While working on her Masters in Architecture at UC Berkeley in the seventies Joyce Plath studied Pattern Language with Christopher Alexander. That experience has led her on a twenty-five year journey to develop a set of patterns that guide her work. These patterns have helped Joyce to refine her design process to provide thoughtful, well conceived solutions for clients in northern coastal California. These patterns are grounded in human experience blended with an understanding of what makes buildings good places to inhabit. Wonderful buildings surprise us with the reflection of sunlight on a wall, the rhythm materials create as they repeat, the anticipation of a welcoming entry, the opportunity to observe nature from an outdoor room, and the feeling or refuge a quiet nook provides. Although the patterns below are for residential use, many of them apply to commercial buildings as well.

PATTERNS FOR A GOOD HOME

• Being part of the site, the house should feel like it grew there
• Best garden spots saved for that purpose
• Locate house on less desirable land so good flat land can be saved for other uses
• Make entry clear, welcoming and unambiguous
• Outside rooms should be free from summer wind and open to the mid day sun
• Natural light should come from a variety of directions and frequently bounce off walls
• Kitchen and dining areas should get southern and eastern light
• Living areas get southern and western light
• Master bedrooms prefer eastern light unless client likes to sleep late
• Provide a view of the sunset and other places to have refuge and lookout
• Welcome approach, entry and flow through the home
• Allow flex spaces for activities to change as families grow and shrink
• View to child’s outside play area from kitchen and home office
• Composition of materials, choices help make the house feel like a dance
  Acoustical control between zones allows more that one activity in family spaces
  Storage for recycling in kitchen and garage
  Storage for sporting and camping gear near car loading area
  Bike storage easily accessible, dry, and secure
  Whenever possible locate a potential sleeping room on the main floor
  Consider universal design
  Build it as green
  Provide space  and plumbing for later grey water pond