What is wrong with this picture?
Design Consciousness?
Why do certain building, streets, and places feel right, while some feel terribly wrong? Should individual buildings contribute to a place’s safety, walk-ability, and successful urban design? We believe that good architecture achieves a state of design consciousness. Imagine a world where infill homes are not piles dropped from space without regard to their scale compared to the adjacent homes around them. Imagine commercial projects that consider life on the street, and how the project will contribute to the betterment of the community, not just the unit count.
The question is, can the design of a single property improve the spaces around it?
Good design is a win, win, win.
We contend that a similar amount of energy and money will be spent on a project, whether good or bad. Therefore, is it worth taking slightly more time and and budget to consider how the new building could fit into or improve the community? We think that projects that achieve design consciousness are more successful for our clients. These projects rent for higher rates with less turn over and sell for a better return. Achieving design consciousness helps the community by positively influencing future projects around them and creating more interesting urban space. That is why we have ingrained design consciousness into who we are.
Considerations to achieve design consciousness.
What is the context of the scale of buildings around the project?
Can the building benefit from the “visual rights” around the project?
Where are the sun, views, and wind patterns?
Does every square foot of space on the property have a use or multiple uses?
Is the property a focal point from an approaching street or on a corner?
How can we improve safety by putting more eyes on the street or protecting pedestrians from adjacent cars?
Above all, we chose to improve the value of the projects by looking for opportunities to improve the perception of the space around it.