Speculations in Contemporary

Though not evident from the last several blog posts on this site, I don't typically devote a lot of time in my practice to residential design. It is simply not the project type I have spent my career tackling. But sometimes one has that itch.

Like so many areas in Dallas, our little corner of the Metroplex has seen its fair share of new builds popping up. Amongst the craftsman and traditional homes, there are a handful of modern/contemporary homes. There's no reason to point fingers so let's just say many leave much to be desired. 

But could I do any better, I wondered? This became something of an obsession. To start, there had to be some parameters since there was not client program.  The following is what I settled on:  

• Three bedrooms with one being a master suite
• Fit onto a typical 50'x150' lot
• Front porch was a must in order to engage the street
• Open concept living with a kitchen I would want

For this first design, Avenue G Contemporary, I designed a two story home.  I like this solution over a ranch as it provides a smaller footprint. The materials help express the simple massing of the building rather than offering mere decoration. These include a board and batten wood siding, masonry brick and then a zinc metal panel system wrapping the box element at the front.  

As you'll see, I didn't include an attached garage on this particular model.  I played around with providing a single, or a two-car or even a tandem garage but it took over the front elevation.  I felt having a front porch was more important, so I settled on a freestanding, detached garage for this design.

I realize a contemporary home isn't for everyone but I wonder how this measures up. How did I do? Give me some input to help inform the next one!