Have you ever wondered why some rooms "feel better" than others or why some buildings are used as "measuring sticks" for comparison to others? These spaces probably exist in harmony with their surroundings and seem to "fit in" as if they had sprung out of the ground. They cost no more, but have a much greater value, and they are a pleasure to live in and visit. The magic formula is complex, but not complicated. Good Architecture is on the rebound. How is it done? Naturally!

Good Architecture is self made when natural factors and indigenous features of the site are given careful consideration. Natural factors include climate, solar orientation and prevailing breezes. Indigenous features include existing vegetation, view, topography and existing amenities such as oceans, marshes and golf courses. These considerations must be recognized and sensitively manipulated in order to bring the outside in and take the inside out. Am I inside or outside and when did I enter?

Natural light is the most important indigenous feature, and unlimited supplies are present on all sites. No space, architecturally, is a space unless it has natural light, either direct or indirect. Structure is the giver of light. Materials cast shadows. Shadows belong to light. Naturally lighted spaces have all of the moods of the time of day and the seasons of the year. To see all of the moods, one may have to come another day or another season. The cloud that passes over gives the room a feeling of association with the outside and further bonds the architecture with the site.

This design theory is sensitively reflected in much of the original architecture of Hilton Head Island. Blended together with native building materials, a variety of textures, human scale and muted colors, the natural factors and indigenous features of the site make it difficult to decide if you are in the building or out. When properly meshed the potential is boundless. When I am asked about my award winning designs, I respond, "It was easy. I let the natural site amenities shape the form, and the rooms seemed to locate themselves. The contrast between the architecture and the site was minimized."

All buildings must have a generator. When you have all the answers about a building before you select its' place, your answers are not true. The site gives you answers as the design grows and becomes itself. The site will answer many questions through a good interpreter, the architect. When the site generates the architecture, special places are created, resulting in finished products concurrent with initial concepts and creative expectations. Island Architecture lives!