Click the link at SeattleArchitects.org to read about our project with 2 Bar Spirits
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
While assisting a nonprofit with the design of a shelter for battered women and children, I was using my wife's fancy camera that she uses in her photography business. The camera has a lot of advanced features that I can barely use, and it looks impressive with its interchangeable lenses. As I was taking photos, I noticed a teenage kid eyeing the camera. He was pretty rough looking, and it was a little unnerving that he was looking at the camera so intensely. If I wasn't inside of this housing facility, I would have definitely felt worried that I might be robbed.
After noticing the kid for a few minutes repeatedly checking out my camera, I asked him if he wanted to take some photos for me to "help me do my job easier." He looked a bit shocked and very excited at the same time. He eagerly said "yes!" I stood between him and the exit door, and handed him the camera (just in case he tried to run off with it, I could prevent him from leaving). I put the strap around his neck, and said, "as long as you don't drop it, you won't hurt it, so have fun." I showed him a few buttons to push, and then I instructed him to follow behind me and shoot pictures of the things I was measuring. I offered him a few bits of insight on how he might frame the photos, so they would be more helpful for me.
When I was done, I offered to pay him for his time, but he turned me down. It was obvious that simply using the camera was enough payment. He thanked me and replied, "that was really cool. I'd like to get a camera like that one day." I told him he was really good at it, and he probably would end up with a nice camera if he worked at it.
A few years later, I ran into the director of the housing program, and she told me something that changed my life. She said, "do you remember the boy that helped you with the photos awhile back?" I said, "no, not really, sorry." She explained him a bit further, and eventually she jogged my memory a little. She reminded me that I let one of the teenage kids that lived in the shelter use my expensive camera. She said that he never really had a father figure in his life, and that small gesture had a big impact on him. She explained how it ignited a passion in him and changed him from a fairly disobedient kid to someone who had purpose and meaning in his life. She said he was pursuing an education in photography and hopes to be a photographer some day. She thanked me for my kindness, and I left with a feeling of sadness.
I was sad for two reasons: 1. I was sad that this kid didn't have the basic needs met in his upbringing, so I felt guilty that I was much more fortunate than him. 2. Until that moment, I never realized how big of an impact such a meaningless moment could have on another person. It made me feel like I may have helped or even hurt so many other people without even realizing it. This was just one opportunity that I knew the cause AND effect of my actions.
This encounter made me realize that the smallest things we do can have meaningful consequences on others. As an architect, I interact with a ton of people: other architects, engineers, builders, clients, clients' kids, clients' neighbors, building department staff, material suppliers, etc. At any moment, I have the chance to make a difference in their lives. Additionally, as a soccer coach, I have more opportunities to make a difference as a role model to younger people.
This is a major responsibility, and I hope you will allow this story to help you realize your potential impact and the responsibility that corresponds with your interactions with others. Seize that opportunity by being aware of it.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
As an architect, I have been involved with the construction of over 1000 buildings, and 95% of those have been homes. I have seen successes, failures, and have certainly learned from each of those. I know what works and what doesn’t before it happens, and when someone starts explaining an issue, I already know a solution (as I politely let them finish saying what they want to say) since I’ve already seen the same things over and over.
I can very confidently say I am an expert in my craft. They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in something. I’ve done that over and over, so I must be like a 10th degree black belt in residential design and construction:)
One of the most perplexing things to me is the cost of construction. I have a decent understanding of what things will cost, but the ‘WHY’ is such an interesting topic. WHY do things need to cost what they cost. Here’s what I’ve learned:
Builders have to buy and finance expensive materials. They buy them, and they manage them, and they have to collect a payment from their client for them. They are essentially acting like a bank giving a loan until the client pays them back. They also have to finance the cost of their laborers.
Builders need to buy the correct materials. This may sound easy, but it’s like planning a chess move 10 steps in advance. The builder needs to ensure the materials they purchase will actually properly perform, fit, and be delivered when needed. If the builder is wrong about any of those, the cost impacts are outrageous. You can’t just return most building materials. The builder is stuck with the cost if that happens. Also, if the builder does not order enough, or certain materials get damaged during delivery, storage, or install (or stolen), the builder is on the hook for that too. If they need to order more materials, that could take weeks, and the cost impact of a scheduling debacle is major. This is why builders should be entitled to mark up the cost of the materials they buy. They accept a lot of risk for buying and managing materials.
Builders have to perform labor in terrible environmental conditions. Their work conditions are so terrible that it is not even legally allowed in a conventional work setting. Office buildings are required to have a certain level of light, heat, ventilation, bathrooms, air quality, etc. Builders often have NONE of that. They are subjecting their bodies to very uncomfortable conditions all day and every day, and the work they do is quite dangerous too. If there’s a job that deserves hazard pay, it’s construction. Most people don’t have what it takes to do what builders do every day.
Builders have to work around expensive existing conditions. When installing an expensive light, tub, refrigerator, etc, they are also being installed next to expensive cabinets/countertops, on expensive flooring, and pass through expensive doors, windows, landscaping, etc. At any point, the builder can F those other things up. If they do, you will expect them to pay to fix it. The cost to install a $300 toilet results in the protection of everything around it and under it. The builder is on the hook for the cost of your whole home essentially. Installing a $300 toilet on $5000 of tile with a million dollar home under it that can be wrecked with a simple leak is pretty stressfull.
Builders need expensive tools to do their job. You might use a $2000 laptop with $2000 of software and insurance and such. Builders have that too, AND they also have a bunch of other expensive things like drills, saws, scaffolds, ladders, lasers, trucks, tractors, etc. This list could go on forever, but the point is, your builder has thousands and likely hundreds of thousands of dollars of resources they have purchased to get your job done. They need to maintain, store, protect, insure, and transport all of those items to be able to do your job. The fee they charge you needs to cover those items. And guess what … it is not uncommon that they get stolen despite how well they are locked up. Getting “hit” by thieves once per year is normal.
Just like most businesses, builders need to cover their payroll. They need to find workers, get them to the jobsites, and pay their wages, taxes, and insurance, and they usually do this BEFORE you pay them for the work they did for you. Think about the thousands of dollars a builder likely paid before they started your project, and before you ever paid them. They also probably spent over 100 hours planning and estimating your project before it ever started. This is a lot of overhead expense.
The builders we work with take on so much responsibility, so I really hope our society can appreciate what they do for us. They made the place you are in right now. Someone sanded that trim, drywall, and flooring to make it nice and safe for you. After that person finished that work, he or she cleaned their fingernails and popped their blisters … and they did that for you.
Think about that as you click away on your keyboard in your heated and well-ventilated office. This is why builders need to charge what they charge.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
To set the record straight, I love trees. They provide nice shade, they create nifty shadows, they suck up thousands of gallons of water so it doesn’t need to be sent into sewer systems, they create oxygen, they create homes for animals, they are fun to climb, and they are pretty to look at.
Despite all the benefits, there are drawbacks - especially when they are in close proximity to buildings.
The root systems of trees are very unkind to foundations. They are also capable of destroying underground plumbing. The roots will find their way into nooks and crannies of pipes and foundations and eventually clog and break them. This could be very expensive to repair.
The leaves from trees are also problematic when they fall. They clog sewers, and clogged sewers cause back ups that flood houses. Many people like trees because they are into sustainability, but there is nothing more unsustainable than needing to rebuild something that was already previously built. The leaves also pile up against portions of buildings that can cause rot to occur. Wet leaves not only promote rot, but they create habitats for rodents and other pests that pose a danger to your building (and your health) that result in required replacement.
When trees are nearby a roof, they tend to create excess shade and moisture in that vicinity which will eventually cause moss to grow on the roof. Moss will quickly deteriorate your roofing, and that will lead to leaks. There is nothing sustainable about needing to replace a roof more than completely necessary, or even worse, replacing parts of your house that get damaged by roof leaks.
The moral of the story is to keep your trees in a safe place. By keeping them away from your structure, you will preserve the longevity of your building and therefore be helping our environment.
In the image below, notice how the only portion of that roof that has moss on it is the portion that is below tree branches. Case and point.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
“Uni-tasking” is the opposite of multi-tasking. We have all heard that you can be more productive when you focus on one thing rather than dividing your attention among several things at a time (like watching Netflix while texting while “working” from home).
Designing buildings is much the same. While it is necessary to have several active projects to keep a business running, we certainly can be most productive if we can focus our undivided attention on one project at a time. Sometimes that means turning off the email and cell phone to prevent interruptions as you work toward a defined goal. All too often, we try to be too accessible to everyone all the time, but that uber-availability could actually be a disservice to others.
Sometimes clients will ask us to just “slip them in” or maybe “we are in no rush, so just work on it when you have spare time.” In their minds, they are being flexible with timing hoping it will cost them less money or something. The truth is that if you set a clear expectation, you can more effectively focus on that goal and have metrics in place to actually achieve it (instead of willy nilly working on something here and there).
To try to work more effectively, I accept the right number and type of projects, I divide their scope into manageable chunks, and I schedule them. I also schedule my production time the same way I schedule my meetings. I also do my emailing at the same part of each day. This enables me to have less interruptions and to have blocked out time to get stuff done.
People often ask me how I manage to get so much done. Planning as much “uni-task time” as possible is my solution. Of course we need to be flexible and be capable of managing unavoidable interruptions when they come at us, but we are in a much better position to be successful if we aren’t already multi-tasking when that happens.
Think about the last time you got overwhelmed. How many things were you doing at the same time? Keep it simple and focus.
If you’d like some tips to get more done in a day, check out this post from a few years ago: www.josharch.com/blog/2016/2/2/how-i-get-so-much-done-in-a-day
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
Real, natural materials. (Not fake)
Black window frames. (Not white)
Big glass.
No trim.
Two simple, well-defined 3D shapes contrasted (consistently) with color, material, height, and depth.
BIG overhangs. (No, not 2 or 3 feet. 8 feet!)
Two or three materials maximum.
Get rid of clutter.
Exterior materials that continue seamlessly to the interior.
Don’t use so much damn drywall.
This one needs repeating: stop using so much damn drywall! Design a house to be smaller with nicer materials to stay on budget. McMansions are uninteresting giant boxes clad with boring hardie cement board or vinyl lap siding on the outside and drywall on the inside. A smaller home with nicer material is more enriching to live in:)
That’s it. Follow this format, and you will have a cool house.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
Do you wonder what the difference is between structural engineering and architecture? No … engineers and architects are not the same thing. Watch the videos below to learn more. There will be a quiz later:)
If you would like to learn more, please watch the full video below.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
This depends.
It depends on the type of work you’re doing, and which city or county your project is located.
As a default, many building departments automatically assume you need a permit for all work that you do. Without even giving you the chance to describe your scope of work, building departments often assume a permit is required, and they often overlook their own criteria that determines when a permit is required. They are quick to request payments for permit fees.
Below, I have included the criteria from the Seattle Residential Code (which is adopted from the International Residential Code), and these rules are similar in many locations. In summary, the code stipulates that you don’t need to get a building permit for non-structural work such as replacing surface finish materials like flooring or drywall, cabinetry, countertops, tiling, ceilings, siding, and even installing patios, abatement of hazardous materials, and adding insulation. The code also allows you to repair, and even replace, deteriorated structural components like beams, columns, joists, etc. without a building permit. The exact or “in-kind” replacement of pretty much everything is allowed by code without a permit as long as you are not making changes and the new components are better than the existing ones. “Better” means: newer, safer, and structurally sound. Furthermore, the code also allows you to make changes to the existing conditions as long as these alterations do not cost any more than $6000 for each 6 months for the fair market value of labor and materials, but these alterations cannot include changes to the structure or reduction to the exits, fire-ratings, lighting, or ventilation. You can even build a shed or similar structure without a building permit as long as its roof is under 120SF (200SF in some cities). Without a building permit, you can basically add or replace any material you want, and $6000 can be spent on changes to the existing conditions (except for the items noted).
Although a building permit may not be required, electrical, plumbing, or even land use/zoning permits may still be required in some situations. For example, you might not need a building permit to build a small shed, BUT, you might need to get special environmentally critical area permit approvals if you are building that tiny shed within a steep slope area, wetland, landslide area, liquefaction area, or peat settlement area, for example. Additionally, although a permit may not be required for certain work, ALL WORK MUST STILL BE BUILT ACCORDING TO THE CODES. You can’t just build a shed along the property line without complying with the required setbacks from the property line which must remain open, and certain items must still have a fire-rating applied to them.
The most common thing I hear when someone tells me a permit isn’t required is: “all my sheds are under 120SF, so I don’t need a permit.” And nearly always, I must inform that person that the 120SF exception is for the roof, and not just for the interior floor, so their roof overhangs take it over the maximum. Also their roof overhangs (or even the entire shed) commonly do not comply with the side yard setback requirements, and those roofs often need to have a fire rating on the underside of them. Many of these unpermitted sheds in Seattle are also built within environmentally critical areas where no work at all is allowed (but people still think they are allowed to build them without a permit anyway… there’s a lot of assuming going on).
Another common misconception is converting a garage to living space. There’s 2 problems here. When you convert one “building use” to another “use”, a permit is always required for this change of use. The building department needs to verify that the old structure is built to the safety level required for the new use since the new use usually requires a higher safety factor. For example, a garage doesn’t have all the safety components that a living space has, so changing a use to a living space does require a permit. Additionally, when you remove a parking space, there’s a chance that your property no longer complies with the parking requirements mandated by the zoning code. In many areas, at least 1 parking space is required, and the parking space is not allowed to be in the street, it’s not allowed to be in the part of the driveway that overhangs into your front yard setback that is supposed to be clear, and sometimes cars must be a specific distance from the front property line. By changing a previously approved parking space in a garage to a living space, you might be shooting yourself in the foot because there’s sometimes nowhere else on the property that can fit the legally required parking space.
As an architect, I know where to find all these rules, I know how to interpret them, and I know how to phrase your scope of work, so you can comply. I also know how to hold the building department accountable in situations where they tell you that you need a building permit, but you actually do not. This happens much more than you would think.
This doesn’t mean the building department will back down so easily if we call their bluff though. The building department is a government agency that has a budget and relies on payment of fees to operate. They are reluctant to let you off too easily. They want your money.
In one situation, we removed old paneling in a basement to be able to pull new/safer wiring through the old walls. In doing so, we REPLACED the 2x4 studs that were old and deteriorated. This is completely allowed by code - especially since they were non-structural - but even if they were structural, in-kind replacement is STILL ALLOWED without a building permit. We got an electrical permit since the new electrical work requires it. The electrical inspector went maverick and decided to file a complaint that work was being done without a building permit. I quickly showed him that the building code does not require a building permit, and the only permit needed is an electrical permit. We were clearly not trying to pull a fast one on anyone since we did what we were supposed to do by getting an electrical permit as required. The electrical inspector would not stay in his lane, and he would not back down. It became a formal violation, and the building department also played tough. They wanted their fees. We argued a little, but then we decided it was pointless to argue with people that couldn’t be reasonable in light of reading their own codes and not complying with them. Instead, there was an easier way out. Since we already had a separate building permit in the works for a backyard cottage at that same address, we just lumped the basement work onto that permit. It was eventually approved, and all was fine. Unfortunately, it did not go by the book because the building department did not follow their own book. I would have enjoyed the opportunity to fight them further on it, but we won by not fighting their unreasonable fight - and they got no more fees from our client.
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help
