Re: design review | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: PattyMara (PattyMaraaol.com) | |
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 13:29:12 -0700 (MST) |
In a message dated 12/17/99 3:32:05 PM !!!First Boot!!!, Berrins [at] aol.com writes: << It doesn't sound like you guys had an architect, because the front door / kitchen arrangement you have doesn't sound like anything a decent architect would design. And those garages! An architect would have known to build large enough for larger cars. >> At Tierra Nueva Cohousing, central CA coast, we had architects and engineers and a contractor. And we still ended up with garages placed so tightly that some of them are being used for storage, not cars. Having all the professionals didn't do us much good. They planned it, engineered it and built it without giving the community clue one that some of the garages were too small to park in for some vehicles. Fortunately for my family, we own a compact car, and our garage is on the end so there is some wiggle room. Unfortunately for others, they own vans which do not make the tight turn necessary to get into their garages. The key word in the quotation above is "decent architect". Yes, a decent one will design structures that work. And some sites will offer unique challenges. Our parking lots are located on the upper and lower edges of our sloped site. Why most of the garages (11) are on the smaller, steeper upper lot instead of the wider, flatter lower lot (4) is a mystery to me. But did I foresee the problem before it was built, and when we were looking at designs on paper for approval? Nope. I just assumed it would be designed, engineered and built by professionals, and it would all work. Oh well. For those of you in design stages, look carefully at the details and ask more questions of your professionals. If you are invested in building garages for cars and storage both, then make sure you get a structure that will work for both. Here, we designed 15 garages in for a community of 27 homes. Now there are 3 households who very very much want a garage and cannot have one because they bought in after all garages were reserved. At Tierra Nueva there was and still is a stigma attached to wanting a garage for a *car* and *storage of stuff* probably based on some nebulous ideal of voluntary simplicity. So we didn't build a garage for every house. I wish we would have built more garages though, that were designed and engineered better. Patty Mara Gourley Tierra Nueva Cohousing, San Luis Obispo County, CA
- Re: design review, (continued)
- Re: design review Marya S. Tipton, December 15 1999
- Re: design review Berrins, December 15 1999
- Re: design review Howard Landman, December 16 1999
- Re: design review Berrins, December 17 1999
- Re: design review PattyMara, December 19 1999
- Re: design review Unnat, December 19 1999
- Re: design review Bitner/Stevenson, December 19 1999
- Re: design review Marya S. Tipton, December 19 1999
- Re: design review Kay Argyle, December 22 1999
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