RK6

The house needs to submit to the Doocot as the prominent feature of the site, which in itself explains some of your points. What would you do differently to make the most of the underground/retaining wall type move? Funny you mentioned the shower room at the entrance as that's exactly what the latest iteration includes. Added for ref. This one also has dimensions. Oh and the Mormans won't get within 100ft of the house. The moat filled with alligators will take care of them.

No guarantee I get a build slot. Been a couple years since I've bought from my local dealer so they could well prioritize someone else. We'll see. The Testarossa is indeed an iconic design, absolutely love it -- and similarly I'm not a fan of red, which is why sourcing the right car has been so tricky. I'll post pics if and when I get the deal done!

Thanks for the link, will have a read tonight. I sold my cars and bikes when I left the UK a few years ago as they weren't really special enough to justify holding onto. That said, I'm trying to close a deal on a Testarossa as we speak (been my dream car for years), and I'm also waiting/hoping for a build slot for the 992 3RS whenever its announced. That'll be it for the foreseeable, although I will buy a daily whenever I move back permanently.

Time for 4 post car lifts? I'm aiming to clear 3m in internal height (hopefully 3.2 like the rest of the house) to enable stacking in the future if I run out of space.

Short answer is theatre. There wont be much house visible from the approach, and there will be even less visible when you park and start walking towards the main entrance which is via the existing ruined Doocot to the north. I also didn't want the driveway to kill the impact the view out to the front of the house so wrapping around the back made best sense. I also have another entrance to the plot 250m to the east of the house which I may join to the road shown in the plan at a later date which would provide direct access to the garage by skirting around the outside of the plot. That way there would be an entrance for me (to the garage), and another for visitors (to the Doocot).

I really wish I didn't see this comment. I'm destined to a life of beans on toast after this build.

The garage is a bit of a beast, and something I've always wanted. It's going to be 8m x 15m so bigger than my first house at 120m2. Little bit ridiculous, but I need workshop space in addition to clean storage for bikes and cars. Would definitely be interested in hearing your experience with SageGlass if you don't mind sharing?

Huge +1 from me. I've been working remotely for 5+ years now, and this point is my biggest learning. I know all too well how easy it is to over work and ramp up stress to unhealthy levels, so the separation was something I made very clear in the brief. Having the office outside of the main structure would be ace, but for now, keeping the study at the other side of the house should do the job.

Hadn't thought about that, but that could be a stroke of genius. No idea what the regs are for plant rooms, guessing they need to be fireproof and have decent ventilation, but not sure what else. If they can be underground then it could be the perfect solution to free up some precious garage space!

Okay, I can't ignore a bunch of you saying the same thing. I'll need to have another think about the bin situation as I hadn't properly considered it and neither had the architect. Wasn't aware of the requirement for a washing line. Good to know, thanks!

The wings offer shade to the huge expanses of glass, but mainly, they make the house look like a monolithic structure from Dune... Can't dress them up any better than that. You nailed the idea with lighting though, there will be a strip of lighting around the join between all wings and walls in an attempt to make them look like they're floating. Adding today's iteration of the floor plan. Building regs killed the hidden cinema room idea, but we're working on a compromise. I've also added the accessible shower room in the utility area, and created a bigger space for servers and house tech off the study. You're onto something with the tightness of the shower rooms. Looking to see what can be done now. Thanks!

Boiler/plant will either be in the garage unfortunately. Bins at the end of the driveway next to the gate into the plot. Zero fuel storage in the house minus 2 small cutouts in the living room and dining room. Don't plan to have a washing line. Storage is definitely something I'm a little nervous about, but I can't help but think that it won't be an issue given the size of the house. If I run out of space, I'm doing something far wrong! Interesting idea about swapping kitchen and study. I like the idea of the kitchen being the first thing you come to when entering via the Doocot as visitors would. Also like the idea of walking to work in the AM rather than rolling out of bed and into the room next door. Separation between work and play is important for me.

Leaning towards K91 or K58 Petersen Kolumba bricks c/w black stainless steel cladding for the roof, but Corten is definitely on the table. Good to know its difficult to work with. Estimate is currently £1.5M but I'm expecting that to change when we get a QS in to start running through materials and the build requirements.

My brief (and one of the planning conditions) was to hide the house from view when standing to the north and make it seem like the ruined Doocot is the only building on the plot. I thought the theatre of descending down into a big light filled space after driving up to a tiny little building would be pretty cool.

Thanks for pushing the point. Seems I haven't been giving solar gain enough thought, but i'll definitely raise with the architect and start thinking about a suitable plan. In my head solar gain would be a good thing as in Scotland, any heat is good heat. Especially at this time of year!