Architecture as Surgery
We love mid-century modern homes. The floor plans are straight-forward with intentional relationships between rooms, the elevations are kept deliberately low to the ground with clean lines, and the design philosophy of the time addressed a modest lifestyle. Mid-century modern homes make sense.
These homes are turning 60 years old soon, and while the foundations are typically solid and the framing is usually in good shape, mid-century modern homes need some help in key areas if they’re going to make it another 60. Typically the bathrooms and kitchens need an overhaul, the systems (plumbing, electrical, heating) need updates, and items like the windows and doors need replacing. It’s also sensible to make cosmetic upgrades while you’re at it. The challenge with these homes is that some updates are concentrated in key areas, some updates are spread throughout, and some updates are anywhere between. Basically it’s complicated; it’s like performing surgery on a house.
BUILD is seeing more and more mid-century remodels come through the door and we’re honored to have them on our desks. We’re constantly looking for effective strategies to make them great houses that last a century or more.
Like any project, getting an early jump on the cost of a remodel allows the team to best focus their efforts. A common problem that we’ve seen too many architects get themselves into is designing up an ambitious remodel, then proceeding onto construction drawings and submitting for permit. It’s only then that the set is taken to a general contractor for initial pricing. Lo and behold the pricing comes in over-budget and it’s back to the drawing board with a great amount of time, effort and design fee already spent.
The pricing for a remodel to a mid-century modern home is a bit more complicated because there are varying degrees of what can be done to each room in the house. The strategy involves breaking down the house into a system of cost zones – different zones relate to different pricing categories depending on their complexity. Since the kitchen involves most of the trades and includes key appliances and fixtures, the per square foot cost is typically much higher than the other rooms in a house. Completely updating a kitchen may equate to $400 per square foot while the bedrooms might be more in the realm of $100 per square foot. These numbers vary of course, some may be higher or lower but they all tend to balance each other out. The result might be a target budget of something like $175 per square foot for the entire house. The strategy gives us a departure point and aligns the initial design efforts with the budget. We know, we know – big deal, right? But as rudimentary as this strategy seems, we are constantly amazed at how rarely measures like this are conducted in the industry.
The adjacent graphics show four different design schemes of a mid-century modern remodel, each color coded for pricing. Home owners are able to make quick assessments about where funds should be directed on the home. The graphics help the home-owners understand how the updates translate into costs, at the same time the distinctions help the design team focus their efforts on different aspects of the remodel, staying on budget all the while. Everybody wins.
This is simply one strategy that’s proved successful for us, if you’ve got some strategies that have been working for you, do share. As they say, a rising tide raises all boats.
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By Matthew Daby, January 6, 2010 @ 4:10 pm
Great post guys! I also have been doing many remodels to mid-century houses, many of them vanilla 1950′s and 1960′s builder specs. I agree that kitchens, bathrooms and HVAC systems are usually the most in need of help.
My most effective strategy has been to bring the builder (builders) to the table at the preliminary stage to perform a “straw budget”. The idea is to give the builders enough information to respond with a confident dollar amount early to keep the design in check, while not pushing the drawings too far that you are wasting time and fees. Being that we are just a design outfit and not a design/build, this involves a bit more leg work early to explain the project to a few different builders, but certainly less work than redoing construction drawings. In this economy I have been successful finding builders that are willing to put a bit more time in at the prelim. stage to try and win the job.
Redesigning these mid-century houses can be tricky with an eye on the budget and an unknown builder. Every builder has there own comfort level with different systems, subcontractors, and era of house. These comfort levels can affect the build costs. Forging a relationship with a builder over the course of a few projects can help the designer understand the builder’s comfort levels (and develop new comforts). This will help at the design stage to implement the appropriate details for the budget.
Also, it helps if the designer understands or researches the typical building systems of this era of houses—this will allow them to decide early (and without opening walls) what will likely need upgrading and what is the easiest path of change. For example, understanding the typical structural systems and load bearing conditions will allow you to determine the easiest walls to move.
Finally, although I try to stay within the existing building whenever possible, it is sometimes more cost effective to add a new addition to accommodate the clients desired spaces, rather than moving around a lot of walls under the existing roof.
Cheers!
matt
By Build LLC, January 6, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Great strategies Matt, we’re entirely on board with you.
By mike, January 6, 2010 @ 11:57 pm
how many of these projects don’t need cosmetic upgrades? t1-11 or 50 y.o. wood siding on kraft paper doesn’t really hold up too well…
the parallels to a large institutional remodel i’m working on are uncanny (what spaces get the works, what spaces only get new paint) and it can be really challenging. even working with estimators makes it difficult to pin a solid number.
luckily the current market is favorable for bidding…
By Adam Crain, January 7, 2010 @ 6:12 am
Love the colored pricing graphic. Intelligent.
Nearby me in Alexandria, VA there’s an entire development of MCM Homes, called Hollin Hills. I did a post on it a while back:
http://archipreneur.blogspot.com/2008/07/hollin-hills-alexandria-virginia.html
By mike, January 7, 2010 @ 8:58 am
MCM communities are great…
We lived not too far from Hollin Hills growing up.
Here in Wash., we have the Hilltop Community in Bellevue, with houses by an impressive who’s who of MCM Seattle architects.
Lexington, Mass., has Six Moon Hill, which was designed by several TAC (The Architects’ Collaborative) alum. A recent Norman Fletcher remodel looks fairly decent.
Future post fodder? at the very least, it’s more interesting than Ordos 100.
By Build LLC, January 7, 2010 @ 9:13 am
@ Mike – that’s a good point, there are conditions where the house just hasn’t been cared for over the years and it’s more effective to tear it down. Or other times the owners have something in mind that’s simply too ambitious for the existing structure to accommodate. In either case it’s unfortunate as there are often design elements that could be done back in the 50′s that code no longer allows – and sometimes it’s useful to retain the existing house for those reasons: different setbacks, corner glazing, walls of glass, etc.
By Build LLC, January 7, 2010 @ 9:16 am
@ Adam & Mike – We’re diggin Hollin Hills – really nice. Indeed Hilltop set the standard for MCM homes in the northwest, we’ll check out Six Moon Hill -definitely a future blog post…
By Kent, February 8, 2010 @ 11:21 pm
Thoughtful post, thanks. Having remodeled my own 1955 builder spec house, I know it is often tougher to fix/restore things than it is to just start from scratch. It’s encouraging that you guys (and others commenting here) are sensitive to the challenges of remodeling MCM houses. A lot of others are not–just tour my neighborhood if you want proof. Future post suggestion–photo essay on what NOT to do when you remodel a MCM home!