Five Non-negotiables When Designing Your Own Home
New York-based architect Steven Harris and interior designer Lucien Rees Roberts take us through the design of their Rancho Mirage house in California, and the five non-negotiables to consider when designing your own home.
For Harris, the very first consideration is refining the entry experience. “One of the non-discretionary things that we do when we’re designing a house is think about the approach, the sense of arrival and the transition between being outside and being inside,” he says. Rather than a direct and abrupt entry, he suggests staging the experience to allow for a slower, more layered approach. Located on a golf course, the entry sequence to their Rancho Mirage home allows the views of the surrounding greens, garden and San Jacinto mountains to unfold and reveal themselves. “It’s a kind of tease, if you will, that induces you to keep going,” he says.
This transition between inside and outside draws on the importance of evaluating the home’s connection its landscaping, designed by David Kelly of RRP. “As a backdrop to most of our projects, we look to the landscape beyond the site of the structure so that we can extend the sense of house and the garden to the landscape beyond,” says Rees Roberts. Noting where the sun rises and sets is also crucial to maximising natural light throughout. “You want to enjoy the light on the landscape around you and in the garden,” he says. “We love creating outdoor sitting areas where people can congregate … something that encourages you to come together and relax.”
Another tip is to craft a residence that flows well between spaces. “Trying to choreograph a procession through rooms is really important, so you actually come to use all of the house,” says Harris. To do so, he recommends making a flow chart to evaluate the rooms you spend the most time in, as well as where the light falls during the day, so that the best rooms are the ones you occupy the most. Reducing hallways also allows for effortless movement from room to room. “Getting from the bedroom to the kitchen is less about expedience than it is about experience,” he says.
Rees Roberts encourages clients to gain a deep understanding of their lifestyle when designing their own home. “The best way for a client to really think about what they need for a house is think about the process of each day and how they live it – it’s almost like creating a list, but it’s also ideas about each space,” he says. He suggests minimising rooms that are seldom used, such as formal dining rooms, and instead creating spaces that are multi-use. “Whether it’s a library, somewhere to work, where people congregate to have coffee or chat,” he says.
Balancing proportion and scale is also critical to making large spaces feel intimate for smaller households. “In many cases it’s the space between things that is more meaningful than the actual space itself,” says Harris. Lighting can be central to designing rooms that facilitate interaction and conversation without feeling too cavernous. “One of the most important things is to have a sense of generosity, ease and comfort, but also an intimacy about where people congregate,” says Rees Roberts.
Ultimately, for Harris and Rees Roberts, these non-negotiables sit at the heart of their practice and speak to how they approach creating spaces that are both beautiful and liveable. “Not only are these things which are important for us, I think they’re important for how one thinks about domestic life,” says Harris.
This series is brought to you by Fisher & Paykel.
Architecture by Steven Harris. Interior and landscape design by RRP. Build by Stoker Construction.
