Join architect Katie Hutchison on a tour of some upper-level oriels like the ones she describes in her Drawing Board column, “Taking Oriels to a New Level” in Fine Homebuilding #221. Think of an oriel as a window bay that doesn’t have a foundation. In this gem from the Fine Homebuilding Video Vault, we’ll look at oriels that announce entryways, create stair landings, and double as dormers, along with a bonus type. We’ll also meet other architects designing upper-level oriels, and hear from a builder about installing one, too.
Fine Homebuilding Recommended Products
A Field Guide to American Houses
If you want to plan, design, or remodel based on the vast tradition of American architectural styles you first have to understand their history, geography, architectural significance, and relationship to one another. This book can help with that.
Code Check 10th Edition: An Illustrated Guide to Building a Safe House
It would be great if this book didn’t need to exist, but it's definitely a must-have. It's a one-size-fits-all code book that's easy to understand and will help you sail through your inspections.
This book earned author Sarah Susanka a reputation as a small house guru, yet, that wasn’t exactly her goal. This book isn’t about building a small house, it’s about building a smart house, one that matches how we live, and prioritizing beauty and comfort over size.
Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave
Joanna Gaines may have started as a celebrity designer on HGTV, but she’s proven to be the real deal. This book help you understand how and why good design works so that you can recreate it on your own.
Everyone wants their bathrooms to be beautiful, but few know the challenge of arranging all the fixtures, storage, and convenience of a great bathroom into one of the smallest space in our homes. This book has hundreds of ideas to inspire you.
I could tell from the outside of the buildings that most of the Oriels shown were to "fix" Architectural mistakes in design. As a Designer/drafter of 25 years that has to "clean up" Architect structural and design fubars, I run into this a lot. It's really funny how you see things like this turned into a feature in a design. I like to call them Inspirational Design Modifications. You are "inspired" to do something to fix it so that the home owner thinks they really wanted something like this instead of what they asked for.
An oriel stands out and so not every oriel is going to look good to every viewer. I really liked the triangular one. I think it would look even better if that wall wasn't just flat plywood with those odd lines in it.
To Blue_Rocco: Those Inspirational Design Modifications (good term) are a way of life for everyone who does anything in the real world. Builders and architects, engineers (of every kind!), farmers, tug boat pilots, cooks, you name it. It's what makes boring jobs interesting for people with a creative mentality. Necessity is the mother of invention.
This is a dialog window which overlays the main content of the page. The modal window is a 'site map' of the most critical areas of the site. Pressing the Escape (ESC) button will close the modal and bring you back to where you were on the page.
View Comments
I could tell from the outside of the buildings that most of the Oriels shown were to "fix" Architectural mistakes in design. As a Designer/drafter of 25 years that has to "clean up" Architect structural and design fubars, I run into this a lot. It's really funny how you see things like this turned into a feature in a design. I like to call them Inspirational Design Modifications. You are "inspired" to do something to fix it so that the home owner thinks they really wanted something like this instead of what they asked for.
An oriel stands out and so not every oriel is going to look good to every viewer. I really liked the triangular one. I think it would look even better if that wall wasn't just flat plywood with those odd lines in it.
To Blue_Rocco: Those Inspirational Design Modifications (good term) are a way of life for everyone who does anything in the real world. Builders and architects, engineers (of every kind!), farmers, tug boat pilots, cooks, you name it. It's what makes boring jobs interesting for people with a creative mentality. Necessity is the mother of invention.