We took advantage of one of the last warm fall days recently to do what we feel is one of the most important tasks on a project: stake the home on the site. We spend a lot of time at Lucid thinking about how a project will integrate into the site. Things like views we want to emphasize (or not), how the sunlight will into a room, what do you see when approaching the house on the drive, and where is that special tree we are saving at all costs. Yup, its right there. A lot of planning and work can be undone in a hurry if a project is not located accurately on a site, and even with the best of surveys, aerial photos, and 3D models, nothing can replace actually being out on the ground with the client and builder.
On the Lake Allegan Residence, we did the staking ourselves with a 100′ tape, a hammer, and some rolls of caution tape. Because of the relative open field that the house was sited in, we knew that if we were a little bit out of square or off by a foot or two there would be no issues. On other projects where we are working in a wooded site, trying to save specific trees that are very close to the building envelope, or need more accuracy for any reason we enlist the help of a surveyor. By using our digital files, the surveyor can locate the home to within less than an inch, and the best part is with modern survey equipment adjustments like sliding the footprint over a few feet, rotating, and about anything else are very easy and quick to do.
In the image below, we are reviewing digital renderings on the iPad and giving the client a great mental picture of how the house will look from a given location on the site.
Our clients, standing in the entry of their future home. There is no seeing it like actually being there.
