Before starting any job, one should always have the right tools.
First, it means you have thought about what is required from start to finish and the tools needed to do the many tasks. Second, the proper tools will help you work through problems, no matter how complicated. Finally, with the right tools you can accomplish jobs with greater precision and satisfaction.
One day a week I have a great opportunity to work outside of the Synthesis Design office as a construction worker building one of our design build houses. Here my hands are subjected to a wide variety of tools besides the keyboard which I work with four days a week at the studio.
We have worked with a large arrangement of tools: power and hand saws, jack hammers, caulking and air guns, pulley systems, scaffolding and sanders. A wall of tools are needed to meet all the challenges.
There is one final tool I leave the construction site with each week and that is experience. When designing a home at the studio, what better tool to have then current first hand experience of how it all goes together.
From the drain rock at the base, to the stairs in the middle, to the soffit at the top, understanding the complexities of building provides me with an invaluable tool when I sit down to design in the studio.
You no longer see lines, you see everything; caulking in the windows, different insulation requirements, tolerances required when doing stairs, furring out walls for plumbing or heating, as well as experimenting with new ways of detailing modern elements.
It’s all about having the right tools and the building experience tool is absolutely the right tool when in design.