Rochester architect Roger Brown believes in the public
realm. “Where the people are,” he says, “where the sidewalks are, where people
walk.” He spends a lot of time for his home designs thinking about what the
houses will look like from the street and exactly how welcoming they will be.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s
what makes the neighborhood identifiable,” he says. “You drive down Park Avenue
or Berkeley Street or whatever, and you recognize those streets because of
their public realm characteristics, you don’t do it from their backs or
anything.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Most
of the homes and home additions Brown designs are for established neighborhoods
throughout the city, a situation he prefers. It requires fitting the house into
its surroundings, like a missing puzzle piece. Designing on wide open, secluded
lots offers flexibility and its own rewards, he says, but it doesn’t compare to
work on Rochester’s more cramped lots.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I
like it because I like older neighborhoods,” he says. “And I believe in
maintaining them, building upon them, and making them stronger.”And so he makes contextual designs, which try to
“honor the fabric of the neighborhood, and tie it in.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Brown,
who works with the Rochester firm Barkstrom and LaCroix, is the architect
behind a number of city and suburban homes and home additions, as well as some
of the city’s biggest multifamily residential additions: The Crescent on East
Avenue, Corn Hill Commons, and townhouses on the corner of East Avenue and
Colby Street.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
correct use of design principles, Brown says, can make any new house look like
part of its neighborhood, even if it is a contemporary house surrounded by
traditional homes. He cites three key principles: transparency, scale, and
detail.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Transparency
refers to the amount and pattern of windows, or “glazing,” on the house. A
house with most of its windows facing the backyard, for example, will not fit
into a neighborhood where the rest of the houses sport street-front bay
windows. “The more glazing patterns that you can put on this house,” Brown
says, “the more friendly it is to the street.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Scale is
the idea that prevents putting a hulking, flat-fronted house in a neighborhood
of cottages. To prevent a disproportionate look, Brown breaks up the front of
his houses with gables, porches, and protruding sections. It’s a principle he
applied to a complex of townhouses he designed on Highland Avenue. Five
buildings of different sizes are further varied with bay windows and gables “to
break the scale down much more in relation to the neighborhood,” Brown says.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย But for
Brown, the beauty is in the details. “I love the detail part of it,” he says,
“and I think that’s the one thing missing from buildings nowadays. I think it’s
the detail that gives it its pedestrian, its human character.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Brown
laments that houses left over from the turn-of-the-century Arts and Crafts and
the City Beautiful movements — when design details were prized — are being
torn down. He tries to re-place the emphasis on detail in his designs today.
“Detail comes in the porches and the railings and the roof pitches and the
windows — stained glass, bay windows, all of that,” he says.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Besides
incorporating designs from a house’s surrounding neighborhood, Brown also tries
to incorporate, or at least imitate, the neighborhood’s materials. He avoids
vinyl siding, which he thinks “tends to cover up all the details.” Instead he
tries to use other low-maintenance materials like cement-board siding. It doesn’t
require the upkeep of wood, but has a similar look and texture.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Another
challenge in designing a new house for an old neighborhood is where to put the
garage. “Garages are always tricky,” Brown says. “The front of the house to the
main street is much more gracious and interesting than if it had a big garage
door out in front.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Brown’s
Highland Avenue townhouses were built on a rise, so the garages could be tucked
underneath. For Corn Hill Commons, he created a garage alley behind the houses,
out of view from the street. But with smaller city lots, Brown just tries to
keep garages small, set them back if possible, and use details to downplay them
in relation to the house.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Brown is as
much concerned with the neighborhoods his houses are a part of as the houses
themselves. Time spent on a house’s details is time spent on a community. “The
end product is so much better and so much more of a contribution to the
neighborhood than the Plain Janes that are out there,” he says.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2004.
