Outdoor Spaces

Journal

Now have a few months of Summer behind us, we’re highlighting the outdoor spaces so integral to many of our projects. Winter can feel really long (though there is plenty to do!) up here and linger longer than it we’d like. Maybe that’s part of the reason we relish our other seasons where we can enjoy the outdoors sitting in a chair, relaxing. Spring really starts with daffodils and forsythia bursting yellow onto the scene, followed through the summer with all the colors and ending too soon again with yellow, red and orange as our fall foliage gives the final show of color. All this color with soundtrack of birds, crickets, and breeze rustling the leaves in the background. There is something for everyone, but you can’t have this multi-sensory experience on the couch in your living room with an artificial temperature. You have to be out there to be a part of it.

We’ll highlight two of the most ubiquitous of outdoor spaces—the covered porch and the patio.

The covered porch is often an extension of the roof itself, as if the house is stretching out into the land towards the sun or view. These can also be practical in Winter, keeping the snow away from the door. But when does this practical architectural feature for keeping the elements out actually become an outdoor room? It should be scaled approximately like an interior room with space for sofas, chairs and a table. Whether for dining, relaxing or both, it should fit furniture comfortably, and not clutter your path directly outside. From this perch of porch, we can keep the sun out and let the aromas of place blow through on the salty breeze or pungent pines. If we’re lucky, this porch might even have a fireplace to extend its use into the Fall.

Another, more common outdoor space is the patio or terrace. At its simplest, it’s a few chairs on slabs of bluestone. This is easy to achieve in both urban and suburban spaces. As architects we like to think the walls of our houses can shape exterior rooms too—what better place to enjoy all those exterior details we care so much about. In the city, these spaces are often enclosed on all sides, forming a courtyard. With a little more space out of the city, it might just be two or three sides of a single house giving shape. Pergolas are often used to help define these spaces and control that summer sun. These outdoor spaces are often conceived along with the interior spaces. And thanks to all our window and door manufacturers for making such large expanses of glass that let us connect our indoors to the outdoor rooms, so even in the coldest days of winter, we can look forward to the next season of outdoor living.