The Relationship of Color to Your Site Plan

A memorable street scene always begins with excellent planning. Consequently, acknowledging the influence your site plan has on the way your house's exterior reads is a key element in the successful execution of your built environment.

In today's world, scarce-land site plans are often not ideal. However, almost every site plan configuration incorporates an enlightened exterior design scenario. Regardless of your site plan design, a host of issues must be considered while sequencing your products.

First of all, the real-estate savvy public demands the acknowledgement of their individuality in the context of their community. To achieve this goal of manageable diversity, we must create a plan to adorn each home with what appears to be a singular exterior design strategy.

Many builders find that a double-loaded linear site plan maximizes their unit yield and is appropriately predictable for their intended buyer. With such a plan, one needs to recognize - prior to architectural discussions - that both sides of any street will always be viewed at once.

With this in mind, any predictability factor that exists in the graphics of your architecture will be over-animated. Simply put, when working with a double-loaded condition use extreme care to plan for architectural diversity when designing project elevations. This avoids dulling repetition.

A careful study of color design among your elevations is the first step in the design strategy. Look for opportunities to give similar colors different looks on comparable elevations. Add masonry on one, and leave the other clean. Notice the details that embellish the elevation. Are there any duplicates? A good example of common oversights is a duped shutter, louver, or siding design. These are among the little things that will make a cutting-edge difference during build-out.

After reviewing the color design, research the architecturally appropriate color and materials design per architectural style. Choosing to stray from the accepted norm in this area is common, but it is always advisable to be informed of the standard first. Ideally, This knowledge will be apparent before choosing elevational styles, because the implications of style-specific color and materials design are profound.

When creating color schemes, try to apply the same principles of diversity. Alter the lightness or darkness of a color story for a particular style, and use different finishes where possible. Finally, enhance customer responsiveness by offering more schemes than in the past.

On a double-loaded linear street scene, the inclusion of multiple architectural styles will go a long way toward reaching individualization. There is an added benefit in that color-diverse homes, with similar setbacks, will appear to undulate back and forth, thus taking the hard edges off of the site plan. Attention also needs to be paid to front-yard landscape design, as well as street furniture. Every detail has the potential to exacerbate sameness. Please note that the extreme to which you diversify should be based entirely on the understanding of the psychographics of the buyer.

A curvalinear site plan, on the other hand, lacks some of the challenges of its linear counterpart. Walking or driving through such an environment one will notice homes constantly coming into and out of the viewer's corridor. The implication is that any sameness will be somewhat placated because not everything is seen at once. The likelihood that the variety of site conditions may exist for footprints on each lot will also contribute to this advantage.

The curvalinear site plan does not, however, relieve the builder from his larger responsibility to acknowledge the individual home buyer. It is, of course, ideal to conduct all design considerations, regardless of the advantages of your plan.

We all have a vision of what the best is. Time and energy spent in the planning process for exterior design will yield enormous results, and is likely to best the competition, increase sales, and thus, the bottom line. After all, exterior environment remains for the entire world to see as a testament to the high standards used. Let them shine.