Recently, while going through project submissions for our Annual HOUSES awards, I saw a photo of a home designed by architect Gale Goff. Fixed prominently to the gable end of a home she refers to as, “a complex of farm-like buildings” is a massive oriel. I found the detail to be both bold and beautiful.
The image got me thinking about scale in home design, which led me back to an article written by architect Russell Hamlett in issue #187 of Fine Homebuilding on designing small homes. In that article Russell suggests creating contrast with scale. Though his focus was on small home design, I think this statement is widely applicable. He writes, “…vary the scale of objects and elements from larger than normal to smaller than normal to evoke a sense of grandeur.”
Here are a series of images that focus on windows to demonstrate that point and to serve as a bit of inspiration.
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Another view...
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A large oriel on a Rhode Island home designed by Gale Goff
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"A big window and chimney provide maximum contrast to a small house"-RH
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"A huge fireplace, a grand chimney, an oversized window...all appear as if they belong to a 'greater' house" - RH
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Another Gale Goff home. I find the contrast between extremely small windows and extremley large ones really interesting.
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See the stair-landing oriel by Gale Goff, and hear her discuss it in this video about upper-level oriels that I created for the September issue (#221) of Fine Homebuilding. https://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/18907/home-with-katie-design-tips-for-upper-level-oriels