Concept 2
After providing some feedback PB Elemental send me a new schematic concept. The new design uses a very different layout and form.. It actually looks pretty cool. Its simple, confident, maybe a little too conservative? I am not sure which path we will take into refinement but both directions look pretty cool. The pictures show the second design with some modifications i made to share with the architect. I added the window in the front.
Here is the second pass on the concept PB elemental presented.. I love the use of angles and the walls falling on the sides. Looks super cool. We have done a lot of small adjustments on space distribution. We will have a back patio with fire pit, a private closed patio with grill, a large balcony and a roof deck; that means a lot of exterior space, having the consideration of the weather in Seattle the 2nd floor exterior spaces are covered but they will be able to be fully open in summer, making the living space feel huge. In general terms we are feeling good about this direction but there is something still missing. Not fully convinced yet. My wife has some concerns with this direction. We haven’t done major work on materials and finishes, This will be coming soon. I will be posting my mood boards for materials and interior design soon.
In this stage of the project the architect is studying space distribution, proportions, making sure the structure fits in the lot, etc.
We had a couple of meetings with our architect. Pb elemental will be designing and building our house. Chris Pardo one of the firm owners has been super helpful in the process. He helped us identify some possible lots in the city that fit our budget. That is how we found our lot. Since he is also a realtor, understanding the potential in the lot was very helpful. We reviewed the first design draft. It was an interesting approach but a bit conservative for what we been looking for. It was a good conversation started. It helped us understand the usage of land, how to maximize budget in foundation, optimize views, etc. The second draft was much better. Shows a more expressive design that reflects some of our inspirations but its missing a WOW factor. We will see what the next design looks like next week. Images will be coming soon :)
We have decided to use PB ELEMENTAL to design and help us build our house. They had built some of my favorite houses in Seattle.
Here are some pictures from my favorite designs by Pb Elemental
It has been super hard to think what we want to build. Here are some images that we are using for inspiration on the style of house we want to have our architect build.
I never thought it would be this hard to find land in Seattle. There is not much space left in the city to build, specially on the desirable neighborhoods. Good lots are so expansive, very far from our budget. After missing a couple of great opportunities we found one that looks very interesting. We made and offer and got accepted. The lot is in Madrona, a super cool neighborhood in the city.
We have already Pre-qualified for a construction loan with Washington Federal. Once all the paperwork is sign, the project could move forward.
This will be my first posting documenting the process of building my first modern home in Seattle. I been looking to find a place that me and my wife love, but nothing really click with us with a reasonable price. After looking for about 3 years, touring many homes, we have decided to build our own. Most of the houses built by developers seem cheap, most of the finishes were low quality, bizarre layouts. It seems that in order to maximize profit attention to detail and design are compromised in a big way. Most of the houses lack personality and were simply boring boxes. Great mid-century modern homes were also expensive and required a substantial amount of money to get them to a great place. Higher end modern homes were nice but expansive… We run into a few houses that were pretty cool, they were located not in the best neighborhoods in seattle, but the designs were nice. I decided to get in touch with the architect who designed them. Pb elemental is a Seattle firm that specializes in Modern Design.
We are looking to build a 3 bedroom house, 2000 to 2500 sqft, open spaces, roofdeck, parking garage, high ceilings.
