Back-Porch Inspiration
Dave and Marga originally approached me about this project after seeing the front porch that I created for my own home. They were especially drawn to the unique detailing of my design. Marga was subsequently inspired to create something “edgy” for their back porch to offset their rather traditional looking home. That was a pivotal point in our conversation and really set my direction in terms of design exploration. Dave and Marga had a strong sense of style and were willing to invest in creating a relaxing, stylish, and unique outdoor living space. I was honored they trusted me to conceptualize their back-porch ideas.
Create Contrast
To get that edgy feel with this back-porch design we wanted to emphasize the contrast among the home’s different shapes and materials, such as having the low-angle shed roof tie into the steeper gable roof of the existing home. Pairing these roof styles created the eye-catching contrast we were looking for. The key was not interfering with the existing upstairs windows, as well as really thinking through the tie in and transition with the existing gable. The roof-to-wall interface was really an abstract concept to draw in detail. I felt the right builder with strong visualization skills and ethical methods of operation could pull it off. And they did! Our builder was Jesse Brown of Hyalite Custom Building. He and and his crew did a great job.
Maintain Proportion
Keeping key components of the design in proportion in order to maintain a sense of scale was critical with this back-porch design. A good example of this were the deep overhangs at the north and south edges. With an engineer’s guidance we pushed the tapered cantilever ends of our support glulams to the max, but not so much that they looked out of place.
Visually Interesting Accessories
Nothing screams lack of imagination like the gratuitous use of off the shelf structural connectors in high visibility areas. I’m referring to the often-used black tee strap that you can buy at any lumber supply yard. The solution for our post to beam connection were simple steel triangles with a well-considered bolt layout. These simple triangular steel connector plates are strong, resist shear forces, and are inexpensive. For this back-porch small details like this have a striking impact from a visual perspective.
