Master Planning

 

Bill Peters Architects provides master planning services for clients throughout the South. Our clients range from novice to very experienced developers and municipalities of all sizes.  Master planning is another term for "creating the big picture" and developing "a vision."  It is crucial to the success of any development — residential, commercial or mixed-use — that the master planning process occur.  At BPA, we help clients create and develop their big picture or master plan and we offer the tools to help communicate the vision both verbally and visually.

It has only been within the past several years that architects have begun to take back master planning and community planning projects from, what has been for years, the domain of civil engineers.  As architects who do community planning, we understand the expanded role we take (over a traditional engineer) in the creation of a successful development.

  • We design to take greater advantage of the natural assets of a property.
  • We design to take advantage of the natural drawbacks of a property.
  • We combine the physical design of what is to be built with the natural characteristics of a property to make a place of greater value aesthetically.
  • We work from an outcome basis, designing a community to build out to a vision, not simply to comply with restrictions or zoning laws.  
  • We understand and plan for flexibility, as the popularity of product types is somewhat unpredictable and over-programming can have serious financial impact.

We work with the clients to create master plans to use in gaining regulatory approval from county and city governments, for use in consensus building, to prepare density and feasibility studies, and for use in preparing marketing materials. Site plan renderings, hand-drawn architectrual renderings, 3-D graphic renderings and slideshow presentations are among the deliverables that result from the master planning process.  Just as each project and client are different, so are the deliverables.  At BPA we don't have a standard look; we prefer to work with the client to develop a look that is unique to a specific project.    

Planning a community or development requires a keen attention to the vertical dimensions of both the property and the to-be-built architecture.  Proper siting and control of buildings along with the stylistic control often creates a place where the community itself is the primary amenity and the unique characteristics of the site become secondary.  To this end, BPA develops lot-specific planning codes and architectural pattern books to be used in conjunction with master plans. 

Coordinating with the client and other site consultants, we develop regulations for setbacks, alley yard setbacks, porches, garages, fences etc. to assure that the buildings will be configured properly, within the limits of allowable planning standards. Lot codes promote and ensure harmonious streetscapes, create vistas, views, and corridors which enhance a sense of place in a new community. 

Another way to enhance the sense of place is to establish and provide for faithful execution of an architectural stylistic theme in a community through the use of a pattern book.  A pattern book written for a planned community is a new take on an old idea.  From the 17th century until World War II, houses and other buildings were built by master carpenters who referenced pattern books which defined the architectural vocabularies of certain house or building styles.  In other words, a book that detailed all of the architectural elements appropriate to a particular house or building style.  Around 1945, with the modern movement in architecture a foot and the demand for mass-produced housing, the use of elements and details was stripped from most buildings.  Architectural vocabularies were lost to mass production techniques with only a few token decorative elements to differentiate the architectural styles.  Since that time, neither builders nor architects normally receive any training in the proper use or development of any historic architectural style.  The old pattern books went out of print long ago.  Newly developed pattern books for specific communities revive the old tradition of providing designers and builders with a kit of parts from which they can create a house or a building that is faithful to a desired style.