Elements of Design

12 02, 2006

Your house’s defense against rising energy costs

By Steve McKee|2006-02-12T04:51:31+00:00February 12th, 2006|Elements of Design, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Your house’s defense against rising energy costs

You may have noticed that utility bills are up. Way up. Fortunately there are devices and measures available for your home that can cut down on your power bill. Some have to be built-in from the start, some can be added later. Some actually come to us from NASA (I’m not kidding) and get incorporated in invisible ways into our houses with things like films inside windows and heat-reflecting coatings in roof panels. It’s the invisible part I like. We get the benefits without even having to notice anything different about our homes. Some of these items (like the low-E [...]

11 12, 2005

The best design book ever

By Steve McKee|2005-12-11T04:53:59+00:00December 11th, 2005|Elements of Design, Thinking like an architect, Uncategorized|Comments Off on The best design book ever

There exists a book so potent in its design insights that I believe it will be used for decades, perhaps centuries, to come. Its name is “A Pattern Language” and it was written about thirty years ago by Christopher Alexander and a team of researchers. It finds the underlying concept behind almost every aspect of what makes our built environment supportive of human life and then, in a series of numerous short chapters, describes these principles in a way that’s easy to understand and use in your own design. The result is a large number of “patterns,” nuggets of understanding [...]

8 05, 2005

Lighting Basics: It’s the layers

By Steve McKee|2005-05-08T05:00:36+00:00May 8th, 2005|Elements of Design, Thinking like an architect, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Lighting Basics: It’s the layers

Have you ever noticed how pleasing the lighting is in a nice restaurant? How rich the setting can seem with just the right features accented, with pools of light in all the right places. It’s because designers in such places are keenly aware of the importance of providing several different “layers” to the lighting. This is something we can do in a home as well, though on a more junior scale. Using lighting to enrich an environment is an inexpensive way to create a feeling of tranquility and luxury. Some light fixtures may not seem cheap when you’re looking at [...]

26 09, 2004

Energy laws and your building project

By Steve McKee|2004-09-26T05:07:08+00:00September 26th, 2004|Elements of Design, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Energy laws and your building project

Title 24. That was its clunky legislative name, and that’s how it continues to be known on building permits and at job sites throughout California. It’s the energy efficiency compliance law California has had in effect since the energy crunches of the 1970’s. Any building project in the state is going to comply with it. Documents showing this compliance need to be submitted when applying for a building permit or the permit will be denied. Title 24 requires that all new construction and additions meet certain minimum standards for energy efficiency. In houses, it’s done by looking at the project’s [...]

11 07, 2004

What’s really up with a 2nd floor addition

By Steve McKee|2004-07-11T05:09:17+00:00July 11th, 2004|Elements of Design, Thinking like an architect, Uncategorized|Comments Off on What’s really up with a 2nd floor addition

I met with a homeowner last year who was in the early phases of her thinking about where to add a master bedroom addition to her one story house. Should she go up or sideways? Which was the cheaper square footage to add? She had met with a couple different builders and had not received a black and white answer and was frustrated that no one could give her a simple response. Truth is, there is no simple answer to this question, but the one thing I knew with some certainty was that the next builder or designer to come [...]

30 05, 2004

Home design in earthquake country

By Steve McKee|2004-05-30T05:10:06+00:00May 30th, 2004|Elements of Design, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Home design in earthquake country

It’s sort of a rite of passage as a Californian to experience your first earthquake. My twelve year old has one under her belt. It was the Napa quake of a few years ago and we both felt it because we were sitting still in the front room together. The house swayed a couple of times and I of course began to excitedly jabber on about what had just happened. Though often just a brief and fun diversion, these quakes have the potential to get really big and become a life shattering event. Just ask the good people living in [...]