A house! A house! My kingdom for a house!

An interesting read and one which will no doubt be of use to many as they think about embarking on a similar journey. Thanks for taking the time to do it. PW.

Cant wait to hear the reasons for changing your mind.  Its always interesting to hear how/why people decide to buy.  I like the look of the plot and I like trains so tat wouldnt put me off.  My friend has a local one that slowly goes past a couple of times a day - she regularly gets waves from the drivers.

That looks a very complicated structure - isnt it best to keep it simple.  Seems they are adding to the cost although it does look interesting. 

That's an interesting site and house design.

 

If I am reading it correctly, the house is built into the hillside with the principle level one floor up. The fact the plans show steps up to the entrance, I take it you have got a building control exemption from the requirements for ramped access to the house? There is a clause that allows you to be exempt where site conditions are not practical, and that seems to be one such example.  If I understand it as well, the lack of ramped access also exempts you from a lot of the accessibility rules inside the house as well.

Interesting site, with oodles of potential. 

 

However (if I may) ... are you going to tell us you changed the house design? The practicality and utility of this one looks to be quite compromised to me -  are you the victim of "Mirror Image Pair" house design? Has someone really thought how it will be used, and to make best use of the context of the site - relating the inside to what exists outside. If this is architect designed then imo it is a shocker with some really basic errors.

 

I would apply a few changes to the facilities for a start. You have to tramp through the gym with your muddy boots, sandy wellies or oily overalls on to get to the loo :-). Then anyone wanting the loo while chillaxing in the family room has to go downstairs or use an ensuite - not ideal for a cocktail party.

 

But I won't start on that if that is your future story :-).

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Ferdinand

Thanks for your comments. This posts I've done, and those to come, are retrospectives of the journey we've had to date. I'll get into more details in future posts, but will do quick responses to the above for now.

@TheMitchells Yes, it is/was a complicated structure, and once I get to the end of the story, you'll see that the design has changed, due to both usability and complexity/cost. I do like trains too 

 

@ProDave Although we've changed both the external house design, and the internal floor layout, the function of each floor has pretty much remained (garage, gym, utility room in basement, living area, guest bedroom(s) in middle floor, bedroom/family room in top floor). We've not gotten to building control stage with that new design yet (a long story, both literally and metaphorically). We've got full planning approved with conditions and Stage 1 warrant nearing approval pending some final details from our structural engineer.  The Stage 2 warrant design is in progress with our architect and he is confident that we have both accessibility and fire regulations (since we're over 3 floors) covered. But, we won't know for sure till it happens..

 

@Ferdinand The original house was architect designed, but it has changed. I'll get to how the design changed, both externally and internally, in later posts. We've addressed the family room/loo issue, but not sure about the muddy boots/basement one. I'm actually getting nervous about putting our final floor plans here, as I know I'll get great feedback and will be tempted to change things further...

@AliMcLeod

 

Thanks for the reply. I think your account is really well written.

 

Having marched half way up the hill like that, I had better summarise my basic thoughts here in case there is something useful amongst the maunderings. There is never any issue if you disagree on buildhub ... that helps all of us. 

 

Comments:

 

1 - If your plot faces south towards the sea, then imo the living set rooms of where you spend your time should probably face the sea - especially given that here they are at first floor level and above the road. Here that may give a swap of Bed 4 + Bath and the Kitchen, and a front door coming into a 'dining hall'. IMO that would be OK. Or move the door to the side - more drastic, or entrance ground floor then come upstairs to the main floor inside. Rather than having the kitchen buried at the back facing North and next door's side wall. Given your mother-in-law moving in, I think the balance may be against that.

 

2 - Main bathroom directly off hall inside the front door does not work for me.Family bathrooms are, in the public ... semi-public .. private succession of space, for semi-public or private - not public.

 

3 - Kitchen as is, and bed 3, are rather denuded of light - slit windows notwithstanding. Bed 4 does not perhaps really merit a huge chunk of your main floor floorspace with sea views, nor does the bathroom.

 

4 -That is a huge amount of potential basement space not to be using, given that you will likely have to build foundations round it.

 

5 - Equally that family room balcony steals a lot of room space and is designed to prevent you looking along the coast without going outside.

 

6 - The plumbing seems to be very spread out. Lots of pipe noises, complex maintenance, and your plumber able to afford a bigger house than you. Juggle some ensuites etc and save a few thousand (?).

 

7 - Does it need provision for a future lift given all those steps outside? And to help you and MiL (?) to move in and out. Those steps may be the thing that forces MiL into a home a few years early.

 

8 - The reasonably generous spaces between the houses do not seem to be used to their potential.

 

Suggestions to follow.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Ferdinand

@Ferdinand Thank you so much for the feedback. It is hugely appreciated and I wish i'd found this forum (or its predecessor) 2 years ago. However (and I'm doing this purely so as to not have you waste time, not because its not useful), we have changed the internal floor plan so I'd suggest you hold off for now? Hopefully this is coming across as intended, not that i'm not wanting feedback.

 

In general, we've kept the same house footprint, but have changed it to two mono-pitched roofs and have moved rooms around internally. The living area is south facing, over the Firth of Forth.

 

I'll try to get to posting the current floor plan as soon as possible, and from the reviewing the above, much of your feedback will still stand.

Thank you again.

Just now, AliMcLeod said:

@Ferdinand Thank you so much for the feedback. It is hugely appreciated and I wish i'd found this forum (or its predecessor) 2 years ago. However (and I'm doing this purely so as to not have you waste time, not because its not useful), we have changed the internal floor plan so I'd suggest you hold off for now? Hopefully this is coming across as intended, not that i'm not wanting feedback.

 

In general, we've kept the same house footprint, but have changed it to two mono-pitched roofs and have moved rooms around internally. The living area is south facing, over the Firth of Forth.

 

I'll try to get to posting the current floor plan as soon as possible, and from the reviewing the above, much of your feedback will still stand.

Thank you again.

 

No problems at all. It is always a useful exercise for me as well. I am currently musing either starting a blog or maybe even doing a design qualification - though it may be urban design - so I enjoy chattering and assessing designs from plans.