by Steve Atwood
The degree of detail needed to build a new home is phenomenal. There are countless moving parts that must be managed: from the first brick to the final nail.
The NEXTadventure™ home is no exception. In fact, it is even more challenging to manage its fine points and particulars. Especially considering we’ve expanded our design process exponentially to include a cadre of strategic partners from several different industries and expertise.
Why is this plan so significant? We’ve taken the time, tools, and talent to say, “Let’s do this right the first time.” Everyone on the team is an expert in his or her wheelhouse. We’ve conducted myriad research groups and done mountains of research. We’ve listened to both what the data and the people are telling us and implemented those things into the plan.
This is a project of true collaboration.
From the division president to construction, purchasing, interior design, landscaping, and architecture, the plans that have gone into making the NEXTadventure™ home a reality will make the Lazio plan a household name. This plan will enter the Taylor Morrison pantheon.
The resulting outcome will have deep impact on the homeowner. Because we understand how people function in their homes, our particular updates have a big payoff for the end user. When you design a home for the active adult, functionality and flow are paramount.
Here are a just a few examples of research and development in action.
Adding a messy kitchen. One of the things we learned in our NEXTadventure™ Home research was that people never feel they have enough storage. Nowhere was this more apparent in the kitchen. Large kitchens in spacious floor plans can look rather cluttered when you add in multiple appliances. A “Messy Kitchen” is an entirely separate room off the main kitchen, larger and more robust than an average pantry. With tons of cabinets and under-counter storage, dirty dishes and coffee makers can stay tucked out of sight.
Adding a real staircase to the storage area above the garage. Focus groups were quick to let us know that they were not fans of pull-down stairs to access storage space in the NEXTadventure™ Home. Not only do homeowners need more square footage to store family treasures and holiday decorations, they need to be able to easily carry boxes up and down to that space.
Adding a door to the laundry room from the master closet. Feedback from homeowners let us to innovate a new door from the master closet directly into the laundry facilities. No more hauling laundry baskets through half of the house to get it to the washer/dryer. A wider doorway — no less than 2’6” — keeps knuckles from getting scraped as folks walk through with full laundry baskets.
Small modifications like these are already getting traction with our test market. People step into our concept-home and can immediately tell that tremendous thought went into it. I love this space, and can’t wait to share it with you.
