Taking on a new position

Symbiotic home is restructuring again.  Owner of Sym-Home, Joshua Lloyd has accepted a position with Conservation Services Group (CSG) in their central Ohio office as an energy advisor.  He will be performing home energy audits for the Columbia Gas of Ohio, Home Performance Solutions Program.  A program that is providing its customers with a full comprehensive energy audit for $50, and very attractive rebates to perform the recommended improvements.

Joshua looks at this opportunity to get knee deep and dirty in the building science industry, experiencing firsthand what time and systems can do to a home, as well as see good and bad ways to build a house.  The position will provide Joshua with the latest information and techniques for retrofitting homes to improve energy efficiency.

In the meantime Sym-Home will finish out its current design contracts.  Joshua will continue to blog about his experiences in the field and focus his free time to finish the Architectural Registration Exams (ARE) to become a licensed architect as well as obtain the LEED for Homes credential.  At that point in time Sym-Home will be available on a limited basis for residential design services.

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Project Invasion

Frank Lloyd Wright was known for making surprise visits to his residential projects.  During these visits he would rearrange the furniture (in most cases he designed it specifically for the project), and even took pictures down and asked the home owner to throw them away.  Now I am not such a control freak, but I did have a chance to stay in one of my residential design projects for almost two weeks.  So what better way to make a designer to second guess and critique old work than to experience living in it firsthand.

Overall my family and guests enjoyed our time at the lakeside cottage in upstate New York.  The open floor plan flowed nicely and left plenty of room for the 5 kids to run around and play.  The 4 bedrooms gave both families plenty of room and allowed them to have their own private space.  This will be nice for the owners as their family grows in size and is passed along between generations.  The bunk room was a hit with the kids and the open railing served its purpose to monitor the little ones from sneaking out.  My wife liked how she could lock the first floor bathroom and Master bedroom can act as a Master Suite by opening the pocket door.  During the planning and design I was skeptical of the placement of the laundry in the main entry.  Although spacious, the main entry is very utilitarian and is only used as a transition between spaces and the laundry goes almost un-noticed.  Plus being only a summer home, you tend to overlook the utilitarian nature of the space.

The large South facing windows provide a great view of the lake (a far cry from the original design provided by a drafter that was originally hired).  And with the clerestory windows, plenty of daylight was available in all areas of the home.  This also took advantage of the prevailing winds and is a very effective way to naturally ventilate the home.  At times it felt as if we were sitting on the screened in porch.

Overall the experience staying in the home was good and it was a fun project to work on.  Therefore  looking back, I really wouldn’t change anything that I did.  As a designer, our job is to solve problems and create places.  We were given the task to add two bedrooms and an additional bath to and existing cottage, and I think we came up with the best solution possible.  However the only complaint from the owner is they wish they had more storage space in form of cabinets and a larger deck that will soon be rectified.