What is a House Project?
A House project involves the construction of a new home that meets the needs and requirements of the client. The design of the house must take into account a number of factors including environmental conditions, user comfort and cost. It must also be aesthetically pleasing and respond to the context of the site.
The house must be designed to meet local building codes and standards. These include fire, structural and seismic requirements. It must be built using environmentally responsible materials and practices. It must also be designed to reduce energy consumption.
A good design professional will take the time to understand the house owner’s lifestyle and requirements, as well as their budget and site. They will use this information to develop a set of drawings that are called schematic designs. These will usually include a rough layout of the floor plan and simple views of the exterior of the house if there is an addition. The homeowners will be asked to review and approve these drawings before work begins.
If the initial plans are not to the homeowner’s satisfaction, the design professional will revise them. This may involve reworking the floor plan and changing elevations, or reducing the size of rooms or adding features. They will also prepare an Estimated Cost Breakdown (ECB) for the entire job, including foundations, framing, plumbing, heating, electrical, painting, and builder’s profit. This is a very important document, and homeowners should carefully review it before agreeing to any work being done.
After the schematic design and ECB are approved, the builder will begin constructing the home. This will include excavation, foundations, framing, and roofing. During this phase, the project manager will visit the site regularly to ensure that progress is being made according to the schedule and that the quality of the workmanship is up to standard.
The House Project provides young people with the opportunity to create their first home, build a community of support and make connections and pathways into education, employment and training. The programme is co-designed with young people and underpinned by the ORCHIDS framework.
A ho-hum Colonial Revival along the Charles River gets a curb-appeal Cinderella transformation in this season’s This Old House project. This house will be perfect for the in-laws today and for any grandchildren that might come along later. The team also heads to the land of egg creams and stickball for a rowhouse remodel in the Lower Ninth Ward. They’ll turn a flood-damaged shotgun single into a family home for the long term. In addition, TOH takes on adaptive reuse, transforming a century-old barn into a two-story jewel box.