The foundation is in on this tight and steep lot off of Hillcrest in Harrisonburg. Herr and Company said yes to build this beautiful cottage on a challenging lot. If you met our clients, you would know why. They are simply wonderful people to work with and for. Last year created a lot of obstacles in the design world and communicating with clients became more challenging. However, these clients made the process enjoyable as we worked against a rising tide of construction costs to find the just-right size Hillcrest Cottage solution for them.
The opportunity to work with all my clients is a gift. I get to do what I love and they pay me to do it – what an amazing concept. These clients added to the enjoyment of the design process always seeing the silver lining in the challenges we faced from the slope of the lot to the pandemic. The Hillcrest Cottage went through several forms in order to find the right solution and I am thrilled with what is taking shape on the site now.
With any design project, there are steps that you have to go through to find the right final solution. While every project is custom and there is not an exact playbook, one thing remains constant, a quality team of clients, architects, and contractors is the only way to develop the most economical solution for a home that enhances livability, durability, indoor environmental quality, and energy efficiency. The Hillcrest Cottage will feature southern-facing solar panels, an open floor plan, and aging-in-place features making it a home for a lifetime.
When remodeling your kitchen it’s common to arrive at the dilemma of who to trust. The kitchen can be viewed as the “heart” of a home, it’s where most people spend a large portion of time whether cooking or helping their kids with homework. So it makes sense to be critical of who you are entrusting with helping you to create a more functional space. Hiring an interior designer or architect might not be your first thought for a kitchen renovation, but it is probably the correct solution. This is a crucial piece of your home and there is more to it than just replacing cabinets and putting in a new counter.
While a kitchen designer specializes in cabinetry and the function of the kitchen, an interior designer/architect is an individual trained to redesign every piece of the home. Interior designers and architects don’t just focus on the kitchen but evaluate how it will interact with the home as a whole. In fact, good interior designers and architects usually work with a kitchen designer to create the right cabinet solution for your space. Aside from looking at the bigger picture, interior designers and architects work as an advocate for clients to make sure the solution meets the need. The goal is to make the design process as stress-free as possible by listening to the challenges and wishes of the client and finding the best solution for the budget. The process could also include taking out a wall to allow for a more open concept, creating a more cohesive space, replacing flooring, and adding a pop of paint color or rather a holistic approach to the design solution. Renovating a kitchen could also include creating a lighting and electrical layout to optimize the space foraging-in-place, another design concept that should be considered. Interior designers and architects can do all of this and more while blending with the existing style of your home or updating the look to a new aesthetic.
So yesterday I posted the start of this series, catch up HERE.
Design has power.
Most homes in the United States are not designed. What I mean by that is to design a home you need to know the occupants, their dreams, habits, customs, and way of life and then develop a design to facilitate future goals. You also need to know the site, slope, climate, weather patterns, and even typical soil composition to “design” a house. Most houses are simply built and we (big we meaning society as a whole) have accepted that to the point where we adapt our living habits to the house not designed to facilitate the lifestyle we want to live as normal. Public buildings on the other hand are almost always designed for a specific use, group of people, and location (I wish more of them took into account climate and environmental impacts).
When we look at the making of a “place” all the buildings, streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, stormwater management, even porches, and fences have impacts. A residential community with no sidewalks or front porches and instead large rear yards and decks struggle to build community. A residential community with sidewalks and deep front porches tend to introduce neighbors to each other. This is a powerful tool in design.
In non-residential design, a building can also help create community. Think about how you feel sitting in the windows at Billy Jacks on a nice day when they open up the windows vs a hot day with closed windows. Another example is how Harrisonburg’s downtown feels with sidewalks and storefronts (the majority of parking in a deck) vs how East Market St. feels in the area of the mall where there are sidewalks, but parking lots are in front of buildings and there is a lot more traffic. All of these examples create a sense of place, but which builds belonging and a pride of place for you? Which is welcoming for you?
As we think about where to put our design energy for the future of our city we need to decide if we want to celebrate the unique aspects of our town or the chain restaurant any town USA part of our town. Building pride of place requires that people feel like they belong, are welcome, and have a purpose.
What does it mean to have pride of place for your community? How can we continue building community? How can we be resilient and healthy as a community?
My thesis project in graduate school focused on the power of architecture to create a sense of place. My theory is that you have to know a place – people, culture, and climate – to be able to design effective structures that build place (or community). The more we become a place that looks like every other place (strip architecture filled with chain businesses and signs geared towards driving in a car) the less resilient we become. The more we celebrate what is unique to us the stronger we are as a community. Design can build a sense of place and that sense of place has huge power over how the community exists.
Community can mean many things depending on context. You could be a community of people that all attend the same school, live in a specific neighborhood, or cheer for the same team. Community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area or virtual space through communication platforms.
I am going to focus a series of blogs on community in the form of a geographic area. As we seem to focus more and more on our differences, I want to explore a bit of how design building sense of place can bring us back together. Stay tuned for more.
Charles Hendricks, AIA, CSI, CDT, CAPS, CGP, LEED AP BD&C Named As A Top Expert in the Construction Industry In 2021
The annual list of the FIXR 2021 Top 200 Experts in the Construction Industry, compiled and presented byFixr.com, has just been released. The prestigious list recognizes innovative construction professionals, who take pride in their excellent work and contributions to the industry. Fixr.com assembles this exclusive list by using a rigorous methodology, based on expertise, depth of knowledge, and driving progression in the industry. Fixr.com has employed this methodology to analyze each expert’s high level of experience, successful projects, and esteemed reputations at local, state, and national levels.
Making the FIXR 2021 top 200 construction professionals means experts’ status and prestige within the construction industry is recognized, as industry analyst Cristina Miguélez points out: “Being included in this list is not only an expression of their past professional accomplishments but also shows how each expert continues to shape the future of construction by adapting to the ever-changing industry.”
By gaining exclusive inclusion in the list, Fixr.com confirms that Charles Hendricks has shown strong leadership and expertise within the home construction industry. What’s more, Charles Hendricks’ continued innovation aids the growth and adaptation of construction methods and trends throughout 2021.
About Charles Hendricks
Charles Hendricks is an architect, father, and Rotarian. His firm, Gaines Group Architects, which he owns along with Raymond E. Gaines, and Roger Bryant has offices in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, Virginia. With a specialty in sustainable design, the firm serves clients in a wide range of sectors from custom residential, residential renovation and additions, historic renovation, interior design, office, multi-family, industrial, private schools, ecclesiastical, daycares, retail, and restaurant. Charles’ favorite projects are those that build a stronger community through the use of design and a focus on holistic thinking. Charles has been included in the FIXR Top 200 list since 2017.
About Fixr.com
Fixr.com is a home improvement resource specialist with the mission of helping homeowners make better home remodeling decisions. Fixr.com is unrivaled when it comes to providing unbiased, thorough, and updated cost guides, price comparisons, and cheat sheets for hundreds of remodeling, installation, and repair projects. When the homeowner is equipped with the necessary knowledge, Fixr.com connects homeowners with the best-matched contractors in their area to begin their home improvement projects.
