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Pro Spotlight: How to Design a Home That’s Both Beautiful and Practical
'A thoughtfully designed home should reflect the owners' taste, lifestyle and make them happy,' say Place For Humans
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Who: Joe Robertshaw, Founder and Lead Designer at Place For Humans.
Where: Nottingham, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester.
In his words: “Every project starts and ends with the client, successfully solving their problems and pain points along the way.”
Embarking on a renovation or new build to create your dream home should always start with in-depth questions about your own aspirations for your new home and never the designer’s demands or inner cravings. “I’ve seen many homeowners succumb to a designers’ own tastes or preferences and ignore what they truly want and need from their home,” says Joe Robertshaw, designer at Place for Humans. “To me, it should always be about the client and a response to their problems.”
This has always been the ethos behind Joe’s designs, even at university, where he felt a constant battle between automated design and creating buildings to solve real life issues. “Starting my own practice meant I could hone in on what the client really wanted, listening to their wishes and fulfilling their needs. Our clients gravitate towards us because we are all about them,” says Joe.
Read on to discover how to design a home that not only looks great, but fulfils all your needs too.
Where: Nottingham, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester.
In his words: “Every project starts and ends with the client, successfully solving their problems and pain points along the way.”
Embarking on a renovation or new build to create your dream home should always start with in-depth questions about your own aspirations for your new home and never the designer’s demands or inner cravings. “I’ve seen many homeowners succumb to a designers’ own tastes or preferences and ignore what they truly want and need from their home,” says Joe Robertshaw, designer at Place for Humans. “To me, it should always be about the client and a response to their problems.”
This has always been the ethos behind Joe’s designs, even at university, where he felt a constant battle between automated design and creating buildings to solve real life issues. “Starting my own practice meant I could hone in on what the client really wanted, listening to their wishes and fulfilling their needs. Our clients gravitate towards us because we are all about them,” says Joe.
Read on to discover how to design a home that not only looks great, but fulfils all your needs too.
A different way of thinking. From an early age, Joe Robertshaw was introduced to building homes by his dad, who would either renovate a property or build a new one from scratch nearly every other year as a way of moving up the property ladder. One house build in particular, had a profound affect on Joe and how he regarded architectural design. “It was a circular house and it felt as if the round walls were giving you a metaphorical welcoming hug when you walked in. It was then that I realised a building could evoke emotions and feelings and wasn’t simply bricks and mortar,” says Joe, who loves nothing more than helping homeowners improve their everyday life.
Working collaboratively with his clients, Joe spends time learning about them, their style, the things that work and don’t work for them, and then using design as a tool to solve the problems that are unique to them. “My favourite part of my job is seeing and hearing how a finished home has change my client’s life for the better,” says Joe.
Working collaboratively with his clients, Joe spends time learning about them, their style, the things that work and don’t work for them, and then using design as a tool to solve the problems that are unique to them. “My favourite part of my job is seeing and hearing how a finished home has change my client’s life for the better,” says Joe.
Building a relationship. The design process starts with conversations to establish the client’s tastes, personality and lifestyle. “Most of my clients know their home well and how they’d like to improve it, but for those who have just moved in or are still in the process of buying a property, understanding how to better their home is a challenge,” says Joe. “By asking them questions about their past homes and what made them feel they had to move, we ensure no similar issues are repeated in their new property.”
Another client-friendly aspect of Joe’s practice, is his flat-rate fee for the concept to planning stages, rather than a percentage-based fee model. This helps to ensure that no project is penalised for its size. “Often, smaller projects can be more thought-provoking and require more creative thinking than larger builds, which have no cost constraints. Getting the fees to match up can be tricky, so we feel our flat rate solves this issue,” says Joe.
Here we look at three ways to create a beautiful and life-enhancing home.
Another client-friendly aspect of Joe’s practice, is his flat-rate fee for the concept to planning stages, rather than a percentage-based fee model. This helps to ensure that no project is penalised for its size. “Often, smaller projects can be more thought-provoking and require more creative thinking than larger builds, which have no cost constraints. Getting the fees to match up can be tricky, so we feel our flat rate solves this issue,” says Joe.
Here we look at three ways to create a beautiful and life-enhancing home.
Focus on how you want to feel in your home
Often it’s the thoughtful and simple designs that can really make a difference to how a homeowner feels about their property. “I tell clients to ignore designing a home for other people or to increase the resell value,” says Joe. “If you love your home and have spent time and energy making it your own, this will shine through to potential buyers.”
In this home in West Yorkshire, the homeowners wanted a property “worthy of its view”, where they could look out over the valley. Joe’s design allowed the views to take centre stage in every part of the house, while also ensuring privacy for the owners. “I wanted to create a home that was right in terms of appearance from both inside-out and outside-in, but that would also function efficiently as their family home.”
See more from this project.
Often it’s the thoughtful and simple designs that can really make a difference to how a homeowner feels about their property. “I tell clients to ignore designing a home for other people or to increase the resell value,” says Joe. “If you love your home and have spent time and energy making it your own, this will shine through to potential buyers.”
In this home in West Yorkshire, the homeowners wanted a property “worthy of its view”, where they could look out over the valley. Joe’s design allowed the views to take centre stage in every part of the house, while also ensuring privacy for the owners. “I wanted to create a home that was right in terms of appearance from both inside-out and outside-in, but that would also function efficiently as their family home.”
See more from this project.
Consider what you want to do in your home
Being clear about how you want to use the spaces in your home will ensure the focus of the design is on you and not just the aesthetics.
“We try to get clients to think deeper about their home, instead of simply meeting trends or focusing on resale value,” says Joe. “The clients’ happiness and wellbeing within their home is crucial, and I advise them to view their home as an investment in themselves, their family and their lifestyle.”
The owners of this West Yorkshire home asked Joe if he could design them a grown-up play room. The incredible space features a full bar with ale and beer pumps and a cocktail station, a cinema projector, pool and foosball tables, arcade machines, darts and even toilets. “We also included a gym, spa area, and a studio annex for guests, to ensure the family truly had their dream home,” says Joe.
Being clear about how you want to use the spaces in your home will ensure the focus of the design is on you and not just the aesthetics.
“We try to get clients to think deeper about their home, instead of simply meeting trends or focusing on resale value,” says Joe. “The clients’ happiness and wellbeing within their home is crucial, and I advise them to view their home as an investment in themselves, their family and their lifestyle.”
The owners of this West Yorkshire home asked Joe if he could design them a grown-up play room. The incredible space features a full bar with ale and beer pumps and a cocktail station, a cinema projector, pool and foosball tables, arcade machines, darts and even toilets. “We also included a gym, spa area, and a studio annex for guests, to ensure the family truly had their dream home,” says Joe.
Think about your home’s surroundings
Joe believes a building should also work in harmony with its location, either to complement the surroundings or as a comfortable contrast. Consider working with the contours of a slope for example to create a harmonious multi-level design, or think about adding industrial-style windows as a nod to the architecture of a nearby art gallery. It’s all about drawing references from the surroundings to create a home that’s sympathetic to its unique location.
Joe designed this West Yorkshire home to be chased into the valley slope, enabling each room to have different views of either the rocky hillside or of the open vistas. “The varying views throughout the house affect the ambience of each space and change the dynamic from room to room. For example, the rocky outlooks create a cosy, cocooned feel, while the wide, open views add a sense of space and light,” says Joe, who also designed a high parapet wall around the terrace of the master bedroom to create privacy.
Joe believes a building should also work in harmony with its location, either to complement the surroundings or as a comfortable contrast. Consider working with the contours of a slope for example to create a harmonious multi-level design, or think about adding industrial-style windows as a nod to the architecture of a nearby art gallery. It’s all about drawing references from the surroundings to create a home that’s sympathetic to its unique location.
Joe designed this West Yorkshire home to be chased into the valley slope, enabling each room to have different views of either the rocky hillside or of the open vistas. “The varying views throughout the house affect the ambience of each space and change the dynamic from room to room. For example, the rocky outlooks create a cosy, cocooned feel, while the wide, open views add a sense of space and light,” says Joe, who also designed a high parapet wall around the terrace of the master bedroom to create privacy.
“I don’t start a project thinking about how it looks,” says Joe. “Instead, focus is placed on the client’s likes and dislikes of their existing or past spaces, but at the end of the design process if it doesn’t look good, it’s not finished or resolved.”
He explains that successful design comes from spaces that function well, where you can instantly identify a room’s functions – when this is reached a building is beautiful simply because it works without being forced. “This level of design is not simple,” he says. “The outcome, however, is a simple home that works effortlessly for its owners. It can only happen when a designer has taken the time to get to know their clients, how they feel about their ‘to-be’ spaces and how they would use them.”
See another project designed to fit in with its surroundings.
More: Visit Place for Humans Houzz profile for more information on their services and projects.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
He explains that successful design comes from spaces that function well, where you can instantly identify a room’s functions – when this is reached a building is beautiful simply because it works without being forced. “This level of design is not simple,” he says. “The outcome, however, is a simple home that works effortlessly for its owners. It can only happen when a designer has taken the time to get to know their clients, how they feel about their ‘to-be’ spaces and how they would use them.”
See another project designed to fit in with its surroundings.
More: Visit Place for Humans Houzz profile for more information on their services and projects.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
Founder + Lead Designer, Joseph Robertshaw, is an architectural designer that for the past decade has strived to... Read More
Review by Reece and Martin:
5/5 - Can't wait to build our extension now, PFH were amazing at planning stage and we are now excited to continue works with them throughout the building work.