What Does the Phrase “The Devil is in the Details” Actually Mean, and Why Do Architects Care So Much?

Jun 2

The devil is in the details, good design matters, and God sees the back of the house too. These are all phrases that I take to heart, and embody in my practice of Architecture.

These may be simple phrases but they ring too true, and I'm hear to share my professional highs as well as my professional lows. We grow from these lessons if we choose to take them to heart. If these lessons are applied to future projects, all for naught may be avoided, and those projects have the chance to become far better than they would have been if not for these hard learned lessons. To be absolutely clear: I am very proud of the work we have done here.

I’m sharing with you images (in both gallery form and larger highlighted images to the right of this text) of the design detail drawing that I created for a penalized façade system that makes up the cladding for two architecturally significant elements of this building. I'm also sharing marked-up images of our 3D model that were used in clarifying questions of design intent that the material supplier had, and I’m sharing images of the install in progress. I invite you to flip through them, and let me know what your thoughts are once you have read though this expiation.

Good Design Matters: regardless of architectural style, size, or importance of the building the architect thinks every aspect of that building through. As Architects we create drawings that reflect the architectural intent of this thought process, and there is a distinct reasoning behind each item detailed on an architectural drawing sheet. Those drawings are the instructions for the contractor to execute the design appropriately, and they are not a suggestion.

If you look closely at the aforementioned drawing and photos, you’ll see that the siding installer from 84 Lumber did not follow the design intent of the drawings. Rather, they arbitrarily installed the linear reveal system (the thin horizontal and vertical black banding manufactured EasyTrim Reveals). The reveal is needed to install these façade panels to the exterior of the building, and to hold them securely in place. Because we need the reveal system to install the panels it is imperative that how and where the reveals are installed on the building is thought through to incorporate them into the overall design of the building. In this instance, the locations of the reveal placement (shown in the architectural detail drawing) was decided upon to create a uniform horizontal banding across the entire building. This banding metaphorically and quite literally ties the modern portions of the building together. You can also better see this intent, and how the banding helps to creates a cohesive whole in the marked-up 3D images.

The Devil Is In The Details: When you look at a façade system like this the location of the joints truly matter. There is intent behind locating these reveal lines. As soon as an installer refuses to follow the instructions, the architectural intent is, “thrown out the window.” This leaves the building looking as though the installers did not read the drawings, or even worse were too lazy to install them correctly. The architect fights and strives to create a high-quality building for their client, and its the execution of the Architect’s intent through the design instructions that make or break the quality of a finished project.

Architect: David Stumpf Architecture, LLC
Architectural Drawings Created With: Autodesk
3D Modeling Created With: SketchUp
Materials supplied by: 84 Lumber
Siding Installed by: 84 Lumber
Exterior Siding by: James Hardie
Panel Siding Reveals by: EasyTrim Reveals Inc.