James H Kunstler dissects suburbia

Plan your project before construction

Photo Paul McGrath, North Shore News

It's essential for individuals wishing to undertake a renovation or new construction to anticipate and understand the challenges of construction.

Be it a modest renovation or new multi-million-dollar home, individuals will be faced with similar obstacles as they undertake a building project.

In this article I will discuss the most common questions and challenges individuals face.

You may have grand aspirations to build an extraordinary West Coast contemporary style home or maybe you just want to renovate your breakfast nook; regardless, the first thing you'll need to address is your site. As I discussed in my last column, the unique characteristics of a property will inform planning decisions from the get-go and should really be seen more as opportunity than a challenge.

An analysis of the zoning bylaws that pertain to your piece of land is the first step. Setbacks, easements and special requirements are different for every municipality and must be understood before setting pencil to paper. Once you know what you can't do, the next move is to figure out what you can do to best utilize the qualities that your site has to offer. All too often we are confronted with homes that have been built from stock plans that have no relation to their property, with sundrenched windowless walls facing magnificent views or wonderful, inviting gardens with little or no access from a living space within. The placement of your house in the landscape and organizing your plan around sun exposure, views and access to the garden are all critical decisions in the design process and will ultimately help generate a suitable layout for your site.

The question of whether to renovate or build new is another essential point that needs to be answered at the beginning of the process. Comments like "only moving a few walls" or "just pop on another floor" make designers and architects cringe as they recognize immediately what this can entail. Moving a wall actually requires tearing down the existing one, moving and relocating any plumbing and electrical housed within it, refinishing the floors and ceiling that have been disrupted by moving it and then the rebuilding a new wall somewhere else. Moving said wall may entail structural considerations too, potentially reverberating throughout the building structure and resulting in significant costs.

The addition of a new floor to a house is a substantial undertaking that requires structural reinforcement of walls, openings and foundations throughout the existing house making what, on the surface, might seem like an isolated intervention to be, in fact, a profoundly involved one. It is critical to understand from the start of your project that extensive renovations are often more costly than new construction.

There are several strategies in renovation work that we follow in order to maximize a modest budget, recognizing that certain compromises are essential to reach this goal.

The designer needs to critically analyze a residence and identify the major problems pertaining to circulation, function and form and then set about trying to rectify those trouble spots with as little major intervention as possible.

For projects with a significant amount of remodelling, it's often best to contain the renovation work to a specific area of the house. The ideal scenario is the construction of an addition completely independent of the existing structure that works on a number of floor levels. This scenario minimizes intervention to the existing home and often allows residents to remain insitu during construction.

For smaller jobs, simple solutions like opening up a kitchen to a living space can be a cost-effective measure that has a positive effect on the whole house. Even simple ideas like a new colour of paint can transform a gloomy space into an upbeat one. Successful solutions can still be attained even when funds are low.

But that said, the unrealistic budget is one of the most common challenges for the intrepid homeowner.

Individuals routinely embark on building projects without an adequate cost analysis and find themselves sinking in a financial quagmire. It's essential to plan your project adequately before you start construction and to put aside a contingency fund just in case. (I often suggest upwards of 25 per cent of anticipated building cost be tucked away as contingency.)

When it comes time to looking for a builder, the magic word is patience. It's a far better choice to wait for a good one than to go with the unknown. Good referrals and a strong track record are key things I look for when referring a client to a contractor.

The competent builder is someone who makes a job run smoothly, understands the entire construction process and won't incur extra costs or time delays through poor scheduling or inexperience. Individuals wishing to renovate or build new should do their planning homework before construction starts and resolve as many issues as possible with an eraser rather than a crow bar.

Inspired design embraces site's uniqueness

A home and the land it sits upon are inextricably joined in a marriage that can be as fulfilling as it can be fruitless.

Designers and architects understand this connection and make site planning the first order of B business when designing a new home.

Be it a rolling pasture or a precipitous cliff, every house is joined to a site that should directly inform its massing and layout. The unique characteristics of a property are essential cues in the formation of a design and should be seen as opportunities to embrace rather than obstacles to overcome.

Many of the finest examples of residential architecture are inspired responses to distinct qualities of a unique site. Arthur Erickson's Smith Residence built in West Vancouver in 1964 boldly bridges two granite outcroppings that, to a less gifted designer, might have been seen as a hindrance rather than an inspiration.

Supported on huge fir beams that bridge between the two outcroppings, the fully glazed living room floats above the surrounding landscape and spans the courtyard entry below. It's a masterpiece of residential design, revealed by the challenges of a demanding site rather than in spite of one.

I was approached recently by a couple wanting to build a new home on a small, steeply sloping site, facing the ocean. The 25-foot-wide and 100-foot-long site was distinctive enough because of its tiny footprint but the fact that it dropped almost 60 feet over its length (imagine a doubles tennis court tilted at 45 degrees and you get the picture of the site) made the property truly unique. The clients wished to create a small, efficiently designed home that would capture expansive views to the ocean while still maintaining a sense of privacy from directly adjacent neighbouring properties.

The unique site profoundly shaped the design of the building with its mass sliding down the steep site and terminating in a dramatic cantilever extending out into space to the ocean. Large openings facing the water mixed with strategically located horizontal windows on the sides of the house provide a stunning panoramic view while still shielding views to adjacent properties.

The main living spaces feel like they're floating above the ocean, fully capturing the surrounding beauty, while still maintaining a strong sense of privacy. What at first glance looked like an impossibly difficult site to work with proved, in the end, to be the catalyst for a distinct building expression.

Looking for the essential "CUES" from your site is an easy acronym to remember when approaching site design:

• Capture views and sun. Layout your house to best utilize view corridors and sun. Don't build your house on the sunny spot of your lot but rather adjacent to it. Try to maximize those south facing outdoor spaces. Look to bringing that winter sun into the house while keeping the summer rays at bay.

• What's Unique about your property? It might be a cliff, a view or a just a big, bright yard but this special feature can play an important role in the design of your house. Embrace this uniqueness and treat it as an inspiration rather than an obstacle.

• Understand the Essence of the site. Try to work with the site rather than force something on it. The placement of structures, roads, gardens and outdoor areas should enhance the site rather than take from it.

• Be Strategic in the placement of your house and the landscaping. Use the building itself to screen unwanted views and create private zones. Be creative with your landscaping. It too can work as an effective tool to separate public and private areas.

Dream home nightmare

Photograph by: NEWS photo, Cindy Goodman

Spending the Christmas holidays in a cabin, snowbound with friends, is the ideal way to unwind and relax, allowing one to take stock from the year passed and make plans for the year ahead.

Setting aside the stresses of daily life for a time is the raison d'être of a holiday retreat after all, but not for close friends of mine.

Their dream of building a cabin on the slopes of an Okanagan ski resort was realized a couple years back as they eagerly anticipated years of fun and relaxation in their newly built winter retreat. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

They undertook their construction project the right way. They hired a reputable designer to help them with their plans, they submitted drawings to the municipal authorities as required and they hired a seemingly competent builder to construct and oversee their project until completion.

As most folks do - and should do - my friends depended heavily on the competence and professionalism of the builder to see the construction of their home done right. Their builder was strong on the charismatic end and was very good at selling his services but, as it played out, had little else to offer.

As the project moved through construction my friends would discover that the original budget issued to them by their builder was simply a low-ball guess rather than a considered estimate, and by the end of the project would see it grow to double the original amount.

Sadly, the problems didn't end there. This particular builder didn't follow the construction documents issued to him and simply omitted or 'forgot' features as he saw fit. The plan was altered, a dumb-waiter was forgotten and the wine cellar was included in the in-floor radiant heating system (it's currently being heated and cooled simultaneously to achieve its required temperature).

Fundamental construction details were botched as well. The main roof drainpipe, which runs down the centre of the house, wasn't buried deep enough at grade and consequently was affected sub-zero temperatures. Water in the pipe would freeze and create a dam, backing up drain water onto the roof, creating ice dams and roof leaks. The problem got so bad that the ice poured over the face of the house and worked itself into the exterior walls.

There are scores of other issues with the house (too many to discuss here) but the definitive proof that this builder was the classic "cowboy" was in the detailing of the roof supports.

The three-storey building has exterior columns that support the roof structure above and intermediate decks between. The columns run from roof to grade, one atop the other, transferring the considerable load of a snow-covered, flat-roof to the foundation below. It was discovered that the columns at the intermediate levels were not continuous but rather sat atop a layer of half-inch plywood at deck level with no blocking or structure below to transfer the load to the column beneath it.

This scenario is as sobering as it is scary, creating the potential for structural failure of catastrophic proportion. This wasn't a simple omission either. It would be discovered that this detail was standard for this builder on a number of similar projects.

Fortunately for my friends they're covered under the National Home Warranty service and their construction issues are being rectified, but the project and its problems are a wake-up call. Where was the designer in the building process? Where were the inspectors? Where was the structural engineer? There are many questions still unanswered but at its basics, there was an individual overseeing the construction of this project that was in no position to do so.

Rumour has it that this fellow is still working but I suspect this latest fiasco will put his construction career to rest (there are a total of five projects on the hill with similar issues created by the same fellow).

In stark contrast to builder above, the qualified builder or general contractor is a professional who takes an architect's and designer's conceptual ideas and makes them into a built reality. They'll have a track record of successful built projects to their name and a list of happy clients to back up their claims. They'll never start a job without first signing a contract and they'll always carry the necessary liability insurance and worker's compensation coverage to protect their client and themselves. Through it all, the builder will assume complete responsibility for the contracted work and will provide a full warranty for it when it's done.

I encourage anyone embarking on a construction project to do their homework and find an experienced and reputable builder to work with. Do this and one will have the peace of mind at the start of their project that their job will be done right, on time and on budget.

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Homes provide a necessary retreat from outside world

There’s something about Christmas that brings out a desire for security and retreat like no other.

It could be the shorter days and cooler temperatures or maybe just the spirit of the season but the idea of being nestled around a cozy fire enjoying the company of family and friends has an almost irresistible draw at this time of year.

What's being touched on here - this desire - is our instinct for security and retreat in our lives. Our homes, in a most fundamental way, embody this need by creating a physical shelter that affords us protection and security from the outside environment while providing an equally important psychological disconnect from that world as well.

Think about it: kids hide away in tree houses, secure in their position of height, revelling in the feeling of being the untouched observer while us adults race for that cosy corner seat in the local cafe to anonymously observe the drama of daily life acted out before us. We all have this desire within us.

Your home may be your castle in a metaphorical sense but few of us want it to feel like a fortress. A well designed home will provide opportunities for its occupants to capture a sense of security and shelter while still enjoying a private association to something beyond.

Frank Lloyd Wright understood this intrinsic human need and provided for it in many of his earlier Chicago homes. By raising the place of retreat from the area it overlooked, Wright was able to increase the feeling of physical separation while enhancing the sense of private association. Primary living spaces would be located on the second floor in order to separate them from the street below and deeply set, low-walled patios would afford views to the street while still maintaining a sense of visual privacy to the occupants within.

In a design for a new home recently constructed in West Vancouver I created a covered porch that fully captured a view to a sunny, south-facing front yard and the ocean beyond while still providing the residents a sense of privacy from a busy street adjacent. By placing the patio above street level, enclosing it on the street side with a low wall and providing a fully glazed railing to the garden I was able to create a space that allowed the residents to move about the patio and overlook the world outside without being observed from the street below.

Human beings like to visually participate in the world around them while being situated in a place of perceived psychological security. The well-designed home is not only a creative response to the corporeal requirements of physical safety and security of its inhabitants but also an answer to their psychological needs as well.

Know your building codes, bylaws

For those of you who've had the pleasure of dealing with a municipality regarding zoning and building code requirements, you've no doubt discovered what a frustrating and confusing experience it can be.

Photograph by: Cindy Goodman, North Shore News

One will often find themselves wading through a quagmire of limits and boundaries that appear, at first glance, to exist simply to confuse and restrict the process but a closer look will reveal a far more coherent explanation.

In a descriptive broad stroke, zoning requirements are unique to a given municipality and are the means by which that community can control and shape the development that takes place within its jurisdiction. Building code requirements work on a provincial and national level and are created to control design, construction and material use in the building process based on health and safety standards.

Understanding the regulations that govern a given site is an essential first step for anyone embarking on a residential project on that property, no matter how small.

In general terms, building code requirements are set in stone. They're the law. Building code requirements need to be met or you don't move forward. Truth be told, there is a means to argue unclear building code requirements if what's being proposed meets the intent of the specific contravened code regulation but arguing such a point is a long and difficult process and is not something one would normally do. For the average homeowner, assume code requirements to be unchangeable. Zoning requirements are a little less succinct.

Every district and municipality has their own set of zoning requirements. Something allowed in the District of West Vancouver might not be allowed in the City of North Vancouver, or vice versa. Be it commercial, multi-family or single family residential, a particular piece of land will be governed by zoning regulations that define its place within a community plan. These regulations dictate the size, shape and location of the building on its site in order to ensure that what's being proposed is in keeping with its context. By setting restrictions on fundamentals such as setbacks from property lines, maximum building heights and permissible built areas, zoning bylaws quickly define what can and cannot be built.

Zoning bylaws are there to shape a community in a positive, predetermined way. On occasion, these bylaws move beyond being reasonable rules and thwart the best and most sensible design solutions. Unlike with building code requirements, one has recourse. Through a variance application process an individual can plead a grievance before a building committee and if their case is deemed justified, the contravening design will be allowed. The key for success in a variance process is for the appellant to successfully demonstrate that undue hardship would be caused by the application of the zoning bylaw requirement.

Here are a few key zoning regulations a homeowner may need to address before embarking on a building project:

Setbacks define buffer zones around the edge of a property in which a building is not permitted. Most bylaws allow certain elements of structure like overhangs and chimneys to protrude into the setback but not always. Accessory buildings such as garages and storage sheds are generally permitted within the main building setbacks but fall under their own individual requirements.

The height of your home is calculated differently within every zoning district. Some measure from average grade height while others measure from the highest façade up. For sloped roofs, maximum heights might be taken to ridgeline or to the median height of ridge and roof spring line. Regardless, this is something that should be established from the outset otherwise the repercussions could be disastrous.

The floor space ratio, or FSR, dictates the maximum amount of floor area permitted on a given site. It includes all floors but often has exceptions for areas below grade. The calculation process can vary widely between municipalities.

If you have intentions of undertaking a residential project, big or small, drop into your local planning authority and get a full explanation of what building code and zoning regulations might affect you.