In order to make reasonable decisions during the site-selection process, it helps to have general knowledge about:

• Land Use

• The size of blocks & Hierarchy of streets

• Style Considerations (Urbanism)

• I placed the house to the west so it is not so close to the neighbor. The house is about 25 feet from the street, with a small backyard.

• The driveway fits next to the utility pole. I decided to put the entrance on that side.

For deciding how to site the building, it helps to know:

• Form-Based Codes: how much space is needed for a house, for a driveway/garage, for a yard, for a garden, how to shape a cluster, how to position a house for sunlight

• Dynamic Codes, such as privacy requirements like setbacks from the road and neighboring houses, what views tend to be important to people, rules about plants/trees

• Negotiated Rights: ways to negotiate shared space with neighbors

• I decided to make the house two stories, with a hipped roof. 

• I added a large front porch, but it felt too imposing for the size of the house, so I bumped out the front room instead.

• I added an addition to the back.

To determine the building's massing, it helps to know:

• Form-Based Codes: rules about density, rules about building types

• Massing Rules: rules about proportion/scale, 

• Style Considerations (Architecture): what elements are necessary to convey its style, its use, style compatibility, etc.

• I started by dimensioning the entrance, then the living/kitchen/dining, making sure the overall length of the house was about 40’. 

• The porch from the schematic plan got replaced by the dining room. 

• The master bedroom is in the basement, along with a bathroom, spare bedroom, and laundry room.

To lay out the house, it helps to know:

• Spatial Rules like general sizes for most activities, rules about circulation, rules about privacy, maximizing sunlight and views

• Programmatic Rules like important adjacencies, different user groups, what activities are prioritized given available space, how to combine uses, find equivalent uses, etc.

• I tested multiple ideas for the upstairs windows.

• The colors are based on the neighboring houses.

It helps to know about construction methods, materials, HVAC, structural rules of thumb, furniture layouts, technology and appliances, style details, etc. Style Renders offer a quick way to visualize ideas.