Always By Design
Always by Design (AxD) is an architecture firm founded by award-winning architect Ed Barnhart. Ed's work revolves around ensuring the users an experience of "wholeness dwelling," a term he coined to denote the incorporation of both wellness-centered design and sustainability. To echo this in the website, we focused on creating a site that felt warm, welcoming, and easy to navigate, giving the user a sense of connection and belonging.
Experiential Portfolio Page
The goals for AxD's new site were to:
- emphasize contemporary design and personalized life solutions
- attract fewer, higher-quality inquiries, focusing on those perfectly aligned with AxD's values and expertise
- effectively communicate AxD's style and services to a discerning clientele
To achieve these goals, Ed wanted to approach the portfolio page differently from most architects, and envisioned taking the user on a journey similar to what would be experienced when walking through a home he'd designed. To achieve this, we separated the portfolio photos and text into distinct everyday activities such as Arriving, Eating, and Dreaming.
The user can then scroll vertically to continue the journey deeper into the homes, or browse horizontally to view more examples of each activity.
Organic Case Studies
Continuing the theme of personalized warmth, Ed challenged us with establishing a non-grid structure for his case study. He hoped to find an organic layout, to make the case study page feel as unique and thoughtfully designed as the project it showcased.
We accomplished this by placing each individual element on the page where and how it made sense, considering each part by itself and in relevance to the whole page. We also included plenty of whitespace to allow the user space and time to take in the stunning photography and descriptive text.
“It was a true delight working with Spacious to create a new website from scratch. They used a very thoughtful process, allowing me to know exactly what was needed when. In fact, they were able to launch ahead of my deadline. Best of all, I felt that it was a true collaboration - with results that exceeded everyone's expectations.”
Related Projects
Lift Every Voice
Lift Every Voice Philly is a Black-led, multiracial organization building parent power to advance racial, economic, and education justice in Philadelphia’s public schools. In just…
Olney Culture Lab
Olney Culture Lab celebrates the vibrant cultural diversity of Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood through festivals, partnerships, and multimedia programming that strengthen community connections and civic pride….
Stone Sherick
Stone Sherick Consulting Group had built an impressive 25-year track record in real estate development consulting-over 18,000 dwelling units completed, $2.2 billion in project value,…