Positioning of a home can determine the amount of openness and light of the household.
TAB Associates has its finger on the pulse of mountain home trends. People are increasingly dissatisfied with the classic and claustrophobic ‘boxy room’ set up, and are looking for more creative, open spaces to utilize throughout the house.
One of the advantages of building a custom home in Colorado is that there is gorgeous scenery and abundant sunshine year round. This makes for open floor plans, which are already trending, more sensible for the Colorado home. One way to keep this space open is by combining a ‘total living area’ — an open floor plan that utilizes dining and living in one, then opens up to the kitchen.
The kitchen is the “heart” of the home. Big windows and other pieces finish off the design perfectly, allowing a great deal of light in, as well as the feel of ‘being in nature.’ We provide the windows and God provides the ‘art’.
When it comes to knowing mountain home trends, and how to customize a home to keep clients happy, TAB Associates has the experience and expertise to create a home that’s not only trendy but long-lasting and beautiful.
Tab Bonidy, owner of TAB Associates, Inc. Source: TabAssociates.com
We had a chance to interview Tab Bonidy, owner of the Colorado architecture firm, TAB Associates, Inc. and ask him a few questions about his history with architecture and where he thinks the future of the industry is heading. Take a look:
What made you want to become an architect? I wanted to become an architect since I was 10 years old. I had a private art teacher when I was ten and I designed a home. Ever since then, that is all I wanted to do.
What goes on a day-to-day basis in an architect’s life? Working on projects is the day to day business. Also, trying to find more work these days is quite important.
What is your favorite aspect about being an architect? The creative side of solving a client’s desires is my favorite aspect of being an architect. So I would say it is Conceptual Design which is the beginning of a project, although I very much enjoy detailing a project which comes towards the end.
What is your favorite structure/building/piece of architecture and why? I guess I would say log homes because of their difficulty, but really anything complex, even like a complex steel structure is fun to design.
What is your most memorable piece of architecture that you have personally worked on? I would have to say either the Cook Residence, the Catlin Residence or the Thomas Residence. They were all challenging sites which is where our job starts and they were all great clients to work for and with together.
What’s your favorite thing about being a business owner? I would have to say that getting to do things my way. Also, providing a great place to work is very important.
What makes TAB Associates successful? I believe it is because we really listen to our clients desires. We put our ego aside and design for our clients. We start with a good program and design the concept on the site with all of its amenities right in front of us. We make the process fun for our clients and they are a part of every step of the way. In this way, they know exactly why things are the way they turn out because they are an integral part of the process.
Where do you see the architecture industry heading in the next 5 years? I can only hope it will get more busy, but that will take a major change in Washington DC. We need to restore our Country back to being a prosperous nation. This will take some deregulation and us becoming energy independent.
When hiring an architect, you are hiring someone to come in and design your personal property to your liking. However, sometimes it just does not workout to your liking. That is when you may be thinking about relieving them of their duties. But when is the right time to do so? We are here to help and let you know when to call it quits on an architect.
Save yourself time by reading up on these reasons to let go of an architect. Source: Keoni Cabral
Check out our published post on when to fire your architect that was published on the DCD Home website:
We have had a few clients who came to us after they fired their Architect. One client actually fired three different Architects before coming to us. They all live happily in their new homes in various gated communities in our beautiful valley. They have had various reasons, but the most common reason is the previous Architect’s inability to listen to their desires.
Architects need to keep their clients involved in every phase of a project. Starting with a proper analysis of the site, the client’s program needs to be developed primarily from client input. Program relationships follow suit here. The client’s involvement is most important during the conceptual design phase. A great concept with the full involvement goes a long way to a client’s embrace of the final results. An Architect who designs in a vacuum has done himself and his client a grave injustice. We say, “An Architect’s worst enemy is his ego”. Give up the ego and gain a satisfied client.
We, as Architects, are destined to provide our clients with professional expertise and design competence to fulfill their program requirements. A combination of art and science, sculpture and technical resolve, form the relationship of the Architect’s challenge to structure and site. Architecture is unlike the practice of medicine or law, because most people have a strong sense of what they like or dislike. Everyone has been in or seen a building they fancy. Few know the best medicine for their ailment or the most practical means of resolution to their legal woes.
Should I fire my Client?
Attentive clients are great. Those that share the enthusiasm we do make the process fun. This is an experience that takes at least five months in design and up to a year and a half or more in construction. The net result is a project that everyone can enjoy.
We have had to fire a few clients. One contracted for one size home and programmed a larger home. When informed their program exceeded their contractual size, they suggested we continue and see how it works out. When the completed home’s design exceeded the contractual amount, they would not pay the increased fees for the increased size.
Another case consisted of a client that was consistently absent minded of previous discussions. It made the process hell. The Project Manager was either contemplating suicide or murder. Life is too short to deal with people with no scruples.
Are Contractors good or evil?
We say Contractor make us look good. Sure we have to draw the right lines on the paper, but they are just lines. The constructed environment is far more difficult. Protocol in the office is if a Contractor calls with a question, stop what you are doing and help him solve his problem. We consider the Contractor an integral part of our team, Client, Architect and Contractor. Together we can make something great. The day of the Change Order Contractor is basically gone. Everything has value and someone is going to gain from it. Mistakes are inevitable, but the finesse of corrections is substantial.
Should I have fun?
Speaking of life being too short, if we are not having fun, doing what we do, then we stop! Architecture is a passion, far beyond a profession. It is in our brains, heart and soul. We get excited about the process and revel in the results.
Are we having fun yet?
Hell, yes. Come join us! It is how it should be!
If you’re looking to bring on a highly skilled architecture firm, contact us at TAB Associates, Inc. today.
Balancing space with modern luxuries is still a designing challenge in 2013.
Like most things in our day-to-day lives, current trends tend to play a role in our choices. For the 2013 season, several trends are leading the way in home design. Some trends are for space savers while others focus on convenience, technology and energy efficiency.
Space: Homes with a basement or a lower level offer the option of an additional room for adults, teens or children. The extra space is ideal as a place to entertain family or friends, set up a complete home theater and entertainment center, design a game room or create an exercise and weight room.
Formal dining rooms are being replaced and redesigned to use the space in a more productive way versus using the same space once in a while for special occasions. This adds more value to a room that can commonly go unnoticed until holidays or large gatherings.
Convenience: Creating a family work area, or resource area, in other words, near the kitchen provides a place to work whether it’s for school, business or the home. Work can be done without being isolated from the family.
Designing technology-friendly homes using multiple applications from an advanced cell phone to handle electronics, appliances, security and lighting is on the rise.
Energy: Current trends lean towards energy efficiency using geothermal heating and LED lighting.
At TAB Associates, Inc., we cater to our clients’ needs and vision in every home design project. For more information, contact us today at 970-766-1470.
Natural wood adds texture and a roughen appeal that exemplifies a mountain home.
Incorporating mountain home trends involves the use of natural wood and stone. Both materials are available in a wide range of styles, textures and colors and add the perfect touch in creating an atmosphere to reflect a client’s individual taste and vision for a mountain home.
Exterior: Natural materials make up the list of options for exteriors and include wood, stone, concrete, stucco, metal panels, timber and recycled wood. A modern upgrade is the use of glass sliding doors versus the traditional rustic style wood doors. Another option that focuses on melding the indoors with the outdoors is creating a design with more glass areas throughout the home.
Interior: Wood and stone are equally important in the interior where colors, hues and textures are blended using a variety of materials. From antique wood, quarried stone or polished concrete for floors to concrete slab kitchen countertops and hand textured walls, the possibilities in design are nearly endless. The combination of the outside materials incorporated into the interior design orchestrates a smooth and natural blending of the two.
As an authority on custom mountain and log home design, TAB Associates, Inc. can turn your vision into reality. For more information about our services, please call (970) 766-1470.
One of the important aspects of architectural design is paying attention to mountain home trends (especially since we consider that one of our specialties). We’ve noticed that there is an increasing trend toward ‘flex space’ in mountain homes, and there are plenty of good reasons for this trend to keep on going.
Following the principals of flex space can help you flip that living room into a home theater.
By using a single space for multiple purposes, flex space emphasizes quality of space over quantity of space. There are almost limitless examples of flex space. From the home office that doubles as a guest room to a living-dining area, flex space can open a house and give plenty of breathing room without being a sprawling waste of under-utilized space.
With drop down screens and a projector, as well as the help of an automated window covering, a family room is instantly transformed into a media room. This is another great example of flex space.
To get the most out of flex space, it’s vital for thorough planning during the design process, with architects working with clients to determine their lifestyle needs, listen closely, and design accordingly.
At TAB Associates, our philosophy is to keep those mountain home trends in mind, but to work with our clients to fulfill their every need. If you’d like to learn more about how our philosophy can work for you, please take a moment to contact us.
Chen 3 is a collaboration of ideas and styles that will form a luxury log cabin for family retreats.
TAB Associates is proud to be working with Andy Schifanelli of Andy Schifanelli Enterprises, Inc., a General Contractor, and Tracie Schumacher of Studio 80 to present the beautiful home design, Chen 3 Timber Springs Residence.
This project is all about open spaces, with the upper level overlooking the entryway and great room, and entry itself overlooking the great room. For more open space, we’ve used a 20-foot wide Wieland door (fully pocketing), opening onto the patio, just off the grass play field. The outdoor patio faces south for optimal winter warmth, with an alternative of radiant heaters in case the cold becomes too much.
This 8,000 square foot home design project factors in the importance of privacy for the whole family, including the four bedrooms being tucked away upstairs, making them quiet, safe havens even when there is noise coming from the great room.
None of the square footage goes to waste, with beds for 18 occupants, a private office, and a study/classroom for summer school, and an unfinished basement for a future theater or free space. This project also includes parking for four golf cart sized toys.
For more information on our architectural planning services like Chen 3, please contact us at 970.766.1470.
Working hand-in-hand with the client is a good hallmark of a professional architect.
We’ve noticed there are plenty of Colorado architects who have been skipped over or fired by clients who come over to TAB Associates, instead, for all of their home building and design needs.
In an article written by Tab Bonidy, President of TAB Associates, there are quite a few reasons why other architects lose jobs. The primary reason, of course, is that the architect the clients were using couldn’t get past his or her own ego, leaving the clients dissatisfied. Stemming from a huge ego comes three very big problems that get architects fired:
Inability to listen. Because of the strong ego, the former architect never really heard what the client wanted.
Not keeping the client involved. Clients fully involved in the process (particularly the concept phase) often love their end results, because they were part of the design process and had an investment in it.
The “I know what you want” syndrome. Clients know what they like and dislike, and taking that away from them is a recipe for disaster.
If you’d like to learn more about Colorado architects who care more about custom designs for their clients’ needs, please take a moment to check out TAB Associates.
At TAB Associates, part of our philosophy is to bring the very best to our clients, and that includes presenting the very latest innovative bathroom plumbing fixtures.
Form and function are married in 2013’s latest bathroom plumbing fixtures.
When it comes to bathroom plumbing, function is extremely important, but that doesn’t mean that form has to be sacrificed. To this end, we’ve noted the latest trends which are about a successful marriage of the two key aspects of plumbing fixtures — form and function. Here are the top three trends we’ve seen developing this year:
Freestanding bathtubs. Not only is this a triumph of design for spatial use, it’s sheer practical elegance.
High-functioning showerheads. This trend poses that the more a showerhead can do, the better. Intense massage, rain shower drenches, and pulses are just the beginning for a pleasant shower experience.
Touch-sensitive faucets. You no longer have to worry about shutting off the faucet with wet hands; simply touch the faucet anywhere on the Delta Touch20®, and you can keep your faucet clean while shutting off the water.
We believe that the most innovative bathroom plumbing fixtures, however, are what our clients want to see in their own custom designed buildings, and we assist based not only upon what’s trendy or popular, but what works best for the individual’s needs.
To learn more about how TAB Associates can help meet your architecture and planning needs, call us at 970.766.1470.
Every discipline and study, typically, has a board of highly-trained professionals and members of academia that set base standards for the practice; Architecture is one of them. The upcoming AIA National Convention will be offering an array of informative keynote speakers, tours, and educational seminars.
Colin Powell will round out AIA 2013 with a speech on leadership and facing challenges.
If you’ve been wondering who will be gracing the stage at this year’s AIA National Convention, here is a brief preview of a few of the speakers and seminars to expect.
Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS, is the opening keynote speaker who will address entrepreneurial leadership focusing on humanitarianism. His concept of giving a pair of shoes to in-need children for every pair of his brand sold turned from a singular concept to a global movement.
Cameron Sinclair will speak about the architectural profession, as a whole, and how those in the profession can make a difference by taking on global projects and ensuring the results have a long-lasting and positive effect on the future.
Leadership will be the focus of General Colin Powell in the closing keynote speech. General Powell will reflect on the challenges and benefits of being a leader.
Guests will have access to approximately 160 seminars to choose from as well as preconvention workshops and self-guided educational tours.
Staying current with trending styles in modern architecture is an on-going responsibility of architects. Such is the case with the team at TAB Associates, Inc. whose goal is to always be in the forefront with the latest information available regarding trends in Colorado architecture as well as providing up-to-date options for planning and interior designs.
