Start with the site

A site is already doing things before a project begins. Light moves across it, people find routes through it and existing buildings create shelter, privacy or a particular view. Looking carefully at those relationships can give a brief a more useful starting point than an isolated picture of a finished building.

Begin with ordinary observation. Where do people enter? Which rooms are used at different times of day? What is difficult now, and what already works well enough to keep? Photographs, a few notes and a simple plan can help bring those experiences into the design conversation.

Observation does not settle every decision. It gives the questions somewhere specific to begin. A proposal can then be discussed in relation to the place, rather than only as an image or a list of rooms.