Builder Magazine: Design

Cover Story: What's New in the Neighborhood?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:19:36 EST

Builders retool their communities for an all-out showdown with reality.

'Open Series' Boosts Sales at KB Home

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:03:13 EST

Product with flexible floor plans and smaller square footage helps builder compete effectively against foreclosures.

Announcing the Winners of CHDA 2009!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:20:28 EST

The 17th annual CUSTOM HOME Design Awards received 513 entries in nine categories. Just 24 projects were singled out for accolades. The jury comprised four distinguished custom builders and architects, including Heather Cass, FAIA, Cass & Associates Architects, Washington, D.C.; Jacob S. Goldberg, Goldberg General Contracting, Chicago; Mary Griffin, FAIA, Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects, San Francisco; and David Warner, Redhorse Constructors, San Rafael, Calif. In all, they bestowed 14 Merit awards, nine Grand awards, and one Custom Home of the Year award.

What A Girl Wants

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:49:22 EST

As Gen-Y —all 80 million of them— climb toward their peak home buying years beginning in 2012, a certain female subset known as WINKs—women with income and no kids—is poised to rock housing's world.

Feature: What a Girl Wants

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:57 EST

Architects tackle the challenges of designing for Gen-Y women during Big Builder's second annual design challenge.

WINKs Lead Wave of Future Buyers

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:23:55 EST

The fastest growing home buyer population that will reach its peak buying years beginning in 2012 will be Generation Y women.

Tech Spec: Control by Design

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:09:42 EST

Roughly 25 years ago, I saw my first CAD/CAM system outside of Chicago at what was then the largest U.S. manufacturer of Web offset printing presses for the country's biggest newspapers. It was a relatively rudimentary system by today's standards, but there were engineers designing on dedicated workstations, which were linked to a mainframe computer, which was itself linked to machines that made many of the millions of metal parts that went into these behemoth presses.

Architects Design Challenge: New Lines Are Drawn

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:17:31 EST

Many big builders have looked for answers to the critical question of how to sell homes in a downturn in perks like free pools and no closing costs, mortgage rate buy downs, and $20,000 off. But as the slowdown protracted and inventory pressures became more acute, incentives have piled up higher and prices have rolled back further. Now pricing's flimsy floor has would-be buyers sitting on the sidelines, wondering just how low builders will go.

Big Builder '07: Conference Architects Session Preview

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:06:41 EST

When the housing market first faltered, many builders? first line of defense was to drop prices and incentivize like crazy. And it worked for awhile. Housing prices had climbed so high that a dip in the sale prices came almost as a relief to buyers priced out of the market. But more than 24 months later, builders need another way other than price to differentiate themselves from the competition–and fast. Many are figuring out that this market is as much about product as it is about price; a stellar home design can make buyers out of browsers.

Team Play: Dream On

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:56:23 EST

This story has all the trappings of a fairy tale. It begins with a promise by a big builder. In the middle, a man of limited means empties his wallet of its last $5 to buy his 9-year-old daughter a sliver of hope to tuck beneath her pillow at night to wish on. And, in the end, the little girl's dream comes true despite the odds, making the builder's travails seem, in retrospect, more than worthwhile.

Cyber Space

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:22:50 EST

The days of sticking a computer station anywhere in the house with an outlet are numbered at least for some of The Drees Co. homeowners. They can forget the work station in the family room, the kitchen, or even the living room. Chief architect Bill Spears designed a home for the Kentucky-based builder that allows buyers the option of putting a computer center in a separate nook half a floor above the kitchen.

Ye Olde Design Centre

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:05:30 EST

When David Jenkins, owner of Suwanee, Ga.–based Winmark Homes, decided to add a design center to his garden of home-grown operations, he dug deep into the family-owned business' talent well. Five-year Winmark veteran Marty Milbrett was appointed design center manager and tasked to find a novel take on an industry staple.

Design for Dollars: Ryland Homes

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:38 EST

Two years ago, when Eric Elder, The Ryland Group's senior vice president of marketing and communications, first decided the Calabasas, Calif.–based home builder should to team up with Eric Mandil, president and principal of Mandil Inc., the plan was to use Mandil's fresh approach to color as a way to set Ryland Homes apart in the Denver market.

Denial Slows Universal Design

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:14:39 EST

Builders used to call Mary Jo Peterson to help them design kitchens and bathrooms buyers wanted. Increasingly, they are hiring her to design kitchens and bathrooms most buyers contend they don't want or need, even if they might one day. Peterson, a Brookfield, Conn.-based kitchen and bath designer, has become a go-to person for builders of Active Adult communities interested in designing homes where the buyers can easily age in place without moving or doing extensive remodeling later.

Park Square's Orlando Magic

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:06:34 EST

When Steve O'Dowd was approached by the founders of Orlando's Park Square Homes in 1999, they confided a vision for growth that might have made most builders in Orlando's custom and vacation-resort home market scoff. After buying out Anil Deshpande, the third original partner when he wanted to retire, Suresh K. Gupta, Park Square's CEO and partner with Chairman Braham Aggarwal, had decided to grow their company into a big builder. In a market already awash with the biggest production builder names in the country, the goal–build at least 1,000 homes a year by 2002–was no small feat, considering that the company had only built 184 homes the year before.

One Reality, One Turning Point

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:25:42 EST

In a single moment, one of Horace Hogan's heroes toppled a fantasy and started building a dream.

Creative Fulfillment

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:44:39 EST

Aging Gracefully

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:15:44 EST

AIA design survey reflects the need for convertibility as boomers age.

Suddenly Feeling Attached

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:08:20 EST

Big builders must find alternatives to the single-family home on a large lot as they face consumer interest in traditional communities, a shortage in desirable land, increased costs, and sustainability concerns.

Beyond Hispanics

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:50 EST

Architect designs with a “black aesthetic” in mind.