office interior design portfolio
hey, eric here with 30 by 40 design workshop,working on a few quick plans sketches for an upcoming client meeting and i thought i'dwalk you through my sketch design process as i work up an idea into a floor plan. for context, this project is an addition toan existing residence, the existing living quarters will be all replaced as the foundationis in really poor shape. we'll be keeping a two-story portion overhere, to the north on the site, and giving it a bit of an exterior facelift. now, that building contains the garage onthe lower level and a rather large master suite above and, importantly, it has a stairwhich we have to maintain access to with our
new addition. now, before we can begin sketching the floorplan we need to know a few things: we need to understand the local code and zoning restrictions,the ones that govern our design, things like setbacks, the maximum building height, deedrestrictions, things like that. with the code checklist complete, we needto understand the physical characteristics of the site: the sun, the prevailing winddirection, views, topography, adjacent buildings, access, utilities, vegetation all the existingsite conditions. and lastly, we have to work with our clientto determine the actual spaces, their rough sizes and we have to make sure that theirbudget corresponds with what they're actually
hoping to accomplish. now, i always make sure the budget is alignedwith the program before i start sketching. there's no sense in designing something yourclient can't afford, right? now, if you'd like to learn more about howi do this, check the video in the cards above. with all this information in hand i startby printing out the existing site plan and i do this so i can sketch over it. now, this is just my process, there's manyways to do this, so don't take this as being prescriptive at all. my favorite implements to have on hand wheni'm doing this are a sign pen, an ultra-fine
point sharpie, a red and black pilot precisepen and i like the v7 version of that, my muji sketchbook, and a roll of tracing paper. you can check the cards for all the linksto that stuff. now, i also drag out some of my favorite monographsand this technique comes from one of my all-time favorite film directors werner hertzog. before he begins writing a script, he readspoetry - like ancient poetry - things like: the icelandic edda, 9th century chinese poems,really heavy stuff. and he does this to fill his mind with thehighest caliber language possible. then as he's writing he plays beethoven andwagner at an ear-piercing volume.
so as he's writing, he's mindful to alwaysmaintain that high quality; he's conscious to never let his writing slip below the highestof standards. and, so too, you can immerse yourself withthe work of other masters: kahn, corbusier, ando, zumthor; fill your head with these visualsbefore you begin sketching. and then, for me, just add metal. now, we'll start with a diagram. the diagram is a simple representation ofwhat you're trying to achieve and how your architecture is ordered. the most basic diagram you can draw, if you'reshort on ideas, is one that divides public
and private. more complex diagrams might talk about: light,movement, material, another ordering principle like a courtyard, or an idea about massing. i usually start diagramming in my sketchbookand not using any particular scale. i'll also grab a few physical materials tohave on hand to kind of set the building in real terms and to start thinking about howit will actually feel to live there. here our diagram has to address how we'regoing to connect the two structures, how we’ll locate the entry, and where the living spaceswill orient. diagrams are quick and they're inaccurate,and i use them to describe general organization
principles. although there's an infinite number of diagramsthat might work here let's keep it simple, we'll use a bar diagram, and then anothermight be an l-shaped diagram, this will get us started. now, i want to be clear about the processhere, it's not important to locate doors and windows at this stage. we're not after precision yet, we're gonnastart with rough shapes only. we’ll allocate our public and private spacesaccording to our diagram, we want to locate the entry and understand the basic circulationpatterns, how we're gonna get from here to
there and that means hallways and stairs. sketching over the site plan is a good reminderabout the important site features that you need to consider: the sun, views, adjacentbuildings, the approach, whatever you flagged as important on your site analysis. in our program sheet you'll see i list prettyexact sizes of spaces, but at this stage i sort of set this aside, i don't take thisliterally at all it's more important that the design flow together rather than meetthese room sizes precisely. if you scale these out as exact sizes andcollage them together you'll end up with a mess.
this stage is searching for the larger guidingprinciples of the design: think about light, think about how spaces relate to each other,how one moves through space, what does it feel like to be in the place; to arrive toit? what are the emotional aspects of the placethat you want to invoke in your client? designing a floor plan is to establish orderfrom nothing. a grid is one of the most basic forms of orderand i typically employ one in the beginning, this keeps things sensible and it's just ahack that i use it may not work for you. later i'll choose where and how i want tobreak from it as i develop the plans further. now, grids don't have to be square necessarilyhere i'm using a 1 to 2 rectangular grid,
4 feet by 8 feet, which relates to commonbuilding materials and i find its granular enough to be adaptable to many different residentialdesigns. but, you can design using a tartan grid, andintersecting grids, triangular grids, whatever you choose. now, starting at a really small scale helpsestablish the big moves of your design, but the technical details will naturally be ignored. now, what might work at a small scale like1/16 of an inch equals a foot, may change when you enlarge it to 1/8 of an inch equalsa foot. i started by sketching designs at 1/16 inchand quickly moved to 1/8 inch to test ideas
with more specificity. feel free to bounce back and forth betweenbim, cad, sketchup, whatever you're using to technically draw the building. sometimes i'll do a sketch layout then quicklyblock out the dimensions in cad, overlay a grid and print it out to sketch over again. working only in plan can be problematic, youhave to consider the three-dimensional qualities of space too, what architects call the section. now, i don't have my base material for themodel yet that's all gonna arrive next week so i just started sketching over the planfor now.
but to guide me, i've built the garage massingso i'm aware of just how large it is. this helps provide a frame of reference wheni'm designing the addition. when we're thinking about massing for a homeyou'll want to have an idea about what program spaces will be located upstairs and what spacesmight have taller ceilings, these will have impact on the sectional qualities and of coursethe massing of the residence. but, this can and will likely change, so startby making a few assumptions and begin testing them. now, don't make the mistake of hard liningyour ideas too soon. forcing yourself to know where every lastdoor and window is - in the beginning - will
keep you from exploring a full range of options. keeping it loose and sketchy, i think, allowsyou to more freely make mistakes and it's often these mistakes that lead to design breakthroughs. architectural design is iterative, everythingyou do builds on your previous work as you develop a deeper understanding of the issuesaffecting the design. you'll start rough, you'll refine, retool,rework. from the rough sign pen sketches, i roll outanother layer of trace and begin using a finer point pen. i use the ultra-fine point sharpie to makeit more real.
i start scaling things and making bathroomsand cabinetry; adding in the detail and all the real-world sizes of things. and hopefully you'll see, that the sketchesnaturally start looking more like floor plans and less like diagrams. you'll keep layering on the trace and developingthe successive iterations. so, that's it for my diagrammatic floor plans. next step is to clean up the sketches andbegin building the model in preparation for the client meeting. now, if this has helped you in any way pleasesmash that like button below, it helps me
grow the channel and to know i'm making thekinds of videos you enjoy. let me know in the comments: what are yourfavorite pens for this kind of sketching? and hit that notification bell if you haven'talready. we'll see you again next time, cheers!