THE LOST ART OF PARTI

The Architects Issue

In architecture, a parti is a design concept or organizing principle for a building. It should show, usually in the form of a clear and simple diagram, what your building is all about. A parti is produced in the early stages of the design process, before the plan, section and elevation.

In the new world order of living and homeownership, branded residences have become increasingly popular. People continue to be driven to homeownership, but now with all the luxury and amenities of a hotel. In Lake Buena Vista, FL, The Walt Disney Company has partnered with the Four Seasons to offer custom single-family homes with luxury full-service hotel amenities. The Golden Oak neighborhood features exclusive Four Seasons private residences and is designed to feel like an extension of the Four Seasons Resort, complete with a private entry and access to a multitude of amenities and personalized services.

The Phil Kean Design Group (PKDG) was invited as one of an elite group of design/ build companies to create a spec house for the neighborhood. PKDG was specifically chosen for its modern design sensibility and success as a developer/design/build company in the area. The group chose a site overlooking a conservation area and set about creating an approximately 8,000-square-foot house inspired by mid-century modern design. Most homes in the surrounding area are the Tuscan or old-world style, so Phil’s design was a breath of fresh air.

Phil’s first step in the process is to walk the site. At this time, he is making mental notes of views, features, obstacles and light. He hasn’t begun to sketch yet, but he takes many photos to remind himself of the topography and key elements of the site. Back at the office, Phil starts laying out bubble diagrams focusing on room placement to take advantage of views and light. He will do hundreds of sketches before he is satisfied with the layout of the site plan.

Phil then works on graph paper to solidify the floor plan in exact dimensions. “It is easier and quicker to hand draw designs on graph paper— which are proportionally accurate—than to try and bring in computerassisted design at this point,” notes Phil.

Only when the floor plan has been finalized does Phil begin to think about the exterior look of the home. Phil believes the floor plan is the most important feature of the home, as any floor plan can be made into any architectural style. The massing exercise begins by hand sketching elevations while deciding the look of the house, and then massaging the floor plan to create the that look. Once the hand sketches are approved, they are brought to the computer for a 3D rendering. From there, textures and finishes are added. “The site guides the floor plan, which creates the parti drawing,” explains Phil. “The architectural style of the house is achieved by tweaking elevations to fit the parti.”

Most architects agree the design process never stops. Constant tweaks to the plan and material choices are being made well into the build stage. Although this was a spec house, designs had to be approved by both Disney and the Four Seasons and were mandated to include a list of upgrades, such as a catering kitchen. PKDG went the extra mile by adding 50 hidden Mickeys and naming their home Nyumbani (Swahili for home), inspired by the Disney movie The Lion King.

The house took two years to complete and sold before the build was finished. PKDG invested in a second spec house and sold that home before the firm acquired permits—all on the basis of the PKDG designs and its reputation as a quality builder.

Resource:

Phil Kean Design Group

Phil Kean

912 West Fairbanks Avenue

Winter Park, FL 32789 407.599.3922 philkeandesigns.com

Colorado was hit by the worst wildfire in the state’s history on December 30, 2021. The Marshall Fire burned over 6,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Louisville, leaving survivors to rebuild their homes and lives. Luckily, one family—an older couple with grown children—had a second home in Naples, FL, where they could stay while they regained their footing in Colorado. The couple’s house was completely leveled by the Marshall Fire, and though they were safe in Naples, they were anxious to rebuild their Colorado home. A house in their Florida neighborhood had the look and feel they were after, so they approached Naples architect John Orgren at MHK Architecture to design something similar for them in Colorado.

MHK is a large firm with offices all over Florida, North Carolina and Denver. The company is well known in the Naples area, having completed more than 3,000 homes during its 13 years in business. The homeowners were attracted to MHK’s signature coastal design, and hoped it could be restyled for them in Colorado. After receiving all the necessary site surveys and information, John set about designing their new residence. The previous structure was the reference point for the new build, but every room was reconsidered and altered to fit the homeowners’ current lifestyle.

John started with the main cardinal points and aligned rooms with views. The Colorado sunsets were a favorite feature of the property that the couple wanted to incorporate into their home. John set the front of the house facing west, and created a two-story living room on that side to take advantage of the sunsets. He also added an open trellis gazebo off the living room, where the couple would also be able to view the sunset. The architect worked through several different floor plans before the homeowners settled on one. In all his projects, John makes sure the floor plan is set before massing the structure, but realistically he is doing both at the same time.

During the schematic drawing phase of any project, John uses both hand sketching and the computer. “The computer is great for get- ting the exact dimensions, but the drawings look very dry at the beginning before we have added any material or fittings,” he says. “So I usually draw on top of the computer printout. Hand sketching really brings the building to life, and you can try out a lot of different styles and layouts quickly.” He adds, “Communication from the brain to the hand to the page is a lot quicker than from the brain to the computer.”

While working on the front elevation, John tried several different looks (see options 1 and 2 in the images) before settling on the final design. An interesting change was made while designing the front elevation. Initially—and like the previous house—the front door was a single-height entry, flanked by large windows, which the clients had requested. John thought it best to match the entry with the large windows, and created a two-story entrance, which meant more floor space on the second floor. The homeowners decided to include a study on the second floor to take advantage of the afternoon sun, and John added a balcony to further enhance the views.

During their first few meetings, John presented his clients with a PDF presentation of the floor plan and front elevation. Usually, it takes a couple of rounds for clients to settle on the layout; once they have a comfort level with the floor plan, they consider the elevations. There is some more back and forth until the homeowners are happy with the style. Currently, this house has been transferred to MHK’s Denver office. The clients have finalized the design with John and will now work with the Denver office for the building phase.

Resource:

MHK Architecture

John Orgren

2059 Tamiami Trail East

Naples, FL 34112

239.331.7092 goto mhkarchitecture.com for more locations

JKing Designs architecture firm offers high-quality rendering services to all its clients. The incredible power of 3D software allows the architects and designers to give new home buyers exactly what they want: photo-realistic renderings of their project, every step of the way. “Most of our clients want to see a 3D rendering as soon as possible,” explains Justin King, founder of the firm. “That’s what gets them excited.”

Justin King designed a home in Longboat Key, FL, for a couple who had been referred to his firm. The clients were impressed with other houses in the area that Justin had designed, as well as his use of state-of-the-art 3D software. These particular homeowners wanted to be very involved in the design process and, in order to make decisions, requested a precise representation of the build in Justin’s drawings. The 3D software provided the exact level of detail the clients needed.

The process started with a visit to the stunning lot, which sits between the Sarasota bayfront and the canal, to determine the orientation of the home. Justin’s parti begins with bubble diagrams based on principles of orientation, views and information gleaned from the client until he has a general sense of the layout. He then turns immediately to the computer. In this case, the owners pro - vided hand-drawn sketches of the layout and design elements they wanted to be incorporated into the design. This was highly unusual for Justin—and a pleasant surprise. “The owners constantly pushed us to think through everything thoroughly and find the best possible outcome in all our design decisions,” he says. Even when clients are not as precise in their requirements, J King Designs’ standard operating procedure is to forego any hand-drawn schematics and instead go directly to the computer. His firm focuses on 2D floor plans first, and then begins to consider the elevations. Here, when designing the floor plan, Justin was also thinking about the exterior projections of the West Indies-style home, and how those features might affect the design in terms of materials, colors, beams and structural columns.

The first schematic design presentation includes the floor plan and elevations of every angle of the home sitting on the exact lot, showing specific views. Justin notes that being able to see precisely how the house will sit on the property is very important to his clients. “They are not as concerned about whether the designs are hand drawn or not,” he says. “They want you to be able to walk them through the design and communicate it to them as clearly as possible.”

It usually takes two to three rounds of edits to the schematics to get confirmation from the clients to proceed. On this project, Jus - tin went through 20 rounds with his clients, due to the high level of detail requested in the initial elevations, which the firm doesn’t usually provide. Normally, for J King Designs, the intricate details are drawn during the construction documentation stage. In this case, the schematic stage ended up taking longer, but the construction documentation stage went very quickly.

With all the technology available to designers and architects today to create and communicate complex designs, it is easy to see how hand drawing has been pushed to the side. The architects and designers at J King Designs are all well versed in 3D design software, and a few still hand draw ideas. Justin would like to see more hand drawing done in the firm but, ultimately, he understands that how easily ideas can be communicated to the clients is most important.

Resource:

J King Designs

Justin King 1383 Fifth Street Sarasota, FL 34236 941.465.0036 jkingdesigns.com