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We've teamed up with Dahlin Group, a California based architecture firm, to create a concept home that will accommodate the changing needs of families due to COVID-19. The concept home will be located in Pittsboro, North Carolina - in the Chatham Park community!
What parts of your current home have you been using differently since the pandemic began? What would you change about your current home? What space do you utilize the most? What would you be willing to spend on a new, safer home?
Thanks to the research by marketing and branding expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki at Tst Ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance and architect Nancy Keenan, president and CEO of Dahlin Group, all of the above questions (and many, many more) were answered and considered when designing the concept home.
Here's what Stacy Freed, Daily Messenger, had to say:
"Since March, the pandemic has changed the way we live in our homes: Office workers type away at their dining room tables. Kids attend classes from the sofa. Young-adult children have moved back into their old bedrooms. We’re all more concerned with cleaning and disinfecting and indoor air quality. And according to a recent study from the National Kitchen & Bath Association, the way we’re using our homes now will have a substantial influence on design going forward.
It’s no surprise. For example, first floor powder rooms near the front door became popular in the early 20th century as a way to prevent the spread of diseases. Before the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, most people had clawfoot bathtubs, but with their intricate feet and exposed underside, they were difficult to keep clean. After that pandemic, bathtubs were built against the wall. Toilet bowls also got upgraded from wooden seats to lacquered seats that were easier to clean and seemed more hygienic. Today, designers and builders across the country are already responding to the new needs."
..."Using a “model” family of two adults — one of whom leaves for work elsewhere each day and one who works remotely from their home — and two young children who might need workspace, participants designed a 2,600-square-foot home that would be “attainable for most” in the Triangle area of North Carolina where the homes will be built, says [Garman Homes] founder and CEO Alaina Money-Garman.
The house, which combines modern and traditional aesthetics, has a garage off the back, near the owner’s entry, since that’s how most people enter their home. On the front of the house is a porch and guest entry. With an eye toward germ and dirt containment, this entry was a major focal point of the design discussions, Garman says. “Our research showed a high preference for a standalone guest suite.”
Inside the front door is a vestibule, a scaled-up mudroom where visitors can store coats and shoes. It sits next to a guest suite, and the whole area can be isolated from the rest of the house. “We tried to create opportunities to control the flow of people and germs,” Garman says.
The rear entry also has a mudroom area and a powder room and can include laundry facilities as well as a refrigerator. “It’s a good place for children’s backpacks to live. And it’s another way to protect the main living spaces.”
Other major features include a main floor flex room, envisioned as a school space or playroom, and there are two dedicated home offices, one of which is a pocket office tucked in the back of the kitchen and can be closed off.
The open-floor-plan kitchen has an L-shaped island; one side is an eating area and the other holds a sink that faces into the family/living room for visibility of most of the downstairs. “We need this space to perform for us so we can be parents, schoolteachers, and do our jobs,” Garman says.
Upstairs are three bedrooms. The primary suite (no longer referred to as the “master bedroom”) in back includes a small bonus room for a private away space; two bedrooms in the front of the home are next to a large “family” bathroom. “We wanted to make the space extraordinary for kids, so they don’t want to come in and use the parents’ bathroom,” Garman says."
Stayed tuned to follow along with the progress of the concept home!
Full Article HERE
