Susan’s House is located in the Harbor Beach neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. The program for this project was to rework an existing court yard and replace aluminum framed sliding glass entry door and fixed glass facade which was the entry into the house (see before photo). The sliding glass doors were replace with double solid wood doors and the fixed glass facade was replaced with wood framed hopper windows and fixed glass. In the existing courtyard a new entry feature was designed. With that a transition space and protected cover was created. Existing landscape was amended with new. The entry gate into the courtyard, original to the house, was refurbished and painted in a shade of red that Frank Lloyd Wright often used in his work.

Below is a bit about the elements required to create an effective transition space into a home

The outdoor space between the street and the front door is the start of the entrance to your home. This sequence of spaces differentiates between public and private areas. The street is the start of an intimacy gradient that extends to your front door and into your home. This transition from the street to the inside of your home should be a tranquil experience, slowing you down after experiencing the traffic on I-95 and the challenges of the day. Creating an entrance transition from the street to the front door and inside your house can create a space with a feeling of calm. Having your front door open directly to the street, you overlook the opportunity to create a graceful arrival to your home.

The experience of entering your home and passing through an outdoor room between the street and the front door influences the way you feel once inside. If the transition is too abrupt, there is no feeling of arrival and once inside the quality of an intimate privacy doesn’t exist.

The important thing is that an actual physical outdoor space exists between the street and the front door. The essential quality of creating this place is defining the space and to create a sense of enclosure, with a change in surroundings and view, while emphasizing a variation in the light, sound, path direction and surface texture.

Below are some considerations you may want to think about in the design phase of the project:

•Define a space or path extending from the street to the front door. Think about the transition as an actual space or outdoor room rather than just going from point “A” to “B”. Create a sense of enclosure with a gate or garden wall.
•As this space is shaped, think about changes in level and direction in the walking surface at points of significance.
•Activate all the senses as you pass through this outdoor entrance room. Create calming sounds with chimes or water. Introduce smells with fragrant flowers and bushes. Provide a Zen view at a change in direction or stopping point on the path. Vary the amount of light with a trellis. Change the texture and size of the paths surface material.
•Change the scale of the path. Create a space at the street and just outside the front door for greeting or saying goodbye to guests. Create a space in the middle of the path or inner center as a point of reflection while looking towards a Zen view.

If done well, the outdoor entrance room you created between the front door and the street will feel comfortable arriving and comfortable leaving. This will be a meaningful addition to your home.