Listen in as Karly Kristina Design and Marcraft Homes share the design and cliff-dropping geo-technical building challenges as their clients with waterfront property including ultra-modern home plans look to build their classic Hamptons dream home, without going back to the architect!
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Co-Host, podcast editor: Jennifer-Lee Gunson: jPod Creations
Co-Host, Mike Freedman, AI Technology & Design
Production: Rami Films
Distributed by Black Press Media: Today in BC.
About the Speaker
KARLY McLEOD:
Karly Kristina Design is an award-winning Interior Design Studio based in Vancouver. With unparalleled customer service, Karly Kristina Design offers comprehensive and customizable Interior Design Services. It is not only our passion to design functional and beautiful spaces but to evolve our client’s vision, helping them build it into a reality they never knew was possible.
Every project is customized to our client’s individuality and overall design requirements. Whether you are planning for a custom new build, or a home renovation, we make every space innovative and beautiful, giving your home an identity that is as unique as you. With a high level of detail, Karly Kristina Design has the ability to achieve each client’s vision within the practical constraints of the space, timeline and budget.
Our clients become our inspiration as we translate their personal style through our designs and selections of fixtures, finishes and furnishings. We endeavor to enhance the quality of life for our clients through how they live and function in their home. Karly Kristina Design strives to ensure our clients fully enjoy the design and construction process, making it an exciting experience from beginning to end.
MATT JAUCK:
Matt Jauck completed a Bachelors Degree in Architectural & Building Technology as well as a two year apprenticeship working with one of Vancouver’s leading multifamily builders. Matt’s highly organizational mindset makes him a skilled and competent project manager. Matt takes pride in keeping tight build schedules, organizing the trades and suppliers, ensuring the site cleanliness and safety is as the highest standards. Matt has also taken on a substantially larger role in Marcraft’s legacy to ensure that the vision that has made Marcraft successful, continues to be the driving force for the next decade.
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Check out the photos of the award-winning home!
Here's the Full Transcript of this Episode
EPISODE #49
[00:00:00] Mike: Hey Jennifer Lee, how the heck are ya?
[00:00:05] Jennifer-Lee: I’m great, Mike. How are you?
[00:00:06] Mike: I’m fantastic. And you know why I’m fantastic? Because we’re back, episode three, season six of Havan’s Measure Twice, Cut Once. Boy, time flies when you’re having fun.
[00:00:16] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, and I’m really excited this season because we’re exploring HAVAN’s award winners. I’m really excited to get to know the guts and the inner workings of the projects and the people behind them.
[00:00:26] Mike: Oh, absolutely. We tend to see the finished results and the awards and the lights and all that other stuff. We don’t see a lot about the process that goes into it. This week, we have a really exciting conversation and a slightly different vein, but some great people. And I’m really excited about today’s conversation.
[00:00:41] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, let’s welcome them. I already know Matt really well, but we have Matt Yock and we also have Karly McLeod from Karly Christina Designs. And Matt, you have a family business, which I always am interested in because that’s what I’m from and you have Marcraft Homes.
[00:00:58] Matt: Yes. Thank you.
Karly: Yeah. Thank you very much.
[00:01:00] Jennifer-Lee: I was like, hold on. I was like, did I screw it up? You looked at me like but yes, which we could get into, I know your sister well, who is a realtor and I know your whole family business, just like mine. So, let’s get all the listeners up to date and let’s learn a little bit more about Matt. How did you get into construction? Because I’m going to assume it’s the same thing as how my brother and I got in no choice.
[00:01:23] Matt: Yeah. Basically, right? I started as a really young guy sitting at the coffee table with my dad, and there was always a set of plans out on the kitchen table. So, I’d spend a lot of time looking and visualizing the floor plans and everything. Back then, my dad had a company called Cali Homes, and he actually built full on subdivisions. So, he would do on a Saturday, and he had a whole cul de sac of houses. And then got into some like street of dream houses and stuff like that. So, I got like really interested in all the cool things that you could do with homes. And it just became something that I was really interested in. And then it got into, cleaning job sites, as a kid on the weekend, we’ve all done that. Then it got into a little, the hardest stuff, like the concrete work and some framing work. And then I realized if I stuck in the concrete for life, I feel like the body was going to break down pretty fast. So, I decided to go to a BCIT architecture and building engineering technology. Got my diploma in that. And then as soon as I was out, actually started building some houses and I’m with me. with my father,
[00:02:28] Jennifer-Lee: which I’ve been through some of them. They’re gorgeous. Yeah. And to mention, you are also a realtor, which is a rare combo.
[00:02:36] Matt: Yeah. The real estate, I figured I’d pick that up along the way, what was happening for me actually was I’d spent two and a half years to build a home. And some of these homes would sell in like a day or two. So, I felt like there was an opportunity there that I felt like I’d like to, get ahold of as well. But yeah.
[00:02:52] Mike: And imagine you’d have some very unique insight as well, because one of the things we talk about is if you’re looking at a home, take your builder with your real estate agent, and now we can take you and have one efficient conversation.
[00:03:02] Matt: Yeah. The conversations flow. You can go in there and you talk about renovating a home. And then you talk about how much it costs of renovating a home. You talk about new construction and what that looks like. And then maybe at the end of the conversation, they might say, why don’t we list this and then go and buy a lot and start from fresh? Or, so there’s three different avenues you can go into. So, with myself and my team, we could pick up all those aspects.
[00:03:27] Jennifer-Lee: And Karly, let’s get it over to you now. How did you get. into interior design because I was always asked that question because I come from a building family, but I, you not trust me with paint colors. So I’m sure that you have a better reason of why you got in.
[00:03:42] Karly: I’m similar to Matt. I feel like I was exposed to just some family renovations with their houses. And I thought it was just so fascinating to see what this slate was to begin with and then what it could be transformed into. So, I think that captivated me right away. And yeah, I always found myself just watching so many interior design shows and being so intrigued in the process. And growing up, I would always be changing my bedroom around. Like I probably changed it around, I don’t know, at least five times where I full on would paint and redecorate. And I would even find myself saving money as a young girl and wanting to put that money towards a new bed. And when most kids would just be buying toys with that or something. My mom would always say that I had the nicest room in the house because I really put a lot of time towards that. And then when it came time for me trying to figure out what to do for a living, It was pretty easy for me to make that decision and the rest is history.
[00:04:45] Jennifer-Lee: I’m so jealous that you were allowed to paint your room.
[00:04:47] Karly: I know it was actually cool because I don’t think I would let my kids do that, but my mom just gave me free range and I basically was able to express my interests and who I really was through my space, which is ultimately what interior design is all about.
[00:05:02] Mike: Yeah. And how many years have you been doing this?
[00:05:04] Karly: Oh my gosh. I’ve been when I was in, I went to BCIT in 2007 and I was always involved in having some sort of job that related to the industry. So since then, and then. I’ve been, I started my own company. This is my 10th year in business. Wow.
[00:05:24] Mike: Congratulations. And your first time winning an award, which is a really big deal. Some people go their whole careers without being able to win one of those.
[00:05:33] Karly: It’s been a really exciting milestone and year for me because I’ve actually – my husband’s career was, has always been the focus because he was a professional hockey player. And I somehow managed to have my own business at the same time and establish myself during his career. But when he finally retired, I was just like, okay, this is my time to shine and I’m going all in and I’m not going to let anything hold me back and just see where it takes me.
[00:06:01] Jennifer-Lee: And I just want to congratulate you right now on your award, which is Best Interior Design, Custom Residence. So, congrats to you. And Matt I feel like I should be cheering you with something, but there we go. The water. There you go.
[00:06:14] Karly: Yeah. It’s really exciting.
[00:06:15] Mike: And it just underscores that it takes a team to win these awards and no one of us can win by ourselves. We need a great group of people around that. And that’s what a lot of this conversation is about. I do have one question for you, Karly, and I’m always intrigued when I meet with designers is how the heck do you look at a room? That’s an empty room and decide, like, how do you, where do you draw your inspiration from? That’s always the question is, how do you figure this stuff out? What do you? What do you do to go, okay, we’ll be this or it’ll be that?
[00:06:41] Karly: Yeah it’s funny because at the end of the job, it was a really cool experience because the homeowners had us a part of them seeing the house for the first time. And after 10 years, it was the first time that has ever been the case for me, where we really celebrated this exciting chapter for them. And we had a bottle of champagne for every level. And at the end, Matt, you were saying like, how did you. It’s just so fascinating that you put this all together. And it started just on paper and then this is what it created. And ultimately it really does start though first with who is the client and what is your interests and who are you authentically as a person. Because I think a lot of the times people get so caught up in trends and following what’s in. But, in reality, your home really should be a self-reflection of who you are. And my, it’s my job to pull all of that out in the most authentic way to represent you as an individual, not to follow what’s popular. And I think that’s ultimately what creates a timeless space. But it’s all about trying to get to know the person on a much deeper level. I always like to call myself it’s, I’m like your personal interior design psychologist because I get to know you on a much deeper level. I tend to find out about my clients being pregnant even before maybe their parents are knowing that they’re pregnant because we need to know about all these things to make the house suit them perfectly for their life now and in the future. So, once we establish just all of the insights on their interests, their style, what their functional needs are from an everyday and versus entertaining perspective, we then just do a ton of research and just try to pull all the bits and pieces together and establish a really strong concept. And the concept ultimately will take us through the floor plans and all of our ideas, both the client’s and maybe further developed ideas that we are bringing to the table as well. And I always like to call it like a personal interior design questionnaire because it gives me the ability to present ideas before we actually design and source. Say that, for instance, a living room is a great example where you might have this huge wall and the ability to do so many different things with it. It gives us a chance to be like, okay do you want like the built ins or do you just want the fireplace to be the main focal? And I’ll give like a selection of options in certain areas that I see the ability to do different things with and then you can have the chance to be like, Oh, I love that. I don’t like that. And then it ultimately establishes this direction that we then just take off with and the source and design. And it’s always the coolest thing going back to the concept once the job is completed because it really does become this this Bible that we follow along with along the way and it gets everyone on the same page And I think it always generates a lot of success with the designs because it’s very rare. We have many changes once the designs are presented because we’ve all been in agreeance from day one of the direction we’re going to take.
[00:09:55] Jennifer-Lee: I just love your philosophy because it really is like you’re an interior design anthropologist almost because you really got to dig deep on how people live their lives. And I remember some interior designers have come in here and they said, you ask these questions that people are really embarrassed about, but they’re like, I need to know how your bathroom is set up or how you do your daily routine.
[00:10:12] Karly: Yeah. And even just being able, it’s, I always find it interesting because no one lives. Like whenever people invite us in their home for the first time, it’s often a mess. It’s not totally organized and that’s normal, but it’s also really valuable for us to see that from the beginning because then it gives us a chance to see ways that maybe we can help them in a way that works for them to hopefully set them up for success on gaining more organization in their house. But not in a forced way because you can’t just create a way to organize a space and it’s not going to come natural to how you use and live in your house because you’re going to live in your house a lot different than maybe I would live in the same house. And it’s important to understand that from the beginning.
[00:10:59] Mike: Yeah. I’m curious. We talk a lot about teamwork. So, when you create a concept for a space, whether you’re designing how it looks or the mood or the feel, how important is the communication process you have with Matt and other builders in order to execute that? Because I feel like it can go sideways really quick if you are not both aligned. You don’t have the right team people there, right?
[00:11:22] Karly: Yeah. I always tell my two little girls it’s so true though. I always say that dream work is teamwork and you have to have a really strong team in order to execute a successful project. And there’s been times where, and I always use this reference to clients. I can design the exact same home and issue the exact same spec binder and hand it off to two different builders and the outcome can be so different because it all comes down to how you work together as a team and also the trades and suppliers that maybe they end up using. And I think that’s what made our job so successful, as Matt did an unbelievable job on following our designs to a T. And if there was a change, the communication is so key, because I see this a lot with builders and clients even. Out of nowhere, there’ll be a change, but then it’s not brought to the designer’s attention, and that’s what we’re here for. If there’s something that comes up I don’t have to necessarily charge extra for that review. I would rather us just review to ensure that like that change is the best change it could be. And if I see any concerns, it gives us a chance to work it out and just ensure it’s done seamlessly. And I feel like one little change can make or break a project. So it’s so important to have a good team that’s on the same page with good communication.
[00:12:45] Matt: Yeah. I feel I feel like you did. You were quite happy with the way I executed drawings, because they were there for a reason. And they’re so detailed, like perfectly detailed and I’m a perfectionist. And so is Karly. So, I’d probably ask her, to confirm the paint colors five different times, and brought the swatches. And if there was even a change in material, I’d get the sample. I’d restain it. I’d show her three different samples. We’d work together on every single detail at home to make it perfect the way that, perfect.
[00:13:14] Karly: And that’s why I think it turned out so amazing because those details weren’t just quickly decided on or ignored to include everyone.
[00:13:22] Matt: Yeah. You don’t want to come on site and there’s a, change in countertop or something. Cause those are huge. And it’s too late once it’s in. Yeah.
[00:13:29] Jennifer-Lee: And that’s why you need communication. And I can tell it feels like you guys have been working together for a long time, but I did find out this is your first project. So how did you guys figure out that you were the two to get together and move forward?
[00:13:42] Matt: Karly came, I think, yeah, the clients said, can you please interview with Karly? And then Karly came into our office in Port Moody and it was Karly and myself. We sat down, we got to know each other, we chatted a bit, and then we opened up the set of plans and we both started agreeing with the upper floor layout was really there’s something not working. Yeah with the upper floor and that was primarily the kitchen being too small for this high end multimillion dollar home. So, I said, Karly, where would you put it? And she’s I’d put it like here. And then I started seeing her vision and the vault and the view and how it was going to lay out. I was like, that’s really cool. I was like, that needs to be done and you need to be hired so that we can do this together. And yeah, pretty much reworked the whole upper floor plan in the first meeting, maybe even the middle floor.
[00:14:33] Karly: So, when my clients were telling me about the builder they wanted to work with after that meeting, you guys invited me to your Uplands house. And I was really excited to work with Marcraft because at the time they were they had this house up on the market that they had built. And it was a build to sell project. And yeah, I was blown away by the quality of craftsmanship that they were able to execute. It was a phenomenal project. So beautiful. And I think that being able to connect yourself with people in the industry that have similar values is really important and valuable to have. So, I was really excited to start a lasting relationship together. And hopefully I was hoping that this house would. be able to connect us on more and more projects to come.
[00:15:20] Karly: So yeah. I think we’re both excited to work more together because it was a great project.
[00:15:26] Mike: I’ll tell you what I’m excited to do. I want to start talking about the Inlet House, but before we do that, we do have to take a short break to thank our amazing sponsors.
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[00:16:57] Mike: All right, we are back and now it’s time to start talking about the Inlet House, aka the winner of the Best Interior Design Custom Residence. Congratulations to both of you.
[00:17:09] Jennifer-Lee: I feel like we need an air horn when you say that.
[00:17:11] Mike: I asked, they’re not letting us bring one. Maybe start with Matt.
[00:17:14] Mike: Matt, can you give us a little bit of background on the project and how you got involved in the first place?
Matt: Yeah, once we got chosen as a builder I think they had a really good connection. The clients had a really good connection with my father just from him being in the industry for such a long time. It really goes a long ways. There’s an instant trust and an instant sort of a feeling that, this man can do it and he is done it before. Especially in actually that home in Anmor too that we were able to walk them through, which was gorgeous. I’ve been through. Yeah. We actually walked them through that to show them what kind of quality of home we can build. Yeah, then we get this set of plans that came with the lot. So, the lot was purchased and a set of plans were already drawn up for the home. For that lot, sorry. So looking at the plans that was basically at that time met Karly and we started getting into it, but where the challenge really came into play was the geotechnical stability of the actual land itself. Because we’re building on the ocean, it was like building on a sandbox essentially. And if you keep digging, you’re not going to find any bearing. You’re just going to find sand and sand and water. And water is coming literally as we were excavating coming out of the mountainside. So huge issue with trying to like, stabilize the bank, shoring, shotcrete, piles, huge pad footings. Tons of rebar, never put so much rebar in, in a build ever. And honestly, yeah a 40 foot. basically digging down a 40 foot grade from the street level to the ocean. And when the excavator is digging and water is coming out, you’re really worried about that entire bank or mountain coming in at you. So it’s a very dangerous situation. And also, very unexpected geotechnical conditions that we had to like, really challenging feat to take over.
[00:18:59] Mike: So is that common for waterfront properties or is that, is that a one off or a unique situation?
[00:19:03] Matt: It’s honestly a bit of a luck of the draw because with geotechnical lands, it could be an old river creek. It could be a dried-up riverbed. It could be waters coming off the mountain in different areas has a path. One situation the neighboring property could be totally different. So, in that situation, you don’t know. In other areas such as West Vancouver and stuff like that, you could, it looks like nice soil. You dig down three, four feet, you hit rock. Now you’re blasting and blasting could be like $10,000 a day, if not more for machinery. So that adds up really quick. And just having piling is going to add up. Huge. So really knowing what’s below the surface as maybe even a condition, not even maybe, but as a condition of a purchase of some land is really good advice to make sure, what you’re going to be building on.
[00:19:55] Jennifer-Lee: Matt, you’re a realtor. So, this is your wheelhouse as well. Do you have a lot of people when you’re on the realtor side, asking you those questions or wanting to do their due diligence before they purchase and then possibly build?
[00:20:06] Matt: No, unfortunately not because they’ve already either bought the land and then they’re like going, I want to build this home and, but they don’t know what they’re currently building on most of the time. They don’t even know what the city will allow them to build. So, I do feel that there needs to be a lot more education with what the municipality is going to allow them to build everyone and more knowledge on what they could do with their actual physical land. Setbacks. A lot of things Trees. You can’t just cut trees down. They mostly have to stay. That could be a problem.
[00:20:38] Mike: How do you estimate something like that? Because what you said, it sounds like you have to do a whole bunch of stuff and you’re mitigating it as you go along. How do you manage that for expect, both for expectations of budget and just managing the budget in general? Because ultimately, as the builder, you’re the one who manages and is responsible for that budget, right?
[00:20:55] Matt: Yeah, it’s a real challenge because what you’re trying to do is gather as much information when you want to present a budget to clients and so like I was saying, the geotechnical stuff, you have to get into the structural design. Everyone wants an open concept plan nowadays, and that involves a ton of steel and wood and windows, all that stuff the days of framing a home is no longer, now you’re mostly having a steel structure with some elements of wood, right? So that adds a totally different trade to the whole scope of the project, right? In the bigger picture, just trying to get all the information in the right amount of time because in real estate you can only have subjects for so long as well to do your due diligence. So, there’s a short time window and you can’t get all your answers. And so, there’s a real challenge there, right?
[00:21:46] Karly: It’s almost a bit of a gamble when you… It definitely can be a gamble, right?
[00:21:50] Matt: And then as you go, you’re finding more and more information out. And when I was talking about setbacks, there could be municipalities, there could be an old creek that may be, registered on the land and you can’t build near that. Tons and tons of things that you need to learn and every municipality has their own challenges.
[00:22:10] Jennifer-Lee: Or like you said, trees too are a big one as well. A lot of people think like they’ll see a property and they’re like, Oh, I can knock those trees and make my place bigger. And it’s no, you can’t exactly. You’ve got to put it around it. So, it’s just nice to have someone like you that kind of has both knowledge because like I said, that’s very rare. You usually have the building expert and then the real estate expert and for some reason they don’t do too much collab with each other and I feel like they could really benefit each other.
[00:22:34] Matt: Even the services of a city, water, storm, sewer. Most likely if you’re going to be knocking down a home, you’re going to be upgrading the services to that property. That’s a lot of money. That could be like $30,000 – $40,000, if not more dollars to the city on top of your demo budget and your asbestos removal budget, just to even get the home to a point where you have bare land to build on.
[00:22:57] Jennifer-Lee: And depending on what municipality and you can’t demo anymore, you got to destruct.
[00:23:01] Matt: Yes. Yeah. And recycle. Yes. Yeah. And that can be more expensive as well. More labor, more time. Yeah. Recycle properly.
[00:23:09] Mike: The good news is as the cost of building goes up, the quality of building science is also increasing and the energy efficiency is also increasing. So, it’s not like we’re not getting anything for it. We’re getting a great return on our investment, but we’re still having to deal with this. It’s more complicated. Quick question. This house was purchased with plans. And then you redesign those plans. Can we ask why that might be?
[00:23:34] Karly: Yeah because the property was purchased with architectural plans they basically had to work with what they had. And they wanted to work with what they had. But the thing that was really interesting was the home was reflecting an ultra-modern design. Very modern. And when I first met with them, they had requested for it to be nothing like a modern design. They wanted it to be a lot more timeless, with more of a Hamptons feel. And my first question was, okay, are we going to get the architect to redo these? And they’re like, nope, we gotta work with it. So that was one of the biggest challenges I had on the project, was right from the beginning, trying to somehow add the character to this modern structure. So, in some ways it almost was like we were doing a renovation on a new build because we really had to think outside the box with this existing slate. So, a lot of the ways we were able to successfully achieve that is simply through evaluating. Especially the exterior. This was probably the first time I’ve spent this much time on the exterior design, because for the most part for exterior design, we will help with the finishing and whatnot, but I really got involved with the architectural details to another level. We really paid attention to elements that we could add to just give that extra character to this existing slate. So one of the things that we did was we proposed beams because at first it’s the roof line was almost like this v shape so going out on each end the roof line went up and then it came down in the middle but before there was nothing it was just soffits so we added beams just to give it a little bit more character and depth and we really were selective on our finishes to tone down that modernism. So, we added shakes to the exterior siding. We, it was actually a lot of fun doing the conceptual design because we ended up doing a lot of research on the water. Like we took a boat out a ton and we’re looking at all these different properties on the waterline just to see what everyone’s doing and what could we do different to stand out. But also like the majority of the newer homes were all just clean glass and everything is modern, but we didn’t want that. So, what we did instead was, we did add a railing and post system, but with a glass insert. And. It was just to help, of course, let the light through and not block the view. But of course, add a little bit of that extra detail and lighting was a huge detail that really helped add to the character of the home. It’s probably one of my favorite lighting packages we’ve done. And I think that’s almost one of the biggest showstoppers of the home. When you walk through the lighting just gives, brings out so much character and stimulate so much interest. And everyone always comments on the lighting, it’s just, it’s really stunning.
[00:26:41] Jennifer-Lee: What’s unique about the lighting? Can you describe it? Change the photo.
[00:26:45] Karly: Yeah, so every patio, there’s three patios and every level we took a different approach. So, the top level, we really grounded that by having this repetition in the same pendant that was seen, and it was like a wicker pendant. And they look so beautiful. Like when you’re there at the house, the sea, just like the breeze from the sea just naturally sways the light. And it just feels so peaceful watching that. Then every level we just really tried to embrace what the purpose of that patio was but also in a way where when you’re looking at it from the water. It was important to create a balance all at the same time, so we did a little bit of counterbalancing where some configurations were offset with one another, and then the top was a little bit more symmetrical. And, yeah, and then one thing that’s really cool, too, about the home is the top floor, which is way higher ceilings than the rest, We created a little bit more of a lighter ambience through a lot of the finishes, but the staircase is really open concept and it basically is just open to the basement, but we wanted to create like a different mood as you went down to the different floors. A huge part of that was achieved with lighting as well, where on the top level, you don’t really see touches of black, but as you move down into the basement, little touches of black elements through the lighting. And then on the main level, I should say the mid-level, where all the sleeping areas are, there’s a little bit more colour play and drama scene. And then as you move down into the basement, it’s, there’s a lot more mood and drama through the fixtures and finishes. But there’s just a different feel through the lighting, and I think the lighting just really helps. Connect and embrace how each area of the space feels.
[00:28:35] Matt: What I appreciate about the lighting is it was not like, there was like, there’s zero pot lights, right? So, you look at some of these houses and you go, Oh my gosh, I feel so sorry for the neighbors, right? Cause it’s just pot lights everywhere. There were no pot lights, right? These are all hanging pendant fixtures. So, when you see it at night, it’s just got like a nice. Glow to it right on every level, but it’s not like from the ocean. We did some beautiful landscape lighting and some step lighting, but just looking back from the ocean, it’s just so organic and just, and not overdone, which I think is nice. It’s very, very tasteful.
[00:29:08] Karly: Yeah. And I think that’s a good point because I feel like, and we try to do this through our designs. Where when you walk through the home from start to finish, even if there’s different vibes going on in different spaces, you still want it to like effortlessly feel connected and you’re not like caught off guard in a way where it’s whoa, like this is random. It all flows where it makes sense and you subconsciously feel like it’s a natural flow and I feel like even from the water when you look at the home it’s not like it’s perfectly put together in this structured format it’s done in and I feel like casual elegance is such an appropriate way to explain the design of the home because it really does have that reflection in almost everything through the selections of the finishes and just the way it’s effortlessly put together in an organic way.
[00:29:59] Matt: Yeah. No, I agree. That was always my principle as well. It’s you want to walk through a home and you want to see the same elements throughout the home on different levels, but you don’t want to walk into each, every room and every pattern with a different theme. And everything’s a different theme. You get confused at the end of the day it’s not a comfortable feeling. It’s all just supposed to work together as one.
[00:30:19] Jennifer-Lee: Great. You guys paint such a great photo. I actually feel like I’m walking through the house. So, you guys are so great at describing. I just want to go back to plans again for a second because you touched upon something. Matt, I was curious. So, the home came with plans. So, they’ve obviously, whoever owned the home first went to the architect and everything like that. The architects do have some structural knowledge and obviously know what they can and cannot design. So wouldn’t that have been taken into account then when they drew up the plans or
[00:30:47] Matt: No, because at that time I, we, there was no engineer on board yet. So just architectural. So, then the engineer has to go, wow. Okay. So, I have an entire back elevation of glass. with no wall structure. So that’s called moment frame. And with moment frame, that’s where all the beams and steel beams and columns, because to keep the whole thing rigid, it has to be welded. So that entire back elevation was a tower of steel, right? And all welded together from the bottom and then the base and the geotechnical and their structural engineer work together. And unfortunately, the architect, yes, they have some principle, but they don’t do this structural.
[00:31:27] Jennifer-Lee: See, and that’s the hard thing because I thought too, and I’m from the construction industry that I think a lot of people, buying homes that maybe don’t have the knowledge in this industry are like, oh, I got plans with a home. That’s going to save me money. But then they don’t realize okay I haven’t talked to a builder about it yet.
[00:31:42] Mike: They must cover everything and include absolutely everything.
[00:31:44] Matt: Their plans. I think, yeah to have an architect is one thing, but structural is just as important for sure. And to figure it, start figuring out cost. The roof line on this, like Karly mentioned it levered out on an angle and shot out like probably 12 feet on one end and six on the other. And it was like this. Even that in and of itself, that roof line, it was insane. It was just it was quite the challenge. It looked cool. It just, it was challenging.
[00:32:12] Mike: You guys talked about engineers and other people in the project. The energy specialist is a huge part of the equation. Now, when you guys switch from an open concept, modern design to a slightly different design, what did that do to your energy efficiency of the home and what changes were required to maintain whatever levels you were planning on before, because that’s a huge part of our conversation, especially with step code changing.
[00:32:32] Matt: So yeah, nowadays this would have been way more challenging with the step codes. So, at the time we with all that glass inside, we didn’t have to model it to the same regulations as now. So, we’re actually able to achieve that look, but now less windows, probably more insulation, smaller windows. There is a way around that too, by getting like triple pane and the energy efficiency of the actual window and door package. But you have to model these homes completely now and then run the energy test. And that was not done, didn’t need to be done at the time at this home. So, you were actually, it’s like the old days, you just like glass everywhere.
[00:33:12] Mike: Just go for it. But it feels like with less glass, it’s going to be easier to manage anyway.
[00:33:16] Matt: But this glass that we did get was triple pane and is super-efficient. And so that did really help.
[00:33:21] Mike: And is it reflective in any way or is it straight?
[00:33:24] Matt: It’s reflective the glass itself. Yeah, it is. And the, low E glass and argonne filled in between layers. But also spray foam. We use a lot of that throughout the home, under the slab, in the walls, in the roof structure. A lot of time and attention was put into, keeping it, the energy in and not out.
[00:33:45] Jennifer-Lee: besides the lighting, because I’m always curious, for both of you, what is your favourite part of this house? Do you want to go first?
[00:33:53] Karly: I know mine. My favorite is for sure the ensuite because it’s I feel like there’s actually quite a few elements where we’ve, we’re able to elevate the experience of bringing the outdoors in, but especially in the ensuite because they, we basically, through our floor plan critique, we proposed the idea of changing what was just a fixed window in front of the tub to instead be a folding glass system. So, the whole ball opens up and when you’re in your tub having a bath, you literally are like having a bath on your deck looking out to the ocean. And it’s one of my favorite features. It’s just so blissful. I wish I could be there all the time. It’s just unbelievable.
[00:34:38] Jennifer-Lee: But I guess no one really can see you because you’re on the water.
[00:34:40] Karly: So, you can’t if boats were there, maybe they could see, but my client was just like, I don’t even care. It’s a deep tub.
[00:34:47] Matt: It’s a, yeah. And there’s blinds, but you got to use sunscreen, right? On a remote.
[00:34:51] Mike: You might, so once you’re in, yeah, you might want some sunscreen
[00:34:55] Matt: Once you’re in, then you open the window.
[00:34:56] Jennifer-Lee: Oh, yeah. Open the blinds once you’re in. Yeah. You might start a boat crash, but it’s unbelievable.
[00:35:04] Karly: It’s just, I feel like that’s just another level of luxury being able to have that ability, it’s unbelievable.
[00:35:11] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah. I didn’t even know that was such a thing. I want one now I know.
[00:35:14] Matt: Yeah. I would have to say for me, it’s the kitchen. It’s just it’s one of the most beautiful kitchens I’ve ever seen. And what makes it unique is just like the floor to ceiling cabinets on a vaulted angle and it’s all white and a beautiful marble backsplash and just the appliances, the stove itself is like a showstopper. Oh yeah. It’s it’s not a huge kitchen, but it’s super functional. And I love the seating. It’s a huge Island. I just love the chairs and I love the pendants over the Island. It’s just something like, yeah, it’s just spectacular kitchen.
[00:35:46] Karly: Yeah. And I actually wouldn’t mind touching on that. Cause one thing that was also unique about the floor plans was the like again, during the floor plan critique, we were really trying to assess this layout because at the time we saw that there was like potential for reworking the layout in the main living area and for the original drawing set, the kitchen was pushed into the back of the house, like Matt was saying, and with that roof line, it would have resulted in you having a kitchen with also a very low ceiling height when the rest of the space was very elevated. We proposed to switch it all around and where the dining room was, which no one uses that much of. I feel like you spend the majority of time in your living room and your kitchen. and dining room just for eating. So, we thought that would be a lot more beneficial to put the dining room back in the house and then just make sure the front of the, where I guess the best view line would be for, dedicated for the living room and the kitchen. And we took it another step further where we really tried to I guess embrace the view and how the view operates. So, thinking about where the sun sets at night was an important factor to determine where the kitchen was positioned and where the living room was positioned. Because in the original set, the living room was where the kitchen is. And it would result in you having your back to the most epic sunset at nighttime when you’re probably sitting down watching TV. So, we felt it was essential to swap that around and it works out perfect because the sink is on the island. So, whether you’re cooking or you’re relaxing in the living room during the best point of the day where the sun is setting and that’s like where you get that elevation of the multi-million-dollar view. You’re always going to be facing that point. So those are like important factors with design too. It’s not just about creating a beautiful space. It’s not just about creating a functional space. It’s really also embracing your surroundings and the natural habitat that you’re located in and making sure it’s utilizing that in the best possible way as well.
[00:37:59] Jennifer-Lee: Again, that’s why you have to have a great interior designer and builder because they’ll help point out those things to you, too. Because if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re not going to be able to tell them you’re going to miss that epic sunset. Yeah. And then all of a sudden you’re going to build their home and they’re going to be like, oh, wait, that beautiful sunset now is at my back.
[00:38:17] Karly: Yeah, exactly.
[00:38:18] Mike: You also have to trust your team. Like we as homeowners think, oh, we want this place and that, that place, right? We go to professionals for a reason and we have to let them do their job to get those kind of results. Now. I’m going to be honest, I could keep talking about this all afternoon, but we have to wrap up, unfortunately. But before we do, I just want to go down some of the lessons that we learned today and some of the challenges presented. Because I think for the people watching and listening, these are especially like the meat and potatoes of all of this. And because whether they’re building a large home on the water or a house, anywhere, the lessons learned are the lessons learned. And we talked about a lot of really cool stuff, translating ultra-modern plans into a traditional Hampton style. And that’s a challenge, but working with a great designer obviously leads to great results. We talked about better use of views and improve livability. And when you’re working with the right designer, you get the right outcome. And the designer has the personal knowledge and the idea of how the lighting in the area should all go together in terms of implementing the details as well. And finally, we talked about the oceanfront and the lack of stability and the importance of having time taken to find out what’s underneath before you begin, right? That’s called doing your due diligence. And again, working with a great builder who brings in great professionals and great team members to deal with those issues. is how you get around it. So much great information that we went over today. And I just really appreciate both of you telling this story. It’s been phenomenal and as always very inspiring.
[00:39:49] Karly: Thank you. It’s been so nice and I’m honored to be here. So thank you for including us.
[00:39:54] Jennifer-Lee: We’re really happy to have you here, and it’s so great to see you again, Matt. Before you go, I know you’ve said so many great little pieces of wisdom, but can you each give us one different piece of wisdom for potential homeowners that maybe you haven’t covered yet that are thinking to build or obviously hire an interior designer?
[00:40:13] Matt: I could start maybe? Yeah, sure. It’s one thing that I still want to dive into. And there’s this whole cost per square foot conversation. It makes zero sense to me. One size of shoe doesn’t fit all, there’s no way around it. Every individual lot has individual challenges. Every municipality has its own regulations. Every single home is different because it’s custom. So there is no blanket cost per square foot that would make any sense. So just do your due diligence, get all the information then could be out for bid. And then you could. assess the bid. And if there is changes that need to be made, it should happen prior to the start of construction, not during, or not, a month into it, do all your homework, take the time. And sometimes everyone’s in a rush to get something done. But in reality, the more time you take from the beginning to do it right, and know what you’re up against, you’re going to thank yourself because once you can sign off on the dotted line, and then you can move forward and there’ll be minor changes, but it will not be like anything catastrophic. So be realistic about your budget, about your timing. Don’t rush the process and the cost per square foot is not really a good base to start with.
[00:41:34] Karly: And for me, I would, I feel like one of the most valuable tools to do a successful design, whether you’re hiring a designer or if you’re even trying to tackle a project on your own, is to always start with a really strong conceptual design direction. Because if you don’t have that to begin with, I feel like it could be a bit of a, it could end a little messy. And whether or not say that you don’t have a concept with your designer, who knows what you’re getting presented with and who knows how many changes that might result in. If you’re doing a project on your own, I think the best value for having that concept is it allows cohesiveness through your own selections, but also if you’re going to be involving other people in the mix, whether so for instance, I get this a ton where maybe some budget friendly clients are needing just a little bit of assistance, but they can’t afford to hire a designer. So, we always encourage, okay let’s help you with the concept, because that’s going to act as your guide. You’re going to be able to take that to your mill worker, who then could hopefully put together some successful shop drawings that complement the direction you’re after. And when you have all these cooks in the kitchen, If they have this plan, that’s it, just a conceptual plan to follow as a guide, hopefully it can help in achieving a cohesive home. And it will allow you to just stay on track with your vision and feel confident in the selections that you make moving forward.
[00:43:06] Jennifer-Lee: Yeah. Perfect.Thank you guys.
[00:43:07] Mike: so much. Phenomenal conversation about working with a great builder and working with a great designer to create a great home. Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about something really important. Once that great home is completed, it most assuredly needs a barbecue. And if that’s you, boy, have we got something you’re going to like. Because you listen to this episode, because you like this episode, you can now win a Napoleon Prestige P500 stainless steel natural gas barbecue, valued at over $1,500. Compliments of our podcast partners of Fortis BC. All you have to do is go to havan.ca/measuretwicecutonce and you too could be in the winner’s circle with a new barbecue for your new home overlooking the water.
[00:43:51] Jennifer-Lee: And how many times have you entered Mike?
[00:43:53] Mike: All of them, but they won’t let me win.
[00:43:55] Jennifer-Lee: Will they let us win? Unfortunately not, but one lucky listener will win. And for notes and links to everything mentioned on today’s episode, including resources shared by Matt and Karly, and see some amazing photos of their award winner, go to HAVAN.ca/measuretwicecutonce. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:44:14] Matt: thank you.
[00:44:15] Jennifer-Lee: Thank you.
[00:44:21] Matt: Thank you.
