Sometimes I come across a new product that I just have to shamelessly talk up. Recently AquaBrass introduced a new color collection to their product line that is really fun. I earlier wrote about why single hole and single lever faucets are my preference for kitchen and bath faucets due to the positive accessibility (easy to operate with limited mobility temporary or permanent loss of hand function) and non-contamination properties (less exposure to touch with contaminants on hands). These faucets by AquaBrass simply take the concept to a designer level and I had to show them off a bit. Hope you enjoy them as I have.
AquaBrass has an x-clusive collection of faucets by Italian designers like Maurizio Duranti and Giulio Lacchetti. Remi Theberge of Montreal, Canada introduced the Martini collection that is available in the standard polished chrome, brushed nickel and now in COLORS as well.Check out their newly updated website at http://www.aquabrass.com or at http://www.acfavorites.com/tall-monohole-lavatory-vessel-faucets.html
And a splash of color for pro style kitchen faucets…
Architect magazine ran an editorial about Star and Hero roles in architecture. David Hovey is a great example of an architect who is making a develop/design/build business model work. Finding and developing business models that work is the work of a hero, with some qualification. Microsoft brought the software world together on one page (one window), it provided leadership when we needed it, but the debate will go on about the trouble that too much power can cause. I suppose that there is a mix of star and hero in all of us. When we remember people or organizations they created we may as Ned Cramer, of ARCHITECT states in his editorial “remember them well, for prioritizing sustainability and the social good over self-aggrandizement and the big commission.”
We need heroes! However, by that definition heroes avoid aggrandizement and we need Stars that can bring issues to mainstream. Hero’s rarely make good publicists, and yet we need to be inspired by them.
Architectural Design and Cabinets star of the week is “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens. She bought a 2.75 million-dollar home in CA, “featuring a chef’s gourmet kitchen with Wood-Mode furniture quality cabinets”.
Wood-Mode began building cabinets in 1942. They represent a family business model that has heroic traits. With the economic downturn we have had fewer opportunities to provide our heroic cabinets, however they are still fantastic. We need Stars and Heroes.
There is a wonderful book, Victorian Bonanza, Victorian Architecture of the Rocky Mountain West, by Scott and Beth Warren. It explores the ties settling the West has with Victorian Architecture and is wonderfully illustrated with photos taken by the author. A statement in the introduction has been profound for me, “by embracing the Victorian venue without hesitation, the West’s founding fathers purposefully bridged the gap between wilderness and civilizationâ€. Though the Wild West is much tamer these days, there is still a need to remain connected to civilization.
My great-grandfather was a merchant and postman in a little western settlement and lived in this little Victorian influenced home. I think it is a good example of an everyday home of the era that helped a small town bridge the gap between wilderness and civilization, romance and the harsh duties of life in a small western pioneer settlement.
(Family home in Meadow, vacant when photographed).
I recently talked about the East/West divide with a friend and resident of Denver, who represents Wood-Mode, a fine and seasoned cabinetmaker from the east. Rustic cabinetry has been the trend in the Southwest and West for a number of years. However, western rustic is something that the eastern folks have struggled to produce. In the west we expect rustic cabinetry to have knots in the wood but controlled, we have a split personality, give me knots, but not to big and not soft or the fall out variety. They need to look good and have a certain casual wild look but refined somehow. Now, It is easy to see when I try to describe rustic why there is confusion. Some time ago a door sample arrived at our studio from an eastern Canadian cabinetmaker who had just entered the rustic market. The door looked like Swiss cheese and some knots fell out into my hand. This certainly would not fly with our clients in the southwest. Knotty wood is part of the conservation of wood that is scarce in the southwest. Walking the vistas of the southwest landscape is the best way to understand the inspiration for rustic. The windswept desert and the crisp skies and wide-open places have a raw and yet clean quality.
Now do not take these comments wrong, the east may not understand rustic perfectly but we also need to understand our dependence on the east. The skills of the west like Victorian Architecture were largely transplanted here. Our ancestors (or perhaps you) migrated here with skills and knowledge refined by a stuffier culture, culture has its honored standards. And now I have seen where we can produce cabinetry locally and frankly let rustic be an excuse for sloppy work, poorly made moldings and rough materials. There is no lasting value in sloppy work or thinking. The bridge between east and west still bridges the gap between wilderness and civilization. When Wood-Mode began building European frame-less cabinetry they went to the experts in Germany to teach them. We like our ancestors must purposefully, continually bridge the gap between wilderness and civilization.
During the last few weeks we have been caught up in the event that is as big as it gets in St. George Utah. Yes the Southern Utah Home Builders Parade of Homes. During the event I became aware of what seems to be an apathy about radon gas. There is a lot of information available on the web about radon gas. I want to ad my voice that we should not be apathetic about testing our homes for radon. It is a simple and inexpensive test ($6 for Utah residents at Drhomeair.com) and yet radon gas has been designated as the most dangerous of indoor air pollutants.
“The federal EPA now declares that radon gas represents the most dangerous indoor air pollutant and they estimate that between 5,000 and 20,000 people die of lung cancer each year due to their exposure to high levels of radon gas.†(Radon and the Environment, 1988 p 367)
Radon is unpredictable, your home may have high levels of radon and the home just around the corner may not. Every home should be tested. A test can be as little as 6 dollars. Even high levels of Radon is fairly simple to remove with an attic fan and vent system to remove gas below concrete slabs and some sealing of cracks and such. The cost generally is less than 2,000 dollars for a residential home. Fantech provides such fans and some technical info on mitigation can be found on their site (fantech). Architectural Design and Cabinet carries Fantech radon mitigation fans.
Right up front the following info is taken from the State of Utah http://www.radon.utah.gov call it plagiarism, but It is in the public interest and worth worth repeating.
Radon is a cancer-causing, radioactive gas. You can’t see radon. And you can’t smell it or taste it. But it may be a problem in your home. Radon is estimated to cause many thousands of deaths each year. That’s because when you breathe air containing radon, you can get lung cancer. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high.
Radon can be found all over the U.S.
Radon comes from the natural (radioactive) breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon can be found all over the U.S. It can get into any type of building - homes, offices, and schools - and result in a high indoor radon level. But you and your family are most likely to get your greatest exposure at home, where you spend most of your time.
You should test for radon.
Testing is the only way to know if you and your family are at risk from radon. EPA and the Surgeon General recommend testing all homes below the third floor for radon. EPA also recommends testing in schools. Testing is inexpensive and easy - it should only take a few minutes of your time.
Special rate for Utah Residents on test kits online ($6 test kit including lab work) https://secure.flipmedia.com/apalab_secure/drha_order_utdw6.html
You can fix a radon problem.
Radon reduction systems work and they are not too costly. Some radon reduction systems can reduce radon levels in your home by up to 99%. Even very high levels can be reduced to acceptable levels.
How Does Radon Get Into Your Home?
Radon is a radioactive gas. It comes from the natural decay of uranium that is found in nearly all soils. It typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Your home traps radon inside, where it can build up. Any home may have a radon problem. This means new and old homes, well-sealed and drafty homes, and homes with or without basements.
Radon from soil gas is the main cause of radon problems. Sometimes radon enters the home through well water (see “Radon in Water” below). In a small number of homes, the building materials can give off radon, too. However, building materials rarely cause radon problems by themselves.
Radon gets in through:
1. Cracks in solid floors
2. Construction joints
3. Cracks in walls
4. Gaps in suspended floors
5. Gaps around service pipes
6. Cavities inside walls
7. The water supply
In many cities we have developed a system to monitor outdoor air quality. You may be familiar with Green, Yellow and Red air quality ratings in your city. We moved from one such city to a city of around 8,000. It puzzled me when we sat around the television watching the news with natives and they commented about how much better it was in their community without the “poor air quality†of the city. However, as we traveled home the heavy carbon smell of wood burning stoves filled the air and a haze could be seen over the valley. We become accustomed and partial to our environment.
Indoor air quality is something we have learned a good deal about in recent years. We have improved the homes envelope, double pained windows, window wraps, house wraps, improved insulation. This has made heating and cooling costs more efficient. However, now we have to consider the need for fresh air and be aware of the off gases that building materials may have. It is a crazy world of cause and effect.
The thing that I really have a hard time getting my head around is our reluctance to provide proper ventilation in the kitchen or bath. These areas have air issues somewhat independent of the homes envelope.
I talked with a man today that owns an upscale home in St. George. He relayed the experience of the first time they cooked steaks inside. The steaks created smoke as they do, and the range hood was not vented to the outside, as is often the case. I suspect that nearly everyone can identify with this experience. You turn on an ineffective range hood fan, then open windows or doors and possibly clear the room. Then leave the windows open and turn off the annoying noisy fan as soon as possible. Then after the event is over, we go back to our lives and forget the whole thing…until you get really hungry for another steak, and heaven forbid it is to cold to fire up the outside grill.
A similar event occurs in the bathroom. A foul odor or a steamy shower creates an environment that requires you to turn on the noisy ineffective fart fan, and then you can’t wait to turn it off because it is more annoying than the wet and or smelly air. And oh the embarrassment when we are the guest in someone else’s home. Yet we insist on meeting some minimum code or conscience requirement to install a fan.
Many ladies have learned to avoid the fan altogether by lighting a perfumed candle. Men just strike a match or have a smoke. All is well with our air. Why are we opposed to insisting on efficient ventilation? You can spend three or four times more on a quite and effective ventilation system and still not break the bank. A designer paint or glazed cabinet finish will cost more than the ventilation upgrades. When we consider kitchen and bath design we need to look beyond tile, cabinets and counters. Health and lasting value lies in details that support the outward appearance, like ventilation.
Kitchen and bath ventilation is a detail not to be overlooked, a detail not to be left to a contractor’s default. This is 2009 and there are better solutions to kitchen, bath and home ventilation. I have heard contractors yell at suppliers for having to spend more than forty or fifty dollars on a bath fan, because that is the cheapest fan available at a big box retailer. If that is the bottom line, let the good old times roll, you know the clear the room drill. After all, wood burning stoves have no odor if that is what everyone is smoking.
Housing as Shelter = Endow physical places with meaning and connection
Although 2009 promises a challenging transition for many, optimism for the return of housing as meaningful shelter is where we hope America is headed.
For all of those who are involved in home improvement (big or small physical or intangible), or in residential design, creating firm, functional, meaningful and beautiful residential space, and to all those who have or are raising families and contributing to our social well being, and to all those who in so many ways provide selfless acts of service, giving more than they take, and….well there is much good in the world, so many striving to do right.
Recognizing the season when work productivity takes a back seat to office parties, trays of treats and holiday wishes. And we make special arrangements to spend time with friends and family. I thought it ironic that the occasion many of us return home to celebrate, is because a Son was willing to leave his heavenly home, come to earth as a humble babe in a manger and grow to be a man hated of men and crucified. Yet, I realize without this sacrifice none of us would be able to return to our heavenly home and family. Because of HIM our earthly family has eternal possibilities. I am grateful that so long ago, God’s only begotten Son was born in a manger. This Holy Son, the greatest of all, the creator of heaven and earth, was born in a manger. I raise my voice to be counted with the believers. Jesus is the Christ, my savior and yours. Only through HIS merits we can repent, improve and be made clean. May we make time, like the wise men of old, to find HIM this season.
The last post was a 3600+ SF main floor home plan. Thought a less McMansion home would be nice to show. This 1506 square foot plan has a drop zone coat hooks and bench in from the garage, a nice entry, separate laundry room, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, well take a look…3D home tours prior to building is the way to go!
Although it takes some time to put a 3D virtual home tour together, it is a great visual tool. This video clip is fairly typical of the walk-through Architectural Design & Cabinet provides for our clients who chose the Gold 3-D design Portfolio service option. This design option can also be found at www.acfavorites.com
This presentation is generally a work in progress as we refine the details of the home to meet our clients needs, lifestyle and inspirations. Our goal is to review the design details until we have a reasonable representation of a home before it is built and before changes become more difficult and costly.
Some disclaimers:
Visual tours are part of the design process and are not final construction documents. There are omissions and some errors in this 3-D presentation. The graphics are not picture perfect, as file size and rendering time for web presentations have some limitations. The in office presentation graphics are of better quality and can often be edited and revised during the consultation.
Wonderful evaluation tool:
The 3-D portfolio is a fabulous tool to convey and explore ideas and concepts that are very difficult to “see” in 2-D plans. It is extremely valuable in finding 2-D plan errors and omissions, evaluating design choices and making visually informed decisions.
We enjoy the tools of our trade and our work, we highly recommend this low cost residential BIM option (building information modeling).
This week, a trade magazine featuring “award winning†home plans crossed my desk. I was amazed and disappointed once again. Nearly all of the plans contained a small laundry room entrance from the garage. That is to say the only way to enter the home from the garage was through a narrow laundry room. This feature and its benefits elude me, why do we continue to build this arrangement?
Consider:
The homeowner uses the garage entrance more than the grand front entrance.
Welcome home to your own personal laundry mat.
Welcome home to the machines and dirty clothes that await your attention.
Oh, and if you plan on leaving before the task is complete you may not get back in because the sorted clothes and machinery will likely barricade the door.
Is this multi-purpose utility and mud room really a benefit?
How often do you remove your clothes upon entering the house?
Hum, this may actually explain a benefit for a few, it may inspire newlyweds to hurry home.
I am a little more traditional, get a real room and leave the entrance a little less revealing!
Consider:
Make sure that your “award winning†home will win your accolades after the new-home honeymoon.
Before you build or remodel a home spend some time exploring how the home functions. Make sure that all of the people you consult with are not red personalities that only want to start building now. A well thought out and designed plan makes a well thought out and loved home.
