Building and site research

No design for a space should ignore the existing building into which it is being integrated. An understanding of what exists is fundamental to deciding what needs to be done if the space is to fit the functions that will take place there.

When you are creating interiors within newly built structures, there will be a lot of scope to define the look and feel of the interior, but where the interior is placed within an existing building the designer is obliged to understand how the previous life of the building has given the space its character. This feeling of character or history, the spirit of a place, is strengthened by the proportions of the volume and the position of existing building elements such as windows and doorways, all of which will impose a certain sense of order upon the space. The new design can respond to these factors, allowing them to inform the new design. The appreciation of a building ’s history may extend beyond the boundaries of the property to include the local area, the street, the village, the city, where it stands.

None of this means that your design should be a pastiche of the existing style references of the building. The best designs respect the existing building and will reference it in some way in their execution, through materials, methods of construction, craftsmanship, pattern, form and so on.

Concept development

All of the preceding research should bring you to a point where you understand the essential points that will have an impact on the design:

What structure exists.
What functions and activities will take place, and how these will be addressed practically (for example, what furniture is required).
What is possible in the space (and just as importantly, what is not possible, due to time, technical or budget limitations).
How the space functions and interacts with others around it.
What emotional response the client wants the space to generate in the user and what aesthetic style is desired.

This is necessary, but for the design to feel considered and complete, rather than being a random collection of elements, there is a need to find a unifying idea that will hold the disparate parts of the design together. This single idea will be one that sets the stylistic tone of the design. It is this single idea that is the concept.

Case study
Researching the existing site

Jonathan Tuckey Design was commissioned to transform this old steel fabrication workshop in London, England, into a family home. The site was chosen because it provided a ‘challenging setting’ for an alternative to typical London housing.

External and internal additions rel ect the sensibilities and aesthetic of the original use, as can be seen in this view to the exterior from the dining area of the i nished project.