Design Guidelines Workshop

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Design Guidelines Workshop 6
Porches, Decks and Additions
Prepared by Michael Allen Bailliere
Consulting August 14th, 2003 Preservation
Foundation
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The Role of Design Guidelines
Assisting property owners and City early in
design process. Technical Aesthetic
recommendations. Preserving character of
neighborhood for the overall benefit of the
community.
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Case Study An Example House
Example House Owners would like to expand house
with an addition and new front porch. Design
Guidelines will help them to find the right
solutions and give technical advice early in the
design process.
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Step One Do Some Research

• Research any history on the existing house,
  especially if it is older.

- Old photos, drawings, blueprints and written
documents may give clues about how the building
used to look, and may give you some unique design
ideas.
- Learning about the history of your home can be
fun and rewarding.
- Take a close look at the houses in your
neighborhood. Do you see any features which you
particularly like? Dislike? These observations
can also give you design ideas.
- Find out if there are any special design
restrictions or guidelines which apply to your
house by contacting the Planning Dept.
- Try to document the existing conditions of the
house with photographs or measurements before any
renovation work is done.
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Step Two Determine Scale Massing
The new addition should set itself apart from the
existing structure..

• Do not try to align with existing façade or roof
  lines.
• It is very difficult to match the existing lines
  in older construction, and is more likely to show
  flaws, especially over time.
• - Building this way does not preserve the
  original design character, and blurs the line
  between old and new.

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Step Two Determine Scale Massing
The new addition should set itself apart from the
existing structure..

• Roof of addition should step down from original
  roofline to show change.
• New façade should step back from original front.
• - Building this way helps preserve the original
  design character, scale and massing of the home.

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Step Two Determine Scale Massing
The new addition should set itself apart from the
existing structure..

• Ideally, it is best to match the slope of the
  existing roof to avoid conflicts and maintain
  architectural character.
• The new addition should be set back enough from
  existing edges to avoid design and construction
  complications.

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Step Two Determine Scale Massing
Recommended Configurations
Not Recommended
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Step Two Determine Scale Massing
The new addition should set itself apart from the
existing structure..

• New roof steps down to provide room for some
  existing façade exposure and new flashing.
• New roof eave stops short of existing corner to
  avoid conflicts with existing trim materials.
• - Base transition should match whenever possible.

- Setback allows enough room for materials to
work correctly. In this example, there is wood
trim at the corners with wood clapboard in
between. The clapboard would look awkward if it
was only a few inches wide. Here, it several
times wider than the corner trim.