Designing for the Landscape
Methow Valley Home Design always start with several visits to the site in order to find the essence of the land and identify its most prized traits. Each piece of property in the Methow has invaluable characteristics that need to be worked into the siting and design of the house. Large scale views, intimate spaces, the ability to gather solar energy or tuck in out of the wind all come in to play when assessing a site. Finding a balance of the sites attributes and the practical needs of the client gets our design underway.
Designing for the Clients Needs
Once the landscape is assessed, it’s time to sit with the clients and find what their needs are for the new building. I like to start with an interview where we go through questions that help build a written model of what the home should accommodate and what dreams are hoped for. Is this home design intended to be a get away space for a couple and friends or is it a full time home for a family raising kids? Are we looking for a home that is pushing sculptural boundaries or are we looking to stay with traditional forms.
Setting a reasonable budget for the project is also invaluable from the beginning. It is very important to me that we design a home that meets your budget and allows you to realize your dreams. If we budget carefully, you should be able to fit some special additions into your design.
Designing for the Envirionment
Environmental house design is one of the most important elements that I can bring to you the client and to us as a culture. The buildings that we live, work and shop in consume 30% of our energy and 70% of our electricity. The more our projects help to bring those numbers down the more positive for the environment and our planet.
I hope to work as many energy saving strategies into my designs as I can. We can start with a robust insulation package to help conserve every bit of energy that we put into the home. Adding elements of passive solar energy collection and storage bolster the buildings energy effectiveness. Creating high tech building envelopes, using ingenious framing techniques and looking to creative solutions for heat and cold management all play a part in reducing a buildings carbon footprint.
We can design in active solar energy production working with local solar designers and installers. Be it to stand alone from the grid or to tie in and feed your excess electricity back to the grid. We can do it. Would you like to be able to capture rain to water your zeri scape plantings? We can do that too.
I am here to help you build a home that sits lightly on the land. It’s my passion and I would love to help make your home meet your environmental goals.