|
Architects guide dream home development
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
Whether they’ve just arrived in a new town or simply a higher station in life, the typical couple looking to create a dream home in the Lowcountry is more design knowledgeable and style seasoned than ever before.
That level of sophistication, architect Stephen P. Herlong said, is forcing architectural firms like his Isle of Palms-based Stephen Herlong & Associates Inc. to offer not only design services, but also a wide range of additional technical assistance.
“I think the biggest thing that has happened to us as a society—and to us specifically as an architectural firm—is that people have been traveling far more extensively over the past decade or so and, therefore, have been exposed to far more of what’s available out there,” Herlong said.
“That means you have to provide a level of design that excites them, and it also means, if you intend to prosper as a firm, that you’ve got to bring much more to the table,” he said. “That’s what has lead us, over the past few years especially, to position ourselves as a full-service architectural firm,”
Inspiration
Herlong, a 1979 graduate of the Clemson School of Architecture, first became intrigued by home design and construction at a rather atypical age, he said.
“Believe it or not, I was out riding my bicycle with friends when I saw this house just sitting by itself in the woods,” the Greenville native recalled. “I must have been about 10 years old, and the thing that got me hooked was the fact that a creek actually ran under a portion of the house.
“Later that night, when I got home, I mentioned the house to my mother, and she said that it belonged to an architect. I literally decided right then and there that that’s what I was going to be too,” he said.
After high school, Herlong enrolled at Clemson. “Back then, (in) the 1970s, we were all taught the history of art and architecture, but generally it stopped in the 1930s, in the modernist era. It was as if nothing happened after that,” he said. “At the same time, the program also instilled an appreciation of urban planning.”
Herlong became even more steeped in the subject after moving to Charleston and taking a job with the Lucas and Stubbs design firm, which subsequently changed its name to LS3P. Herlong worked for the company from 1979 to 1987, doing mainly commercial projects, but also steadily becoming steeped in the city’s architectural traditions.
“It was during that period that I really developed a sense of the way that how you plan influences the way you live in a city,” he said. “This was at a time when the development of Charleston as a destination was just beginning, and the idea of balancing one set of goals with livability was really coming to the forefront.”
Herlong founded his own firm shortly after leaving LS3P and today employs 12, with his staff evolving over the past five years into a hybrid mixture of architects and interior design professionals.
Despite the changing demands on architectural firms, Herlong said certain timeless values always apply.
“When you’re doing a residential design on Daniel Island, Sullivan’s Island or Kiawah, you’re always working within a community,” he said. “You’ve got to be sensitive to the fact that you are building within a framework; that while you’re changing an environment you’re also striving to be one with it. ”
Expectations
Most of Herlong’s clients have bought and sold several homes over the course of their lives or, at the very least, have gone through one major renovation on a previous home, he said.
They’ve turned to Herlong because they’ve identified an issue with a property or existing structure with which they need professional assistance, he said.
“The thing you’re always asking yourself as an architect is, ‘OK, here’s what the client wants. How do we make it happen for them?’” Herlong said.
“We’ll usually get involved by first helping them analyze the property,” he said. “We’ll do the zoning research and so forth, and then it’s time to talk about all the variables—to discuss the benefits, a great view, for instance, as well as the limitations.”
And while almost all couples that are undertaking the construction of their dream home talk about how the region “speaks” to them on some aesthetic level, limitations do abound, he said.
“Remember, with all the new growth we’re seeing, the first buyers in are going to get the best properties,” Herlong said. “After those properties are spoken for, all subsequent purchases will likely have some kind of challenge. For instance, on Kiawah, it may be the configuration of a property along a marsh. It may be certain trees. There could be wetland protection issues. Generally, it takes a little bit of study on everybody’s part to understand what’s going on.”
Full-service design
Interior designer Theresa Bishopp said one of the biggest differences between the full-service architectural firm of today and the design houses of the past is that interior designers are brought into the process much earlier and have much more of an influence on the overall design of the home.
“It used to be that the architect worked in isolation on one side, the interior designer worked in isolation on the other and the home owner was caught in the middle,” she said.
One reason for that was, in the past, interior designers were often brought in after the home was designed and, in many cases, after it was already built.
“That made the process far from seamless, and the conversations that occurred would often be about what couldn’t be done,” she said. “Here, I’m involved in the process from the get-go, and I’m guiding the decision-making process on the interior based on the same information Stephen is using to guide decisions on the exterior and in regard to structural concerns. Working in concert like this, we also have the opportunity to influence each other’s work. Again, making for a more seamless design process.”
Getting the job done
Herlong said in most cases the design process for a dream home will take about nine months, and construction will take another year.
“But it can take much longer,” he cautioned. “That’s because if you’re intent to create your dream home in the Lowcountry, you, as the homeowner, are going to have to make something like 100,000 decisions before the house is finished. Designing that home is a process of making the right decisions at the right time and place.”
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version