Working with an Architect

One of our respondents said, “Outdoor space is essential.” We couldn’t agree more.

According to the TPD #StayAtHomeSurvey:

• 54% of respondents say that they’ve enjoyed using their uncovered outdoor space more than usual while at home over the past few months.
• Covered back porches, patios and decks are hard at work as well.

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As kids are heading back to school, either in person, virtually, or some combination, many of us are considering how our homes will function for all of our different needs. The balance of public and private space is an important factor when looking at this functionality. When working from home, it’s important to find some private space for calls or classes, as well as having a place for respite. Public spaces are where we gather to spend time with one another and to share resources.

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Our homes have been working hard for us during the pandemic, and we’ve learned that “flexibility” is extremely important to families and to those living alone at home:

• 45% of those who completed our survey want rooms that can be used for more than one purpose.
• 58% of people are using spaces in ways that they were not originally intended (e.g., dining room as office)
• While 27% of those surveyed say that each person in their house has a private space to work, 57% say that working and schooling from home involves “taking over” common living spaces or rotating private workspaces.

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Here at TPD, we spend a lot of time listening to our clients about how they want to be able to use their homes. When it was clear that the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders were dramatically affecting people’s lives, we wanted to reach out to folks around the country with a survey and ask about the changes they were seeing in their households. After a couple of months and almost 100 respondents, we’d like to share our findings with you. Next week, we’ll be posting our top takeaways and how they affect the ways we think about residential design.

Within the last couple of weeks, I’ve been seeing more articles about residential architecture and how it will change given how things have evolved during the pandemic. For the most part, the articles have focused on interviews with architects acting as experts, sometimes referring to their own houses and other times offering predictions on how houses will look in the future.

We’ve been listening to our own experts here at TPD – our friends, clients, colleagues and families! Our survey results are starting to show some clear focus areas, which are consistent across regions of the country as well as age groups. A full 45% of our respondents indicated that flexible spaces, which could accommodate different activities and people at different times of the day would be something they would consider for their homes in the future.

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We’re eight weeks into the pandemic, and what used to feel strange is starting to feel a little normal, which is even stranger.  At TPD, we’ve been working remotely, visiting construction sites after hours, and coming up with new strategies to help us work effectively with clients, vendors, and contractors. This transition has been made easier because part of the intent of this firm is to allow for flexibility: we’ve been working from home when we needed to for years. But we still miss seeing folks. We miss having coffee or a glass of wine with each other, being able to work together with the amazing contractors who build what our clients dream, and being able to sit around a table together with a big roll of trace and just sketch out what we are thinking. In short, we miss the conversations.

For us, conversations are learning opportunities that help us do our work better. In that spirit, we’ve launched a short survey on the website, accessible here.  The goal is to talk to as many people as possible, all over the country, and find out how their houses are holding up with the extra demands placed on them right now.

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I was just on my weekly call with a small group of architects from all over the country, a group organized through the EntreArchitect network. We have been meeting every Wednesday via Zoom for years, and I am so lucky to call this talented, thoughtful, funny, smart and devoted group of people colleagues, and more importantly, friends. (As a side note, anyone who believes that remote communication is always a poor substitute for in-person community building, this group’s success proves the opposite.) On our Wednesday call, one of our members said something that struck me: “Last week, everything changed.” And that’s true across the board. Everything has changed for our country, for our families, for our systems, and for our health. It’s changed for our habits, our social patterns, our work and our homes.

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