My first (very honest) thought was, "THAT won an award?"

Egads.

From poor sightlines, to weird (and lost opportunity) window placement, to things that just don't "feel" right (mudroom door, kitchen peninsula seating all lined up in a row, poor kitchen arrangement, secondary bedrooms' lack of privacy relative to each other, big waste of floor space upstairs, skimpy secondary beds and closets with oversized master bed and closet, odd master suite arrangement, etc.), I can't find much I like about it.

I also envision the outside to be awkward and ugly. :-(

I agree with One DD. I noticed the amount of space devoted to hallway on both floors, and the wasted 'open below' space in an upstairs where 2 of the bedrooms are decidedly cramped.

The stools at the counter are awkwardly close to the chairs at the table; looks like walking between would be tight.

Also I think it would be hard to park two cars in a 20x21 garage; you wouldn't have much room for opening car doors or for any storage like bikes, yard tools, etc.

Someone coming in from the garage has a long, circuitous route (through the kitchen work zone) to get to a bathroom. No fun with kids.

No back door... will the people who live there ever grill out or socialize or relax in the backyard? Imagine carrying food or beverages out the front and around the whole house. Odd. (Or maybe some of what I think are windows are sliders. Hard to tell.)

So, I don't know what kind of award it won, but I wouldn't be happy with it.

Is this a row house or zero lot line house? What award(s) did it win? You may want to check references...

These are "builder awards".... They are to promote builders (parades, etc). First most of the time it is not difficult to design multi million $ house to look great, and then fill it with high end finishes and high end decor.

Here the designer minimized sq ft, by pointing couches different way, created two story family with upper windows, cut out a production space etc. I think in the market he is in, this is probably a good design.

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Is this a row house or zero lot line house? Ottawa! Of course it is. The shack there could cost $400,000.

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See here

Hi all So this is a single 'production home' on a very small city lot. I believe 34-45' wide.

This is also a prominent award winning architect and builder team, who build custom homes as well as production homes.

One would think that they would put as much thought into their 'production' homes as they would their custom homes.

more to come!

The plan is not bad, but storage is in short supply everywhere. This is one of those plans where there's no provision for the water heater and HVAC unit(s). Garage is really not large enough for two large automobiles, much less tools, gear, suitcases and other periodically used stuff.

Thank you Virgil. The hvac etc are typically in basements in Ottawa. And yup the garage might fit A mini car. These lots are often 35 x 80.

Remember that a home that received an award from the Peanut Growers Association of Ottawa is an award winning home.

I also see a lot of "special feature awards" during the parade, in addition to the Bronze / Silver / Gold awards that are handed out in each price category. So... the award could be for an AWESOME built in spice rack...

I'd look at a juried architectural award as a true sign of a home, judged by professionals / peers, as a true architectural award. Or design award. Think AIA, not necessarily a Parade of Homes type award.

Mark, janni..Since I know nothing about home design,I thought this was a good place to start. After all some of these homes were designed by architect/builder teams with solid reputations. Here is another 'best design award plan' . These homes are designed for small narrow city lots.

That one is worse than the first one, lol. ;-)

P G - if this is a design from an "architect"/builder team you were considering...

RUN. RUN FAST.

Edited to clarify - the second design is what I was referring to - the first is not without flaws IMHO but it is leaps and bounds better than the second! ;)

Hi Steph. Absolutely agree. I looked at pics of this Home absolutely awful. And remember, this design actually won a 'best design' award.

Part of my process in finding reputable home designer, architect etc. was to look at pros whose designs have won awards, and interview them...

HelloOne devoted dame, this one had pics of the home, which really helped me to see how awful it actually was....

I'm thinking that I could find a well thought out 'production home plan', then I could interview the pro with regard to my own project,.

Good luck with that. ;-)

Finding a well thought out production home plan, that is, lol.

If you don't mind me asking, why are you searching for a nice production plan? So you'll have a better idea of what good design looks like, before flipping through portfolios and ultimately choosing an architect?

I don't think the first design is that bad, aside from the double-height family room squeezing the second floor space. But that's often a personal buyer's choice.

However, it is for a small city lot. Not the OP's lot.

I've used a number of production plans because the tract builders know what sells and builds efficiently. But on the spacious lot in question, a custom plan, at a typical $4 sf for a technologist to infinity for an an award-winning architect, likely makes more sense.

P G

It would be easier to follow your posts if you kept all your replies to the brilliant kibitzers here to a single post. :-)

Hi one devoted dame....you are correct...some of these architects and home designers have won awards for either their custom or production homes. Many do both, they purchase land, design and build production homes, as well as do custom projects.

So my thinking is, that if they won such awards, their production homes might or ought to be well thought out plans. And if that's the case, I would interview them for my project.

Hi worthy...I will endeavor to reply under 1 post, that is if I can prevent myself from clicking the submit button. Lol.

It's not a bad idea, to use awards as a way to gauge ability, it's just super important to use the right gauges. Like Mr. Mark referred to above, the award doesn't mean anything if it comes from folks who don't know what they're doing.

Those builder awards could be focused on giving people various things that have nothing to do with good design. Jannicone gave you some good awards to look for. As an alternative, or perhaps a complementary method, consider learning the basics of good design yourself, so that you can effectively evaluate prospective members of your home building team.

And like ArchitectRunnerGuy always says, trust is huge. If you do your research, and are confident in your final selections, trust them to do their jobs. :-)

If you want to see a wide range of design-build house projects not designed by architects check out the American Residential Design Awards conducted by the AIBD.

One devoted dame. . Thank you...this is just one method I am using to find a home designer...

Like Mr. Mark referred to above, the award doesn't mean anything if it comes from folks who don't know what they're doing.

I agree, however some of these designs are by architects...That's the concerning part of this experience. And that's why I am dubious to trust...and yes, I am reading, researching and learning all in an effort to build the best possible home.

JDS...thank you, I'll have fun perusing and learning.

Lots of sources for "award winning" homes designed by architects. To see what the editors of Architectural Record think are award winning each year, go to http://www.architecturalrecord.com/topics/324-record-houses

Virgil, I just checked out that link and all of the houses were glass or cement boxes! Is there a list anywhere of award winning traditional house plans?

My existing house was built from and in developer's subdivision. After signed the contract, the agent told me this plan has gold medal winning award for its price range nation wide. After living 16 years there, I still loving it and just finished built another house similar excepted bigger in other state.

Many people love its design! To me, Its layout interior from water heater to HAVC system, duct works, sewer lines, perfectly.

Amy, look at previous year's editions. They are all different. Some are more different than others! :-)

Another source of award winning single family residential projects at: http://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/?ty=Single%20Family

In general, a published design award that shows a floor plan is an advertisement so it usually doesn't mean much.

I think you are wasting your time looking for award winning architects/designers in this manner. I've never submitted my work for a design award simply because none of my clients have never wanted their houses in a magazine, although my designs have turned up in magazines advertising a builder or a kitchen designer without the owner's permission I assume.

If you are looking for a good architect/designer and have already asked your friends for recommendations, it is best to google "architect" with your zip code. For my zip code that would bring up all of the local architects along with their websites and a map showing some of them. I am listed right after the paid ads and on a map but I have no idea how that happened since I've never advertised.

Once you have an architect/designer you can stop looking at houses designed for other people in other locations and enjoy the design process.

Houses 14... Thank you, another good idea for finding home designer.

JDS and Virgil . Thank you again, my whole point in my quest for an architect in my area was to see if their pre built or spec homes were well designed. My thinking was that if their 'tract' homes were well designed, then surely they would be able to create a well designed custom home. And I, wrongly, was trusting these design awards to help me in this quest.

unfortunately it is more hype than anything.

At this point, I have 2 names that I will b contacting. One was through a friend, the other was driving by a home under construction in my area. Signs do get your attention.

I would be looking for an architect who does not design tract homes. If you want a custom home, look at custom homes.

JDS. That's exactly what I'm doing. However, many of the architects in my area do both and they team up with builder/ developers. It seems like a great big confusing circle. Here, builders buy huge tracts of land, develop it and have architects designers who design abt 5-8 plans for their future subdivision. I have lived in other parts of USA and Canada where this does not occur.

P G - That same thing happened where I used to live and it seems it has to make life hard on the local architects. However, I don't know that you can draw any usable conclusions on designs built by tract builders and large developers. Their desired outcomes are simply too different to allow for any meaningful comparison.

If I was a developer who built multiple homes all squished together, I would consider an architect successful if I made more money off his plan. This means that striking features would often override good design.

Hello bry...so true, glitz and impractical stuff are often components of their designs,. Like who needs a spiral staircase ..as in the above home....