The Homemaker and Design1
Bruce M Firestone, PhD
Is there a role for homemakers in the design process?2
I have taught architecture and worked with many architects over the years, and they have valuable skills. However, they seem consumed by an idee fixe—that of producing beautiful buildings with little regard for how those structures relate to their neighbours, streets, neighbourhoods, landscapes, cities, towns, villages, transportation networks, users, tenants, owners, lenders, investors, guests, residents, visitors, and passersby.
I am also not terribly impressed with what homebuilders are accomplishing in terms of livability—how to produce residences whether grand or tiny3 that really work for their inhabitants.
What is the missing link? In my view, it’s input from the end user, aka the homemaker. More on this shortly.
Design Process
Here’s a simplified flowchart of the design process as carried out by most developers/builders today—
DEVELOPER > SITE SELECTION > ARCHITECT SELECTION > GENERAL CONTRACTOR/BUILDER SELECTION > WORKING DRAWINGS > TRADES BIDDING FOR WORK > SUBTRADES BIDDING FOR WORK > SHOP DRAWINGS > BUILDING PERMIT> CONSTRUCTION > OCCUPANCY PERMIT > LEASING OR SALE > OCCUPANCY > DEFICIENCIES/INADEQUACIES REVEALED > ARGUMENTS ABOUT WHO DOES WHAT AND WHO PAYS FOR WHAT AMONGST THE PARTIES
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1.Also available from, https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p2ar4wy1lrwkw5q3ov0ir/missing-link-the-homemaker-and-design-bruce-m-firestone-phd.pdf?rlkey=tz69icfvumuivdsw5hlf38wzq&dl=0.
2.Image source, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Good_housekeeping_1908_08_a.jpg#/media/File:Good_housekeeping_1908_08_a.jpg.
3.And the smaller the residence, the more creative designers must be to make best use of every cubic foot or centimeter.
This leads to expensive retrofits, loss of reputation and litigation in many cases.
But what if developers and builders, architects and contractors were more inclusive and brought in end users (homemakers) early in their design process to help? What could homemakers contribute.
A great deal, in my opinion, including elements such as (in no particular order)—
Home office setup
Built in shelving
Kitchen flow
Overall building flow
Storage, amount and location
Multiple ingress and egress points
Door swing directions
In-law suite
Backyard storage shed, workshop, ADU (coach house)
Hardscaping to reduce yard work
Vegetable garden
Boot and coat placement, coat closet
Laundry room, how big and where located
Linen closet
Broom closet
Plugs, where they are and at what height
Furniture placement given where windows and doors are
Furniture selection to make best use of space, eg, storage shelf under beds or loft bed with office underneath
Color selection
Appliance selection
Plumbing and electrical fixture selection
Location of lights, end tables and more
Painting and picture placement
Garbage shed/storage solutions
Deck placement, size and height
Area rugs
Wall mounted TV locations and plugs
Speaker installation locations
Modem and mesh locations
And so forth…
Maybe the above flowchart could be amended to look like this?
DEVELOPER > SITE SELECTION > ARCHITECT SELECTION > END USER [HOMEMAKER] AND INTERIOR DESIGNER INPUT > GENERAL CONTRACTOR/BUILDER SELECTION > WORKING DRAWINGS > TRADES BIDDING FOR WORK > SUBTRADES BIDDING FOR WORK > SHOP DRAWINGS > BUILDING PERMIT > CONSTRUCTION > OCCUPANCY PERMIT > LEASING OR SALE> OCCUPANCY> MINIMAL DEFICIENCIES/INADEQUACIES REVEALED> FEWER ARGUMENTS ABOUT WHO DOES WHAT AND WHO PAYS FOR WHAT AMONGST THE PARTIES
Simple Example
Not convinced? Well, here is a small kitchen with an eat-in alcove. You can see a wall mounted speaker in the image plus a boot rack on the side wall and a narrow, not too deep, multi-drawer cabinet for additional storage of food stuffs and plates/dishes/etc.
But also note the placement of the chairs. The homemaker, by turning the chairs 45-degrees, increases room for people coming in or going out to the adjacent garage by about 3-inches. Every inch, every cubic inch (ie, taking advantage of ceiling height, where possible) matters.
Prof Bruce
Bruce M Firestone, B Eng (civil), M Eng-Sci, PhD
Real Estate Investment and Business coach
Ottawa Senators founder
ROYAL LePAGE Performance Realty broker
613-762-8884
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