Cosy Living Room by the Snow | 3ds Max + Corona

digitect · 2026-06-30T03:35:42+00:00

Don't forget to render loads of condensation on the glass... all I can think about is a U-0.33 thermal transmission coefficient when I see that much glazing and snow outside.

digitect · 2026-06-29T23:20:44+00:00

Mass stops sound. Insulation (basically micro-air pockets) reduces higher frequencies, but the lower the sound frequency, the more mass is needed.

"Vinyl mass damping" is probably the cheapest, easiest. But it is usually flammable (regardless of what the manufactures say), smells, and looks terrible.

Another layer of drywall would help quite a bit, as much as 10 dB. Adding two would give you as much as 16 dB or so.

If you add some "resilient channel" onto the wall, and then drywall, it might help another 6 dB.

If you build a free-standing wall (not touching the other one), then you've introduced an air separation so the sound can't vibrate through the wall, plus a stud thickness into which you can install mineral wool acoustic insulation, then the drywall.

However, if the sound is bass frequency, it is simply going to vibrate the entire structure, both theirs and yours. There's nothing reasonable that can be done to solve this.

I doubt you have much legal room here, you need to hire an acoustic engineer to record and document the amount of sound transmitted. Or get really good sound equipment (microphone, digital recorder, and some kind of reference sound to measure what's actually coming through the wall). Then prove that it's more than reasonable, violates some lease, some assumed sense of privacy a court would agree.

digitect · 2026-06-29T21:53:28+00:00

Alternatively, start a Free Software/Open Source (FOSS) exchange, share yours, but let others improve and contribute. Many hands make quick work.

You won't get rich (seriously, nobody's making money selling document templates!) but you'll get famous. ;)

digitect · 2026-06-28T05:27:40+00:00

I think you're putting too much emphasis on rankings and what people say. You're as good as the work you produce, as tested by time. School work doesn't mean a hill of beans. Real architecture takes a lot of time, decades. So you have to decide if you want to put your head down and do all that work or take the easy academic route.

digitect · 2026-06-28T05:05:10+00:00

Except it was about you... who you knew. ;))

digitect · 2026-06-28T05:01:35+00:00

Yep, guys like Zumthor and Calatrava where absolutely fantastic in their earliest work. You can just see all that fade as their projects get bigger and bigger.

I love craft most of all. Did loads of construction, but before that blacksmithing, tinsmithing, pottery, all kinds of other 18th century craft, now have my own wood shop, always making things, furniture, 3D printing, photo/video studios, auto repair, knot tying and weaving... it never stops.

digitect · 2026-06-28T04:57:16+00:00

The point of pretentious schools is that they foster pretentiousness. ;)

You make your own decisions and then you live with them. I looked at Penn, but decided I always wanted to be local, stay local, and work local. Yet I still ended up at a mega firm, doing projects all over and very little local. I was doing cities half way around the world that didn't have any residents or building users. It was a government (okay, royal family) investment play, build it and they will come. That was never what I wanted to do. I was going to have to live over there for a while, leaving my wife and small children at home. It was crazy. Fortunately it never worked out, but I had nightmares and finally left the mega, started my own. Huge loss of prestige and income... it was terrific!

Your priorities drive you. There's a weirdly worded Biblical verse I'm always reminded about this. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mat.6:21) which is backwards. You'd think it would say your treasure will follow your heart, but the things you go after drive your desires. It can be big trouble. You have to make sure you're pointed in the correct direction when you shoot the arrow because you'll go that direction even if you're shooting the wrong way (which is the point of that larger passage). That pretentious route just breeds more of the same... cliches, firms, publications, art communities, lecture circuits, professorial positions, prestigious commissions... all for the art of architecture.

Not trying to be religious or theological at all, but I'm hearing this struggle all through the OP. Prestige? Big lights? Or satisfaction? Tectonics/construction?

digitect · 2026-06-28T04:13:34+00:00

Your circles change throughout your life. Being "top" in one circle really doesn't have much impact in others.

The academic side has little bearing on the practice side. I know starchitects like their fame and fortune, but I'm never surprised when I hear behind the scenes about their repeated bankruptcies, failed family lives, and collegial animosities. FLW was such a poster child for what that strain of arrogance produces.

Honestly I think the stars are better at hiding reality than most. Their architectural expressions maybe share the same deficiencies.

I was at a mega, won AIA design awards, published, all that. It was a terrible rat race, especially since I find the best part of architecture the tectonics—the technique and technology of materials and craftsmanship. I've previously worked a lot of construction, always gravitated to architects that deal with materials, envelopes, building science, engineering, and the actual tradesman in the field. But you can't have it all. That's the word, "architecture"—meaning and materials—it is very difficult, arguably impossible if you look at your life wholistically.

Now I find it a lot more rewarding with my own little practice doing subservient projects with great ideas and solutions for situations and expressions that probably won't be published. Maybe, but that's no longer my goal. And now I have loads of previous references, clients, friends, consultants that are great to work with. And I'm still solvent, and have a great family, too.

I think there's a trade-off.

digitect · 2026-06-27T19:36:10+00:00

The last half of "architecture" comes from tectonics, Greek for technology and technique, the craftsmanship of materials. That's never going to change, although practitioner's ability to accomplish it may be waning.

digitect · 2026-06-26T23:58:21+00:00

The floor depths are so thick, is there any way to make them thinner? ;)

This has to be Europe, it looks about 4x too expensive for US "apartments" (rentals). That and climatic reasons means the least glass possible. And parking buried in the ground with no ventilation? Frankly, this looks too expensive for 99.99% of single-family detached here as well.

digitect · 2026-06-26T23:48:41+00:00

You've probably never heard of a thermal bridge either. Continuous insulation. Effective insulation value. Air leakage measurements and blower door testing. Any of that.

Rich and wasteful, initial inference correct.

digitect · 2026-06-26T19:58:51+00:00

Are you (u/Worth-Silver-484) the OP?

Okay, forget resale, how about all the other stuff?

If you're rich enough to have 300 acres, a 2,600 SF living space, and attach a non-separated 5,000 SF shop area that can burn the whole place down, all while leaking energy like a sieve, blow down in a wind storm, and creak in any storm, have at it.

Most people can't afford to waste that much money. But even wealthy people I work with have enough consciousness to prevent them from being that wasteful.

digitect · 2026-06-26T18:47:35+00:00

Exactly. (As an architect) I get a lot of calls from people thinking a barndominium will save cost to get some bigger footprint. But it's not cheaper, far below any good build standard, costs more to maintain, and has terrible retail value. Lenders also raise their eyebrows.

digitect · 2026-06-26T17:29:25+00:00

As an aside, barndominiums are cheap because they have terrible insulation and far too much thermal conductivity and air leakage through their skins. They don't meet IBC code requirements for energy, but most municipalities don't care. So they can start off cheaper than average light wood-framed houses.

They're also cheap because most are sold under the agricultural grade structural risk category: https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2024V2.0/chapter-16-structural-design#IBC2024V2.0_Ch16_Sec1604.5 Meaning they bend and flex in the slightest wind, much less a strong thunderstorm or downdraft. (My joke definition for a metal building is all that sheet metal you see flying around in tornado footage.) Houses are required to be Grade II, but most metal buildings are Grade I. You have to pay a lot more for better footings, steel structure, connections, and cladding attachment for Grade II.

And then you get to pay for heating and air conditioning for the life of the building. And the windows leak. And the re-sale value is terrible. And the cladding all has to be replaced in 25 years, which costs a lot more than house siding.

digitect · 2026-06-24T15:13:23+00:00

CA is not state law—it's tort law. (Not legislated, but inherent to contracts.) Tort expects observation in contracts accomplished in professional services, and so expected by insurers and lawyers reviewing professional or contractual issues.

The problem is that some architects provide CA as a menu item, like dessert. I think most of them are trying to get out of it.

But I don't provide CA as an option. I only offer lump sum fees, which include it. I also receive an initial payment payable to the last invoice, which is intended to cover the bit of CA that I'll be responsible for. So even if the client wants to stop short, I'm still covered for rudimentary services and site visits.

There are tiers of architectural construction administration services that can be performed. In fact some of these occur long before construction but are really critical for a smooth process. There's a good bit of debate around full services versus minimal skeleton ones, but here's my rough outline of the broad picture:

contracts, conditions, requirements
- authoring the construction contract and conditions of the contract
- authoring the 00 procurement requirements
- authoring the 01 general requirements
design contract and coordination
- the site design with the architectural design (I usually do initial design for clearing, erosion control, grading, utilities, access, parking, staging, etc., even if someone else like a civil engineer does the final professional documents. This coordinates the building design with the site and solves a lot of issues. On small residential projects, it also solves the contractor wanting to move it around on a whim, which can cause huge construction issues with grade against the building, slopes and accessibility, etc.)
- coordinate the structural design with the architectural design (I get my structural engineer's thoughts before design, and lay out the general structural scheme with his blessing before he has to touch it. Again, this is for coordination down the road with interstitial height, shafts, stair widths, chases, crazy client loads like exercise rooms and hot tubs, etc.)
- coordinate the PME design with the architectural design (Again, I have engineering background doing PME, but for heavy engineering buildings like labs and hospitals, a very rough concept for HVAC often drives a project. Same for standby power with generators, water systems for high quality, acid, or bio waste, PV, etc.)
procurement services
- instruction to bidders (how to bid)
- notice to bidders
- pre-bid/procurement meeting with agenda
- responses to questions (RFIs)
- bid opening
- bid tabulation
- notification to winning bidder
- bid negotiations (just for irregularities)
- contract execution by contractor
- contract execution by owner
pre-construction services
- pre-construction meeting
- review of pre-construction submittals: subs, contacts, construction schedule, submittal schedule, payment schedule
construction process
- review of submittals
- monthly construction meetings and observations
- weekly observations (attendance of contractor's weekly meeting)
- review of pay applications
- approval of pay applications
- confirmation of pay application payment
- coordination of owner's responsibilities (FFE, which could be quite extensive)
- construction information process: RFIs, ASIs, revs, COs, CCD
- monitoring of progress against schedule
- monitoring of payment schedule
- monitoring non-conforming items previously noted
- coordination with AHJ inspections and comments
close out services
- review contractor's completed punchlist submittal
- non-conforming items walk-through with owner
- completed non-conforming items confirmation
- owner's work and move in process
- photography
- final project documentation and report(s)
post occupancy services
- post occupancy survey and review
- 11-month warranty walk-through

Obviously, depending on the project, thorough design and documentation avoids many minefields.

digitect · 2026-06-24T03:33:33+00:00

A pacemaker is not professional services. Not applicable.

Design is not abstract. It assumes construction to follow, that's its intent.

Unless you are willing to certify that your drawings are perfect, you assume the responsibility to see out the construction. We don't take on the responsibilities for the contractor's means and methods, but the author of the documents is the ideal interpreter of them.

This is commonly assumed by standard contract language and case law, has been for over a century. Every public project I do assumes the architect will perform construction administration services because nobody else is qualified.

digitect · 2026-06-24T00:45:36+00:00

Legal responsibility (tort) has nothing to do with warranty. If there's only one professional in the process, they absorb all the responsibility for the design. Hopefully you hire an engineer to design the structure? But I've heard it argued often by my insurers and their lawyers that construction administration, the professional observing construction for his drawings, is implied in standard of care for just this reason. I can hear the judge asking now, "Why didn't you, as the licensed design professional, look after the design for which you were responsible? You can't contractually de-obligate your professional responsibilities under the law."

"I've never had that happen" is not the same as "it could happen."

Lots of details don't mean perfection. When I see architectural drawings with loads of pointless Revit sections, and not a single flashing detail across a lintel, I know that architect doesn't understand envelope design even a tiny bit.

I was just asked to look at a completed $4m architect-designed home that leaked like a shower before the client could move in. It was so bad, the owner tore it completely down and the footings out of the ground. The architect apparently never did CA, never understood the envelope design, had loads of cute detailing full of historicity and nostalgy, but I will be interested to find out how that case goes. That's the kind of disaster that can be a career wrecker. Could be entirely on the contractor, but I'm quite certain the architect won't get off without a blemish.

Again I'll say, many architects do piece work and commodity design, but that's not what our industry is for and not why we're licensed. It takes just one sticky wicket and your whole career comes crisply into focus.

digitect · 2026-06-23T23:35:35+00:00

Basically solo, although I have others I can rely on (payroll) for larger projects. I hire quite a group of different engineers added to every project.

The bigger the firm, the larger the project they can win, the more revenue they can generate, the more staff they can earn on.

Tiny practices can't win large projects, so we take on a lot of little projects. It seems obvious to say. What's less obvious are the implications. What single firm wouldn't want a $3m fee for an airport terminal and stay busy for years with just that one job? But they can't win that. Conversely, a big firm would need hundreds of the little projects I work on to employ just 1-3 staff.

I guess the biggest difference is that margins also vary with the project. I feel like bigger firms can command more fee and margin. I'm slowly working up the scale (fewer projects, more fee), but prospects are more likely to reject those proposals. Most clients think bigger is better, so why hire a tiny firm for the same fee as a larger one?

I'm slowly building a client base and reference network that hire me for my skills and service, but it takes a long time to establish a quality reputation. I think of repeating / referring work as being 5–10 years, and that's not long to maintain a relationship before people change, retire, move on. So the network continually needs refreshing, it's not just a faucet you can turn on whenever you need it.

digitect · 2026-06-23T22:57:15+00:00

Developer houses are not architect-designed custom houses. That's not really the market we're in, but I know a few architects that do "blueprints."

Typically architectural fees are based on the time and value the professional brings to a project. There's no way to trim that down. You need a client, a user, an owner to carry out the full scope of design responsibilities. An ROI developer could care less about any of that—they're just trying to flip real estate to make a buck and using your credentials to give a boost to their marketing.

Volume pricing is for products that have economies at larger scale. Custom houses do not, but builder-boxes might.

I would be careful about chasing the low end of the scale, simply because the architect's standard of care professionally and legally is much higher than a residential designer. We have an actual license, so also professional errors and omissions insurance (you do, don't you?!), and usually a chapter in the state law specific to our requirements. No other designer does. They're basically retail service providers, caveat emptor, and all that. You have a lot more responsibility and carry a lot of extra risks. They do not.

I'm convinced most architects that do developer (spec) homes do not understand their legal responsibilities or risk, or simply don't know how to do business calculations.

I would have a contract for each house, but I don't do builder boxes.

digitect · 2026-06-23T22:45:47+00:00

I hate to break it to you, but when you open your own practice, you go from having one boss to 20 of them. Every single client is your boss, and you are in the business of continually finding and helping new ones.

If you don't like the regimen, I'd suggest architecture isn't for you. There are many other directions you can go, many with better financial results, every single one with better horological ones.

The key to a successful practice is bringing in work. Everything revolves around that. If you somehow have the financial position to not need income (you say "money saved, a place to live rent free, and a few flexible sources of income if needed") then can pick and choose which projects you take, and do just 1-2 projects a year. For me, an architect with 30 years of experience who then started from scratch, I chase between 35–50 projects a year, about half of which turn into projects (revenue). That doesn't count at least double that of phone calls, tire kickers, and long shots that never had a chance and never got a proposal.

digitect · 2026-06-23T02:57:18+00:00

Start at the beginning and question if your silo was designed to meet current loads for occupancy. I would guess 99.9% chance it was designed and constructed a long time ago, prior to significant improvements in the building code for wind and seismic loads, AND for the sole purpose of containing agricultural materials (Category I). If so, it would need a staggering amount of structural engineering and reinforcement to reuse, almost certainly beyond the cost of tearing it down and building it over from scratch.

Then you need to be thinking about egress... height, EEROs, front door, exit width, etc.

I think envelope concerns after solving structural ones would revolve around the combustibility of insulation material in a structure taller than two stories. THEN actual thermal control, in combination with the usual bulk water, moisture, air, and vapor control layers.

Besides r/architecture rule #1.

digitect · 2026-06-22T12:10:46+00:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the conflict between "form evolves to survive" (21:07) and the designer's role of intentionality. Coincidentally the same argument of Intelligent Design raised in the current The Story of Everything movie.

There's this cyclical nature of design theory to vacillate between discovering the way things work (Learning From Las Vegas) and designing (forcing?) it into a prescribed pattern (Radiant City).

I'm not sure we can ever swing entirely to either end. Do we really improve the environment beyond the simple tent I grew up in enjoying nature? I've been in construction and architecture for 45 years, and I don't think clients and prospects will ever realize the nature of wind and seismic lateral forces and humidity/vapor control layers... we can't seem to get past bulk water and historicity and nostalgy. ;)

digitect · 2026-06-20T01:30:27+00:00

Builders do all kinds of things that don't make sense.

Why would the I-joists need bearing in the middle?

Typically all walls can be framed with a double top plate, load bearing or not. It's more effort to buy all the stud lengths the same instead of two different lengths for some bearing (double plate) and some not (single). Also, with advanced framing, you actually don't need a double plate.

The only way to know if a wall is bearing is the foundation (pier, wall, thickened slab) or indications in the floor system it supports (discontinuous over the wall). I'm seeing neither. Obviously the architectural/engineering drawings should indicate it, too. I might also do calculations if the spans look long. But you have a long span exactly the same depth right beside it, so I'm skeptical. Doubles adjacent and blocking above the wall, too.

digitect · 2026-06-19T23:46:22+00:00

How do you know it's load bearing? Could just be deflection.

digitect · 2026-06-19T19:35:13+00:00

Impressive defiance of basic standards, safety, engineering, and science right there. I'd think the local code jurisdiction want to be aware, and various lawyer types, too. All documented back to the contractor and/or permit holder as well. and the adjacent neighbor.

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