Architecture In The SC Low Country

reative engineering skills make your home unique. If you want a home that is artful in its relationship to you and its surroundings, you need the services of an architect. Our homes are often the most compelling reflection of our tastes, lifestyles and personalities. Just as our career paths, clothing ensembles and car preferences define us, our homes also convey a strong message of who we are and what we value. This is especially true in the case of a custom designed home, a home created expressly to accommodate the needs and wants of a certain individual or family.

Perhaps the most vital element in the design of a custom home is the role of an architect. A combination of artist, psychologist and engineer, the architect’s job is to help you do two things. First, as psychologist, he or she must interpret your needs and desires and help you, the client, creatively incorporate them into a pleasing and functional entity.

The architect’s second objective involves both artistic and engineering skills, as he transforms your needs and desires into blueprints, the plans which will guide builders and designers, as well as you the client, through the construction phase of your home.

The whole process can be thrilling and ultimately rewarding. It can, however, also be excruciating if you and your architect aren’t compatible, or if they are not well versed in the numerous and often complex building codes which regulate construction in the lowcountry. The process of selecting an architect doesn’t have to be stressful. It’s merely a matter of doing your homework and being a thorough communicator. Ask owners of homes you admire to share their architects’ names, as well as other design resources. Interview a variety of architects to ensure their design philosophy coincides with yours and that your personalities match. Bring photos or videos showcasing homes you like. Pore through magazines and books for illustrative examples. Make a list, being as detailed as you can about your needs, likes and dislikes. Be sure to include furnishings you intend to use or buy. In short, the more you can “show and tell”, whether through pictures or writing, the better prepared your architect will be as he begins the task of making your dream home happen.

Your architect will take all your feedback and translate your wishes onto paper in the form of sketches or rough drawings. These offer something concrete to react to: they’re available to alter, approve, or amend. They’re not intended to be final. Initially, they probably won’t indicate elevations or engineering specifications. These first drawings are simply a visual form of brainstorming to help you arrive at something more definite and feasible.

The next step in the process is the development of working drawings, which are the original rough drafts, refined. Working drawings will be more precise and detailed; elevations and varying views are included, as are electrical and HVAC diagrams, to give you a more complete picture of your home as it will actually appear when finished. Again, corrections and additions are expected, unless you and your architect are exceptionally good communicators.

The final set of plans, or what are known as the final drawings, are those documents which will be used by the builder to detail the cost of building your home. They are also the plans that will be consulted during the construction phase.

For some homeowners, the architect’s job ends here. Others, however, prefer to have an architect act as job supervisor, or construction observer, during the construction phase of the project. Then, both architect and builder, as well as the interior designer, are all intimately involved with your home’s careful construction.

The biggest stumbling block for many who are contemplating building is, of course, the financial commitment. As a result, some homebuyers try to save by building without an architect. This decision can prove to be a costly mistake, sometimes more expensive than it would have cost for a good architect’s advice. If you conduct your research well, you can find the right architect to guide you through the building experience and remain within your budget. Architects can help you define what is truly important in your design versus what is expandable or adjustable at a later date. They are masters in the proper selection of everything from the most basic building materials, to highly ornate accessories.

By now you can see how your architect wears many hats as your dream home becomes reality and this responsibility is one of the most crucial in any building project on Hilton Head Island, where Architectural Review Boards (ARBs) must always approve plans for homes within gated communities. Your architect serves as your personal liaison, acting as your mediator should questions or conflicts arise. Indeed, most architects work closely with the island’s various ARBs throughout the design phase, assuring that plans will be accepted.

Employing an architect is a highly personal decision, one which can make or break the success of your project. If you ask most experienced area homebuyers whether they depended on architects to fulfill their home design and detail wish lists, most will tell you they found great comfort in the partner who had the vision and professionalism to guide them through the headaches, hassles and homeruns of building the ultimate home.

Lowcountry Design

Southern climatic conditions have had a dramatic impact upon lowcountry architecture. Prior to the advent of air conditioning, local understanding of natural environmental forces enabled southerners to build in ways that buffered us against our harsh climatic conditions. Porches with southern exposure, high ceilings, raised foundations, large operable windows, appropriate shading and design orientations that utilized prevailing winds and sun angles made the heat and humidity more bearable. This architectural acknowledgement of unique conditions also gave communities aesthetic identities that reflected the land and the culture’s vernacular circumstance.

Air conditioning granted us license to build homes without regard to the sun, wind, water and other environmental factors. Boasting smaller windows and lower ceilings, such homes no longer had to acknowledge the original environmental design considerations traditionally associated with South Carolina lowcountry architecture. Far from being “outdated”, however, these historical design considerations remain highly relevant today.