Recently, someone asked me about the different design approaches that Tanglewood might use when approaching a new project and why they can be so different. I’d like to share my reply below:

Lynn,

I am happy you asked about the variety of the stylistic approaches we take. This is something we take very seriously as we want to be sure we don’t allow ourselves to get comfortable using any one idiom, overwriting our clients (sometimes subtle) directions or sacrificing design integrity for production/manufacturing efficiencies.

Our team, designers, builders and managers, many of whom have been with us since our inception, is composed of individuals who feed on challenging the “box”.

We’ve been known to “invent” whole new construction systems just to achieve a customer’s concept – without allowing ourselves to compromise.
Our goal, and hopefully we achieve some success in this, is to be a reflector for our clients vision, needs and dreams.

We try to listen to them very carefully then use our architectural, manufacturing and construction skills and our creativity to produce a synthesis which is really theirs, not ours.

I know that a lot of companies espouse the same concepts, but it can sometimes be no more than marketing gibberish.

Anyway, enough philosophizing. Hopefully our results speak for themselves.
About #11 project which you’ve asked about:

Project Scope and Objectives
The scope of the project included the design, pre-fabrication and on site erection of a free-standing conservatory spa room at an estate home.

Primary objectives of the clients were:
1. The room was conceived to enclose an in ground spa as well as a formal seating area.
2. The room had to accommodate the clients desire to provide a space for viewing TV.
3. Be a whimsical, private getaway from the clients busy lives.
4. The new room had to be a distinctive feature within the garden landscape, and relate to the main house a stones throw away.

Project Challenges
1. To design a small, whimsical building that would accommodate various very different functions within a detached “conservatory” structure.
2. Design the building to harmonize with the existing residence.

Project Solutions
Sq. Footage 295 S.F. freestanding garden room spa.
1. The building uses brick matched to the existing home and echoes some of it’s design features such as the gable roof over the entry way and the curvilinear entry steps.
2. We did not try to make separate spaces for the formal seating and/or the informal spa but chose instead to let them share one large room and embrace this unique juxtaposition.

To be continued… please see next blog entry.