Choosing who should design your home, renovation, addition or creative space is an important, involved, and ultimately personal decision.

There are a number of different approaches to realizing any project. Each satisfies different needs, and results in a different finished product. I thought this might be a good place to share the approach and sensibility at Katie Hutchison Studio with you.

approach and sensibility

If you refer to the design process section of this site, you'll find a detailed description of what to expect from the seven typical stages of the architectural design process. Many architects will describe a similar process. So how is my approach and sensibility different?

For one, I believe that architecture and interiors are interdependent, so I offer integrated architecture and interior design services. I plan for the long term. I anticipate how design decisions made today will affect you, your family, your neighbors, and your community down the road. I encourage you to be honest with yourself about your wish list and your budget. I ask you to consider what aspects of your current space work? What don’t? Why do you use the space the way that you do? Why don’t you use it? How do you imagine using your new or renovated space? What houses or spaces have a look or feel that you like? Why do you like them? These questions and many more (including your homework) will challenge you to evaluate what you really want, need, and can afford. I listen carefully to your responses, and, in the course of the design process, I study the challenges and opportunities inherent in your project in order to propose nuanced design solutions.

Inevitably, in the course of early design conversations, the issue of “style” will come up. I steer clear of reproducing formulaic styles such as “Georgian,” “Arts and Crafts,” “Modern”, etc. Such styles were developed in specific time periods in response to a specific set of circumstances, be they cultural, material, or political.

Instead, I believe in determining what it is about a certain style that a homeowner would like to express in a project. Is it the delicate proportion, the craftsmanship, the massing, the materiality, the openness? The answers to such questions then inform my design which is further driven by the nature of the site and client program.

Of course, I have my own aesthetic and design proclivities too. I enjoy reinterpreting the regional vernacular for today's lifestyles. I’m particularly inspired by the charm and simplicity of New England vernacular folk and work buildings like fisherman cottages, farm houses, barns, sheds, and boat houses. A taste for Scandinavian design — both time-honored and contemporary — seems to be embedded in my DNA. I delight in the way that traditional Japanese architecture engages the landscape and modulates levels of enclosure. I believe in sustainable design in the form of responsive siting and environmental strategies; thoughtful efficiencies; as well as high-performance building components and systems. I appreciate lush, sustainable materials: warm woods, dry-laid stone, glass tiles, natural fiber rugs, tactile fabrics. I have a fondness for colors found in nature. I’m influenced by the creative arts. I bring these preferences with me to the drawing board. It’s part of who I am.

inquiries welcome

If you're interested in the expertise an architect offers as well as the approach and sensibility at Katie Hutchison Studio, I encourage you to explore the rest of the this site and to be in touch.

Katie Hutchison / Registered Architect in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts