Scott Rogers once again has his finger on the pulse of the residential construction industry. His blog post about falling lumber prices is great news. I have seen the proof as R. S. Monger and Sons Inc. has been getting shipment after shipment in of wood products to restock their warehouses. Increasing prices for lumber has had an incredibly painful impact on home construction in our area over the past 6 months. Falling lumber prices are a start, but how do we fix the housing market in our community?
Lumber made the news as prices jumped dramatically just as a potential gas shortage made the news and then became reality. I am not saying it was a manufactured increase, but rather a result of a lot of factors from plant shutdowns to increased demand. However, it is not just lumber that is impacting the increased costs for construction. We are seeing an increase in all material prices. Where manufacturers used to do 1 or 2 price adjustments in a year, they are now doing it monthly if not more often, and up each time. We have also seen a dramatic decrease in the available construction industry workforce over the last 10 to 20 years and that does not seem to be changing. Predictions are that in the US alone we will need 430,000 more construction industry workers in 2021 than in 2020. We are also still seeing supply chain issues, yesterday a delivery truck showed up at a job site without the materials on the truck that were ordered? Why show up, I don’t understand. It is also hard to find products with any parts or resins coming from overseas right now, causing backorders and changes to selections that were made a couple of months ago. And now national builders have come into our market with the buying power of a national builder that does not source materials or labor through our local market – what changes will that bring?
As we look at many of the challenges our community face, many of them can lead you back to the need for more affordable housing options. The availability of affordable housing options is going to take time to improve and only through zoning changes, more labor entering the construction industry (college is expensive and construction jobs pay really well), and material prices falling. While lumber prices falling will help, it is just a small part of the systemic problem we need to overcome.
We love working on historic buildings, figuring out their history, and honoring it. Getting to design the façade renovation of the Historic Minor-Nelson house on High Street in Charlottesville is truly an honor. We have completed a number of historic renovations in and around Charlottesville and Harrisonburgover the years.
Built between 1830 and 1840, the Minor-Nelson house reflects the survival of Georgian Forms well into the nineteenth century. The house changed hands and functions several times in the middle of that century. It was originally built as a private home for Martha Minor. Before the civil war, it was used as a private school and during the war it served as part of the Charlottesville General Hospital in 1892, Dr. Hugh T. Nelson purchased the building and used it as his medical offices. Though owners changed, the house served the same function until 1971. In the 1970s a brick front porch and the curved stair was added.
We have taken on the task to design the restoration of the front facade that would have been present in the early 1900s honoring the history of the building and correcting some issues that existed. This historic renovation in Charlottesville will be brought back to its former glory and exist for generations to come.
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.
