Catalogs >
James Hardie - France >
Design Principles: Seven Secrets to Adding Value to Your Design

Design Principles: Seven Secrets to Adding Value to Your Design
1Pages

Catalog excerpts

Design Principles: Seven Secrets to Adding Value to Your Design - 1

29 6 Avoid Double-Height Entrances Double-height entrances have become the unfortunate calling card of both the McMansion and the Box. There are usually so many elements on the front of a McMansion that the entrance needs special emphasis, just so you can find your way in. On the Box, the entrance is often made double height in an attempt to add interest to a dull elevation. Your front entrance is important because it is the point where people (not cars) enter and leave. The best entrances are ones that tell us where the door is and keep water off us while we are waiting to enter. 7 Use Vertically Proportioned Windows Window design will vary by style and by region, but most windows have a ratio of either 1:2 or 3:5. In addition to the proportion of the opening, take care with the proportion of the windowpanes. Vertical openings and panes visually enhance the look and feel of the house. (Also, don’t forget the windows on the side of the house.) 5 Ask Yourself, “Could It Work?” It doesn’t matter if it actually works. It just needs to look like it could work. Every human has the innate ability to recognize both good and bad design, even when we don’t know why. The “why” often has to do with the most basic common sense. Could the shutters close? Could the lintel really span that far? Does the placement of materials make sense or does the front of the building look like a completely different building from the sides? Avoid Use Avoid Use Avoid Use S e v e n S e c r e t s t o A d d i n g V a l u e t o Y o u r D e s i g n Enough talking—here is what you need to know to add value to your house with design. Like all “rules,” these are intended to be a point of departure. There are exceptions to every rule; that is what makes building an art. The premise of these rules is to provide you with the tools to articulate why some houses feel better than others. The principles listed below are general items that can be applied to most building styles in any region of the country. Over the course of the next several pages, we will illustrate how to apply these ideas in practice with a series of different houses. 28 1 Minimize the View of Front-Loaded Garages Mitigate the impact of a front-loaded garage on the street by pushing it behind the face of the building, ideally 18 feet or more, which allows a car to park in the driveway without showing in front of the house. Pushing the garage back does not require any more room. Compact, connected communities with narrow streets, alleys and/or side driveways require less land overall than communities where the garage is the central feature of the house. 2 Keep It Simple—Minimize the Number of Steps on the Building Simple roofs are easier to build and look better than roofs with endless gables and steps. Consider the roof from the earliest stages of designing the floor plan. The longer framers are on the roof working, the more the house will cost. 4 Build Sustainable Buildings Carefully select materials that are sustainable. Design houses that are timeless, that people will want to maintain over time. 3 Use Color and Texture Rather Than Additional Elements Color and texture add life to the street and enhance the value of a house. Changing colors and materials on the house adds value, if it is done consistently and in horizontal bands, rather than in vertical strips like wallpaper. Avoid Use Avoid Use Avoid Use Avoid Use D e s i g n P r i n c i p l e s

Open the catalog to page 1