.
“You could have a living room that could flex to a dining room or a den that could flex to a dining room or a den that could flex to an additional bedroom,” said Patterson.
Patterson said the idea of the kitchens has really changed to incorporate guests involved in the preparation of meals.
“No longer do we have people who prepare our meals,” she said. “We prepare them with the family and when we have parties, people are in the kitchen with us, so why not allow them to have a place to sit to participate in the preparation of the meal or to have conversation?”