Chambers Architects Embraces “Not So Big” Lifestyle as Green Design for Houses
A “Not So Big” weekend getaway cabin in the piney woods of East Texas designed by Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc.
Our firm recently logged into GreenExpo365.com, a virtual interactive green building community, to watch a continuing education for architects webinar featuring Sarah Susanka. Susanka is bestselling author, architect and cultural visionary leading a movement to redefine the American home and lifestyle. Her “build better, not bigger” approach to residential architecture has been embraced across the country and her “Not So Big” philosophy is evolving beyond our physical habitations and into how we inhabit our lives. She believes that Not So Big should be the first step in sustainability, both for our own and for the well being of the planet as a whole. Find our profile on Susanka’s site by clicking this link.
Below is a summary of the webinar, which provides valuable information for our clients and the public:
“The qualities we long for have everything to do with taking time, building for the long term, crafting and paying attention to who we are, what we care about, and how we affect our world. The Not So Big house celebrate the beauty of daily life. With minimum means, it makes the act of living an art. It restores the soul to the structure.”
—from The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka
Ms. Susanka realized early in her career as an architect that people often asked for more square footage in their homes because they thought that this would get them something better with a higher resale value. But, the ‘better’ to which they often refer is more about character and quality in their homes. The feeling of home has nothing to do with size. “McMansions” are really not that inviting. Yet, rather than ‘downsize’ their American Dream, Susanka realizes that they needed to ‘rightsize’ it. Clients can have quality homes with substantial value if they consider the following three concepts when designing their new home, or a second home:
1) Build better, not bigger
2) Build it to last
3) Build to inspire yourself, everyday
So how do you accomplish this? Realize that inspiring homes come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. Houses based on the ways clients live their lives and are tailored to their needs are structures that feel like homes. Features that create this feeling of home are places that are:
1) Design in all three dimensions; don’t just think of the floor plan. This is what architects lend to the creation of a home. They understand how to vary ceiling heights, add interest to hallways, emphasize lighting, create visual weight, provide good sight lines to the outdoors and indoors, and create cozy spaces that feel right and inspire when you are in them.
2) Built for the way that you live when you are actually in the home most of the time
3) Beauty around you really matters and is a sustainable act
4) Make your home a personal statement, creating the rooms with details that have things of personal interest; don’t allow designers to place objects in your rooms that have no meaning for you
5) Build in proportion to human scale
6) Consider sustainable aspects in the design of the home
7) Keep your home in scale with its setting and the neighborhood
This paradigm shift requires that all of the professionals work together toward the same vision and assist clients to achieve their goal of quality homes that suit their lifestyles. Clients can become empowered by enlightened professionals to ultimately change the rules of the real estate game. Our families and communities are the beneficiaries of this quality lifestyle thinking.