This CE Center article is no longer eligible for receiving credits.
There are a number of factors that influence how styles in residential architecture shift over the years. New design methods and materials emerge, the knowledge base of the consumer changes which can bring new design objectives to the table, and the way in which people live and use their homes changes, making once-popular layouts seem outdated or obsolete. All of these items inform the design of the latest dream home, and the predominant 2019 trends in residential architecture are no exception.
Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Hardware
Residential architecture trends in 2019 are rooted in creating healthy, comfortable, multifunctional spaces that allow people to entertain in a more informal manner, maximize the indoor/outdoor connection, and age in place.
The overarching theme this year seems to be creating healthy, high-performance spaces that are comfortable and multifunctional, like their owners. The carefully segmented floorplan has been replaced by open-space design that blurs the boundary between kitchen and dining room and living room. There’s also growing demand for indoor/outdoor space that provides seamless connection between the indoors and outdoors and creates an energy-efficient enclosure. For years, daylight inclusion has been high on the list of homeowner demands, and today it remains important, but there is an emphasis on ensuring that daylight is managed so that interior spaces remain comfortable, without overloading the HVAC system. Another notable change is that the profile of the homeowner is aging, and universal design is becoming increasingly more important as these older homeowners prepare to age in place.
This course will take a closer look at the latest trends in residential design and provide a product solution for each that will help architects easily incorporate these features and functionalities into the beautiful family homes they are currently designing.
TREND: VERSATILE INDOOR/OUTDOOR LIVING
For a few years now, indoor/outdoor living has regularly appeared on the annual lists of trends in residential architecture. In January 2016, AIA Architect published an article titled “The Coming Decade of Residential Design,” written by Kermit Baker and Jennifer Riskus, in which they stated, “Lifestyles have become more informal, and homes are reflecting this. Formal living rooms and dining rooms are disappearing, replaced by great rooms, dens, and open-space layouts. With this movement to informality has been growth in outdoor living. While initially decks, patios, and outdoor grills were the focus, this trend has expanded to outdoor kitchens and even fully furnished outdoor rooms.”
Although the line between outdoor and indoor living space may be blurring, in most climates, architects are not simply leaving open spaces where exterior walls once stood, nor are the residential housing footprints dramatically expanding to include a dedicated indoor/outdoor area. Instead, designers are challenged to find more flexible solutions that increase the indoor/outdoor access that a project offers, while providing a weathertight, energy-efficient facade when those indoor/outdoor spaces are not in use. Large opening door systems, whether sliding or folding, enable the distinctly divided indoors and outdoors to make a beautiful and convenient transformation into coveted indoor/outdoor space and then return to a high-performance facade that protects the interior from the larger environmental elements.
Photo: Eric Rorer Photography
Large opening door systems combine multiple panels constructed from glass and framing materials that fold or slide (shown here) out of the way to connect indoor and outdoor spaces.
Solution: Folding & Sliding Large Opening Door Systems
Large opening door systems combine multiple panels constructed from glass and framing materials that either slide or fold out of the way to create large openings that connect indoor and outdoor spaces. When the indoor/outdoor space is no longer desired, the door system can be re-engaged to fill the opening with beautiful and energy-efficient framed glass panels.
These multi-panel systems create larger, more dramatic openings than a standard sliding or swinging glass door. Up to 10 door panels, each measuring up to 39 inches wide and 10 feet tall, can be combined into one movable folding glass wall that will open and close from one side, without the need for horizontal mullions that detract from the view. Using two 10-panel systems can create openings up to 65 feet wide. Sliding glass panels can be as large as 60 square feet of glass per panel, which allows them to be as tall as 12 feet or up to 8 feet wide. Six sliding panels can be combined in one direction. Oversized door panels can be specified to deliver even larger openings from fewer individual panels.
New system configurations are also broadening the available solutions in this category. For example, there are now zero post corner systems and door/window combinations. The zero post corner system connects two separate door or window systems to each other, eliminating the need for a fixed pillar and creating a truly open indoor/outdoor living space. Door/window combinations create flexible countertop solutions that allow homeowners to create large openings, even when they don’t have space for many large door panels.
While the size and configuration of the panels is important in achieving the right opening size for a project, it is the glass and framing materials that determine the overall thermal performance the system can provide. The U-factor of a large opening door panel describes the rate of heat loss across the glass and framing components. The lower the U-factor, the greater the panel’s resistance to heat flow and the better insulator it is. Depending upon the specified framing material and glazing, U-factors for large opening door panels can be achieved at or near the common fenestration target of 0.30 or better.
Here is a quick description of four panel-framing materials now available and how their design impacts their ability to insulate the interior from outdoor temperatures.
Wood Frame
Glass door frames with a solid wood core were some of the first types of large opening door systems available. Solid wood frames are beautiful and provide a natural thermal barrier, but wood is an organic material that can require additional maintenance in harsher climates.
Aluminum Frame
Today, aluminum frames, constructed with an aluminum core, are the most common type of frame for large opening door systems. While the aluminum withstands the elements better than wood and requires almost no maintenance, the material is inherently conductive, which means that hot and cold temperatures easily transfer across the frame and into the residence.
Thermally Controlled Aluminum Frame
In an effort to improve the thermal performance of the popular, low-maintenance aluminum material, a thermally controlled aluminum frame was designed with a nonconductive thermal strut. This strut provides a thermal break in the structure of the frame, which minimizes the transfer of heat and cold into the interior. It should be noted that one important innovation that has occurred recently with thermally controlled aluminum framing is that manufacturers have been able to engineer this better-performing design into the narrow profiles preferred by the design community. This more energy-efficient framing material can now be specified in a profile as thin a 215⁄16 inches, maximizing the surface area of the glass panel available to provide an unobstructed view of the outdoors.
There are a number of factors that influence how styles in residential architecture shift over the years. New design methods and materials emerge, the knowledge base of the consumer changes which can bring new design objectives to the table, and the way in which people live and use their homes changes, making once-popular layouts seem outdated or obsolete. All of these items inform the design of the latest dream home, and the predominant 2019 trends in residential architecture are no exception.
Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Hardware
Residential architecture trends in 2019 are rooted in creating healthy, comfortable, multifunctional spaces that allow people to entertain in a more informal manner, maximize the indoor/outdoor connection, and age in place.
The overarching theme this year seems to be creating healthy, high-performance spaces that are comfortable and multifunctional, like their owners. The carefully segmented floorplan has been replaced by open-space design that blurs the boundary between kitchen and dining room and living room. There’s also growing demand for indoor/outdoor space that provides seamless connection between the indoors and outdoors and creates an energy-efficient enclosure. For years, daylight inclusion has been high on the list of homeowner demands, and today it remains important, but there is an emphasis on ensuring that daylight is managed so that interior spaces remain comfortable, without overloading the HVAC system. Another notable change is that the profile of the homeowner is aging, and universal design is becoming increasingly more important as these older homeowners prepare to age in place.
This course will take a closer look at the latest trends in residential design and provide a product solution for each that will help architects easily incorporate these features and functionalities into the beautiful family homes they are currently designing.
TREND: VERSATILE INDOOR/OUTDOOR LIVING
For a few years now, indoor/outdoor living has regularly appeared on the annual lists of trends in residential architecture. In January 2016, AIA Architect published an article titled “The Coming Decade of Residential Design,” written by Kermit Baker and Jennifer Riskus, in which they stated, “Lifestyles have become more informal, and homes are reflecting this. Formal living rooms and dining rooms are disappearing, replaced by great rooms, dens, and open-space layouts. With this movement to informality has been growth in outdoor living. While initially decks, patios, and outdoor grills were the focus, this trend has expanded to outdoor kitchens and even fully furnished outdoor rooms.”
Although the line between outdoor and indoor living space may be blurring, in most climates, architects are not simply leaving open spaces where exterior walls once stood, nor are the residential housing footprints dramatically expanding to include a dedicated indoor/outdoor area. Instead, designers are challenged to find more flexible solutions that increase the indoor/outdoor access that a project offers, while providing a weathertight, energy-efficient facade when those indoor/outdoor spaces are not in use. Large opening door systems, whether sliding or folding, enable the distinctly divided indoors and outdoors to make a beautiful and convenient transformation into coveted indoor/outdoor space and then return to a high-performance facade that protects the interior from the larger environmental elements.
Photo: Eric Rorer Photography
Large opening door systems combine multiple panels constructed from glass and framing materials that fold or slide (shown here) out of the way to connect indoor and outdoor spaces.
Solution: Folding & Sliding Large Opening Door Systems
Large opening door systems combine multiple panels constructed from glass and framing materials that either slide or fold out of the way to create large openings that connect indoor and outdoor spaces. When the indoor/outdoor space is no longer desired, the door system can be re-engaged to fill the opening with beautiful and energy-efficient framed glass panels.
These multi-panel systems create larger, more dramatic openings than a standard sliding or swinging glass door. Up to 10 door panels, each measuring up to 39 inches wide and 10 feet tall, can be combined into one movable folding glass wall that will open and close from one side, without the need for horizontal mullions that detract from the view. Using two 10-panel systems can create openings up to 65 feet wide. Sliding glass panels can be as large as 60 square feet of glass per panel, which allows them to be as tall as 12 feet or up to 8 feet wide. Six sliding panels can be combined in one direction. Oversized door panels can be specified to deliver even larger openings from fewer individual panels.
New system configurations are also broadening the available solutions in this category. For example, there are now zero post corner systems and door/window combinations. The zero post corner system connects two separate door or window systems to each other, eliminating the need for a fixed pillar and creating a truly open indoor/outdoor living space. Door/window combinations create flexible countertop solutions that allow homeowners to create large openings, even when they don’t have space for many large door panels.
While the size and configuration of the panels is important in achieving the right opening size for a project, it is the glass and framing materials that determine the overall thermal performance the system can provide. The U-factor of a large opening door panel describes the rate of heat loss across the glass and framing components. The lower the U-factor, the greater the panel’s resistance to heat flow and the better insulator it is. Depending upon the specified framing material and glazing, U-factors for large opening door panels can be achieved at or near the common fenestration target of 0.30 or better.
Here is a quick description of four panel-framing materials now available and how their design impacts their ability to insulate the interior from outdoor temperatures.
Wood Frame
Glass door frames with a solid wood core were some of the first types of large opening door systems available. Solid wood frames are beautiful and provide a natural thermal barrier, but wood is an organic material that can require additional maintenance in harsher climates.
Aluminum Frame
Today, aluminum frames, constructed with an aluminum core, are the most common type of frame for large opening door systems. While the aluminum withstands the elements better than wood and requires almost no maintenance, the material is inherently conductive, which means that hot and cold temperatures easily transfer across the frame and into the residence.
Thermally Controlled Aluminum Frame
In an effort to improve the thermal performance of the popular, low-maintenance aluminum material, a thermally controlled aluminum frame was designed with a nonconductive thermal strut. This strut provides a thermal break in the structure of the frame, which minimizes the transfer of heat and cold into the interior. It should be noted that one important innovation that has occurred recently with thermally controlled aluminum framing is that manufacturers have been able to engineer this better-performing design into the narrow profiles preferred by the design community. This more energy-efficient framing material can now be specified in a profile as thin a 215⁄16 inches, maximizing the surface area of the glass panel available to provide an unobstructed view of the outdoors.
Wood Core, Aluminum Cladding Frame
The most energy-efficient framing system for a large door opening combines a solid wood core with an extruded aluminum cladding. While the aluminum cladding offers the weather resistance and low maintenance that the basic aluminum frames provided, the solid wood core creates a natural thermal barrier that effectively protects the interior from extreme temperature drops or unwanted heat transfer. This solution can satisfy the more progressive energy codes, in the most extreme climates, with a standard glass option in the panel.
Glass Panels
Glass can be specified in a range of single, double, or triple glazing options. Most applications use double-pane insulating glass units with low-e coatings and inert gas fill for energy efficiency. Specialty glazing may also be available that could feature privacy or obscured glass, acoustic control, impact resistance, or art glass.
Design Tips: Match Panel Material with Project Climate
Regardless of whether the project is located in a coastal town, a cold and mountainous area, or a hot and dry region, there is a large opening door system that can create that outdoor-indoor space clients want while delivering the thermal performance they need. Here are few items to consider when matching the panel materials with the climatic conditions of a project.
Cold, Mountainous Region
The extreme temperatures found in this region require large opening door systems that can withstand large temperature drops and offer the highest degree of thermal performance. Frames constructed from solid wood core and outfitted with the extruded aluminum cladding create the most energy-efficient solution for these outdoor-indoor spaces.
Coastal Region
Projects in coastal areas that experience temperate weather or a more tropical environment, where heat and cold transfer is not a concern, can use aluminum-framed large opening door systems to create their indoor/outdoor areas. If the coastal conditions are more extreme, a less-conductive framing material should be selected. While wood is a good natural insulator, its organic nature can be problematic in coastal environments. Look at thermally controlled aluminum frames to deliver the necessary thermal performance and withstand the environment without extra maintenance.
Hot Region
Projects located in places with elevated heat or humidity will benefit from using aluminum frames that contain thermal control elements. Thermally controlled aluminum framing will prevent the excessive heat from traveling into the interior and limit condensation from forming on the surface, even in humid climates. Regions that experience a range of temperatures (high peaks, low drops) will benefit from the combination panels that pair aluminum cladding with a solid wood core. These frames create the most energy-efficient large opening door system.
TREND: MAXIMIZE DAYLIGHT, MANAGE GLARE AND SOLAR HEAT GAIN
Bringing daylight into the interior has many desirable benefits—so many, in fact, that for years designers have been tasked with increasing the amount of daylight that trespasses inside. More windows and larger windows have been added to the structure. Skylights and glass doors and moveable glass walls are all being used to bring the warmth and ever-changing light of the sun into the living space. All of this daylight inclusion has also caused another trend in residential design: the need to manage the glare and solar heat gain that can be caused when uncontrolled daylight is invited inside a house.
Solar radiation is a complex energy containing elements of both light and heat. The portion of the sun’s energy spectrum that people see as light—the visible spectrum—is very dynamic. The amount of light energy that reaches a window changes throughout the day based on the time of year, time of day, and daily weather. At its most intense, direct sunlight can reach an intensity of up to 10,000 foot-candles (fc). On an overcast day, the intensity of daylight can be as low as 100 fc. A larger portion of solar radiation is not visible light but rather infrared radiation. This radiation can be problematic in a house because when it is absorbed by an object, it transforms into radiant heat. Infrared radiation will pass through the glazing, into the interior, be absorbed by the carpet or the furnishings, and heat it up. This requires more HVAC energy to keep the interior cool.
Wherever a designer places glazing, he/she must consider how to manage the incredible light and heat energy that will be present at the pane. There are a number of shading devices that have been developed over the years to obstruct the passage of direct sunlight and solar radiation into a house; solar shades, blinds, and venetian blinds are some of the most common. Now a new type of fabric has been developed to provide an aesthetic alternative to designers looking to manage glare and solar heat gain.
Photo: Werner Straube Photography
Coiled wire fabric panels can be applied as an interior drapery or an exterior scrim to manage glare and solar heat gain at the opening.
Solution: Coiled Wire Fabric Shades
Coiled wire fabric is created by corkscrew weaving individual strands of spiraled wire together. The coiled wire fabric panels can be constructed from several base wire materials, including steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and stainless steel, in a number of different gauges, thicknesses, finishes, and weave types. The weave will determine the percentage of open area that exists in the fabric. Coiled wire fabric panels can be applied as an interior drapery or an exterior scrim.
One unique characteristic of a coiled wire fabric not possessed by solar fabric or blind solutions is fullness. Fullness refers to the billowing drapery effect that can be created when more material is used at an opening than what is required to cover the opening. It is typically expressed in the percentage of additional material that is added. For example, 15 percent fullness indicates that the fabric panel contains 15 percent more fabric than necessary. A panel with 15 percent fullness will have a subtle looseness or wave to it. When a fabric panel with 200 percent fullness is used, that’s twice the amount of fabric necessary to cover the opening, and so there is a pronounced ripple in the fabric. This concept of fullness and using more fabric than necessary allows coiled wire fabric to display interesting daylight management capabilities at a window or opening.
Images courtesy of Cascade Architectural
Coiled wire fabric can be specified in terms of fullness, which refers to the billowing drapery effect created when more material is used than is required to cover the opening. Shown here are examples of 100 percent fullness and 200 percent fullness, respectively.
Design Tip: Managing Glare with Coiled Wire Fabric
Glare is described as a condition when an overly bright light source, or reflection of a light source, enters a person’s field of vision. The general rule of thumb is that an object that is 10 times brighter than the ambient visual environment could cause glare conditions. Certainly, the orb of the sun has the ability to create that uncomfortable bright spot, as does a window that may allow overly bright daylight to blast into the home.
The goal of the daylight management solution, whether a solar fabric shade or a coiled wire fabric shade, is to reduce the intensity of the daylight that is allowed to pass through the opening and into the house. Instead of allowing the direct rays of the sun to pass straight through the window, the daylight management devices are designed to reflect, refract, and absorb some of the available daylight, allowing more diffuse daylight into the space.
The fullness factor of a coiled wire fabric adds another dimension to the way that this type of shade manages daylight, creating more angles at which the sun’s rays contact the material and more angles to diffuse the sunlight as it refracts off of the metal material, and these results have been quantified.
The engineering firm Interface Engineering performed an independent evaluation on coiled wire fabric to determine how well it helped to minimize glare. It simulated different fabrics in different scenarios and ultimately concluded that coiled wire fabric was able “to dramatically reduce the direct sun penetration into the room, even in the 0 percent fullness application. When the product is used in 50 percent fullness, this glare control is greatly increased, without a significant change to luminance levels further in the room. This can be attributed to the slight increase in visible light reflectance (VLR) between the 0 percent fullness and the 50 percent fullness.”
Design Tip: Improve Thermal Comfort with Coiled Wire Fabric
Coiled wire fabric can also help to improve the thermal comfort of a person in a room by effectively absorbing the solar radiation where it drapes or reflecting it back outside. Either way, it keeps a certain amount of infrared radiation that would become heat out of the interior space.
Interface Engineering also evaluated the use of coiled wire fabric to reduce solar heat gain from daylight. The firm attempted to quantify the impact that a coiled wire fabric can have on thermal comfort. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, these fabrics were found to “significantly improve thermal comfort when used as an exterior scrim in conjunction with standard performance double pane windows. When used in conjunction with high-performance, low-e windows, some improvement in thermal comfort is observed, but its effect is less pronounced.”
The study found that thermal comfort in buildings without high-performance glazing was significantly affected by the addition of the internal drapery or the external scrims. With this coiled wire fabric in place, occupants felt cooler and more comfortable in the summer, even during the heat of the day, and felt warmer and more comfortable in the winter. Ultimately, this study concluded that these coiled wire fabrics can help people in a room to feel more comfortable during the summer and winter, even if the temperature setpoints of the space are at energy-saving levels.
TREND: UNIVERSAL DESIGN
Incorporating aging-in-place and universal design elements into a home continues to be recognized as an important trend, and it is expected to remain a top consideration over the coming decade as the majority of the Baby Boomers eclipse 65. In fact, in a recent AIA Home Design Trends Survey, leading residential architectural firms identified the growing popularity of universal design as a key trend. The survey identified some of the most popular special features associated with universal design as a first-floor master bedroom, ramps/elevators, wider doorways/hallways, on-grade entry, and easy-to-use features (e.g., handles).
The growing importance of the easy-to-use quality in items found in a home affects the specification of many different objects. Door hardware is one in particular that must be reconsidered to address the increasing attention that is paid to universal design principles. In the past, the decision to specify the door hardware as a door lever or door knob was often entirely based on preference. However, there are important functional differences in the way that levers and knobs operate that do, in fact, make one better suited for residential spaces that are being designed to offer improved accessibility for aging homeowners.
Section 309.4: Operation states that operable parts shall be operable with one hand and shall not require tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist. Most lever-operated mechanisms, push-type mechanisms, and U-shaped handles are acceptable designs. The force required to activate operable parts shall be 5 pounds (22.2 N) maximum.
Advisory 404.2.7: Door and Gate Hardware states that door hardware that can be operated with a closed fist or loose grip accommodates that greatest range of users. Hardware that requires simultaneous hand and finger movements require greater dexterity and coordination and is not recommended.
Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Hardware
Selecting levers instead of door knobs is one way to incorporate universal design elements into a home.
Solution: Door Levers with Spring-Assist Design
Specifying door levers instead of door knobs throughout a home can make it easier for older and younger occupants alike to move around the house. Door levers are available in a wide range of colors, textures, and finishes that will complement any decor.
Functionally speaking, there is one often-cited negative of choosing a lever handle over a knob. Lever handles operate a latch that is designed with an internal spring assembly that causes the lever handle to bounce back into its horizontal position after it has been used and remain in that position until it is used again. The typical spring assembly is constructed from a stiff metal wire that is wrapped around an interior structure in the handle. The wire extends at both ends to create two spring arms that will catch on an extruding piece of metal and stop the handle in its optimal, horizontal position. Over time, as the spring assembly ages, stretches, or breaks, the lever handle could droop, which is not visually appealing, and eventually the spring will be in such bad shape that the lever handle won’t operate. While the droopy lever handle is common, it is not necessary. There are now lever handles available that have been engineered so that the spring will never stretch or break, meaning the lever handle will never droop.
This innovative design is called a spring-assist design, and it creates a stronger spring mechanism with three important improvements. First, the spring coil is made from stainless steel and coated with Teflon to create a stronger, more durable spring. Second, two stops regulate the amount of stretch that the spring can experience and only allow the spring to stretch as much as possible to open the latch. This safeguard is not found in typical lever handles, making it possible, even easy, to overstretch the spring when opening the door. Third, a spring-assist post is cast into the backplate of the handle that easily holds the lever in place in its optimal horizontal position.
This combination of a stronger spring material supported by a spring-assist post that will bear the brunt of the tension when holding the door lever horizontal and the limited stretch allowed in the spring result in a lever product that manufacturers will guarantee to be droop-free and perfectly functioning for the life of the door handle.
TREND: INTERIOR COLORS ARE WARMING UP AND GOING NATURAL
Interior colors are warming up and putting an emphasis on natural materials and finishes. The paint colors of the year have been revealed. Benjamin Moore introduced Metropolitan, a gray-beige or “greige” meant to bring a calmer and more meditative mindset into the home. Rich blues and soft terracottas were also launched with the Color of the Year distinction, and Pantone’s 2019 Color of the Year was Living Coral. All of these give a nod to the natural environment. “While nature is a common inspiration for home décor, in 2019, we will see a shift from oversized botanicals to the woodland, with mushroom grays and fern-inspired colors,” says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin Williams.
Solution: Bronze Hardware
Complement the warmer, natural feeling moving through interiors with warm-toned bronze hardware on doors and cabinets. This subtle and classic material offers a softer alternative to the harsh matte blacks and gleaming chrome, brass, and gold finishes so often used throughout a home.
Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Hardware
Complement the warmer, natural feeling now incorporated throughout home interiors with warm-toned bronze hardware.
Bronze is an alloy created by heating several different metals together. Oftentimes it is primarily copper, but the specific makeup of any bronze product will vary depending upon the quality and color being produced. The highest-quality bronze, referred to as art-grade bronze, is a blend of copper and zinc, with other elements present in small quantities. There are two types of art-grade bronze typically used in a quality door hardware application: silicon bronze and white bronze. Silicon bronze is produced in the rich coppery-gold color that is most readily associated with bronze. White bronze contains less copper and more zinc as well as manganese, nickel, and aluminum, and it produces a strong bronze material in cooler silver tones.
Art-grade bronze has many performance attributes that make it a great fit for use as hardware that is regularly handled both inside and outside the home. It’s nonferrous, so it won’t rust the way that iron and steel do. It oxidizes superficially, which creates a beautiful aged patina on the surface of the hardware, but it resists metal fatigue and corrosion, even in coastal environments where it is exposed to saltwater spray. Bronze hardware also requires very little maintenance. The hardware does not have a coating; it is a solid bronze object, so it won’t chip, flake, or need to be retouched. It can be cleaned easily with a mild soap, water, and a nonabrasive cloth. No harsh chemical cleaners are needed.
The color and material of art-grade bronze certainly complements the latest trends in interior design, and there are a number of new profiles and finishes now available in this hardware, making it possible to make a dramatic impression at the door. Slimmer-profile door sets that are a half-inch thinner have been developed to support minimalist design principles. “That half-inch reduction actually makes a big difference, yielding a profile that not only is thinner but also provides a cleaner, sharper finished look when installed,” explains Christian Nickum, president of Rocky Mountain Hardware. “Many of our architect and interior designer clients voiced an interest in having a smaller dimension. We greatly value their input and took this suggestion to heart.” The slimmer escutcheon measures 2 inches wide instead of the standard 21⁄2-inch width.
Another new option now being offered in art-grade bronze hardware is a textured finish on the face of the hardware. These textured finishes create a richer aesthetic at the handle that is both seen and felt.
TREND: OPEN-SPACE DESIGN
The dedicated and separate kitchen, living, and dining rooms are being replaced by residential layouts that feature large multipurpose spaces. This change is making the coordination of hardware more important throughout the home, as the cabinets, doors, and lighting fixtures that used to be broken across multiple individual spaces are now being combined into one very important space. Creating a harmonious and comprehensive aesthetic throughout this larger area can be supported by working with a manufacturer that can offer a breadth of coordinated hardware products.
Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Hardware
Hardware collections can meet the very nuanced hardware needs of a home and offer a cohesive aesthetic across the doors and cabinets.
Solution: Choose a Hardware Collection
Finding a hardware collection that can meet the very nuanced needs of a home and offer a cohesive aesthetic throughout the large, open multipurpose space and the very specialized spaces, such as bathrooms, can be challenging—but they do exist. For example, there are collections of art-grade bronze hardware that include a wide variety of high-quality, coordinated hardware. These collections can include dramatic door sets for a front door, door knockers, doorbell buttons, cabinet pulls, appliance pulls, cabinet knobs, sliding door sets, patio door sets, robe hooks, towel bars, and toilet paper holders. The depth and breadth of these hardware collections makes it much easier for designers to create the large, open spaces now demanded without sacrificing the level of coordinated decor they were able to provide when the home floorplan was more compartmentalized.
TREND: CONSISTENT SIGHTLINES AND DAYLIGHT OPENINGS
Another area where a change in the way the home is being used is making it increasingly important—and difficult—to create a consistent aesthetic is the fenestration. As architects move beyond increasing the number and size of the windows in a house to now creating indoor/outdoor functionality with large opening door systems, the facade can now consist of a variety of door types: multi-door sliding or folding systems, single sliding glass doors, and swinging doors. These doors are also spread across different types of areas of the house. They can open the central kitchen area directly into the patio or frame a beautiful multi-seasoned space. Special care must be taken to find product solutions that can deliver the various indoor/outdoor access points demanded by the project while maintaining a consistent and cohesive appearance across the facade.
Photo: Robert Benson Photography
Specify large opening door systems with a consistently sized stile and rail to create symmetry and balance across the daylight openings in the facade.
Solution: Large Opening Systems with Consistently Sized Stiles and Rails
When looking at the various components that make up a large opening door panel, the horizontal framing components that run along the top and bottom of the glass panel are referred to as the rail. The vertical pieces that run along the sides of the glass panel are referred to as the stile. Once the stile and rails have been attached to the glass panel, the amount of the frame that is visible is referred to as the sightline. The unobstructed glass surface is referred to as the daylight opening. Manufacturers that use the same size stile and rail profile across all sliding, folding, or swinging product lines can deliver consistent sightlines and daylight openings across the exterior.
TREND: INCORPORATE HEALTHY MATERIALS
In January 2019, Forbes published the article “Three Hot Wellness Architecture Trends for 2019.” In the article, architect Veronica Schreibeis Smith, founder and CEO of Vera Iconica Architecture in Jackson, Wyoming, identified materials awareness as one of the top three trends she sees. “Consumers are beginning to monitor their food and personal care products for chemicals and toxins. This level of awareness is growing to include indoor air quality and conscientious selection of healthy materials. Although sustainable materials remain a priority for professionals, there is a shift in focus to include healthy materials that harm neither the planet or humans within the building. This shift in the professionals’ focus aligns with shifting awareness of the consumer for toxin-free food, products, and environment,” she explained.
Solution: Review a Product’s Declare Label
In the industry, there are a number of green building programs that have been designed to increase the awareness of and specification of products that contribute toward healthy interiors. Touted as the most rigorous, the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) has created the Living Building Challenge, which includes Declare, a product database aimed at improving the transparency that architects and designers can have into the ingredients of the various products they are considering.
Image courtesy of Cascade Architectural
The Declare label provides details about a product’s ingredients, production, and life expectancy and showcases its declaration status as either LBC Red List Free, LBC Compliant, or Declared.
Participating products can attain a Declare label that shares details about not only the ingredients found within the product, but also information on other aspects of its production and life cycle that can be helpful when attempting to meet certain materials-based criteria in any number of green building programs. The Declare label highlights where a product is assembled, the life expectancy of the product, and its end-of-life options. Here, the manufacturer would list applicable take-back programs, including whether all or a piece of the product is salvageable or reusable, recyclable, will end up in a landfill, or will be disposed of as hazardous waste.
In terms of ingredients-reporting requirements, the Declare label requires that product contents be disclosed by chemical name and CAS number to at least 100 ppm (0.01 percent) with few exceptions allowed. Ingredients without restriction appear in grey. Chemicals found on the Red List appear in dark orange, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Contaminants of Concern (COCs) and Registration Evaluation Authorisation Restrictions Chemicals (REACH) are distinguished in light orange. The extraction locations of raw materials are identified in parenthesis next to the ingredient.
At the bottom on the physical Declare label, the product is awarded one of three types of declaration status: LBC Red List Free, LBC Compliant, or Declared. Declared products are 100 percent disclosed to 100 ppm but contain one or more Red List chemicals that are not covered by an existing exception. Products deemed LBC Compliant meet the written requirements of the Living Building Challenge but rely on one or more exceptions to demonstrate compliance. The Red List Free distinction means that the product ingredients have been 100 percent disclosed to 100 ppm and do not contain any Red List chemicals.
he volatile organic compound (VOC) content is also showcased, as is whether the product has earned California Department of Public Health compliance. All building products that have the potential to emit VOCs and are intended for installation within the building envelope must supply a laboratory certificate of compliance with CDPH v1.1-2-10 Standard Method or other conformant product certifications in order to earn a declaration status of Red List Free or LBC Compliant.
The way that designers use the Declare label is still evolving. It is a critical component for designers working to meet the requirements of the Living Building Challenge. The Declare label can also be used to meet LEED v4 Materials & Resources (MR) credit requirements, and the Declare label is recognized by the U.S. EPA in its Recommendations of Specifications, Standards, and Ecolabels for federal purchasers.
CONCLUSION
The 2019 trends build upon many of the trends that have been emerging over the past decade. Homeowners want healthier spaces to raise their families and grow old, people now know more about what healthy indoor spaces actually look like and how they perform, and designers have more tools in the industry to create them. Tools like Declare labels give designers the necessary transparency into the ingredients used within a product so that they can specify materials that promote the indoor air quality and healthy environments being demanded.
Homes today are being asked to perform double duty by providing greater degrees of access to daylight and outdoor living spaces, without compromising the comfort or the energy efficiency of the interior space. Luckily, products have been developed that can successfully manage glare and solar heat gain at the window while still enabling soft, diffuse daylight to penetrate deeper into the space, and large opening door systems can offer that indoor/outdoor flexibility while still providing weathertight and energy-efficient building envelopes for any climate.
The interior layout is also changing from many smaller spaces each designed with a unique purpose to a larger, multifunctional space that accommodates many family members and friends for a multitude of reasons. New challenges exist in making these larger spaces feel cohesive with the rest of the house, but families of hardware products have been developed that can provide this high-quality and coordinated aesthetic.
Ultimately, whichever 2019 trend a designer is being tasked to incorporate into a family home, there are a number of product solutions now available to make a homeowner’s dream home a reality.
Jeanette Fitzgerald Pitts has written nearly 100 continuing education courses exploring the benefits of incorporating new building products, systems, and processes into project design and development.
