3.2m wide room too narrow

[Amateur bob]

a friend has drawn up a plan for me im concerned by the 3.2m wide room x 11m long that it could be too narrow what are peoples thoughts? ill attach plan

New House - Ground Floor (6).pdf

[Conor]

Our main kitchen and living area is basically the same size (but 5m wide at kitchen end) Would like it a little wider but we can make it work. The key is management of foot traffic in the space... We've positioned doors so there is no through traffic at the far end where sofa, TV etc will be.

 

That dining space will be one of the most trafficked areas in the house... They'll most likely have to have a small dining table that's pushed in against the wall 90% of the time. I'd be tempted to put kitchen in the middle, and dining where kitchen was. But all depends on how they using dining space.... I find most people don't use big dining areas anyway.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Conor

[nod]

15 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

a friend has drawn up a plan for me im concerned by the 3.2m wide room x 11m long that it could be too narrow what are peoples thoughts? ill attach plan

New House - Ground Floor (6).pdf 147.99 kB · 1 download

Yes to narrow 

It would look like a tunnel 

[SteamyTea]

My living room is 3.5m wide, once you take out the stair case, it is about 2.8m, totally useless space really, it is just a corridor.

[Mr Punter]

4.0m is what we have and it works fine.

 

[Carrerahill]

22 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

a friend has drawn up a plan for me im concerned by the 3.2m wide room x 11m long that it could be too narrow what are peoples thoughts? ill attach plan

New House - Ground Floor (6).pdf 147.99 kB · 4 downloads

I think the whole ground floor could be better designed to give larger feeling rooms. Do you desperately want the utility room, could an under stair utility cupboard work for washer/drier for example - or a cupboard off the hall using some of the space currently occupied by the utility? Or a cupboard upstairs for laundry. You could then push the kitchen cabinets further back into the utility space and make the study/bedroom bigger. Id's also be tempted to have kitchen/dining and then open up the family and lounge area into a big front to back lounge while maintaining a good space in the kitchen/dining. 

 

I also think you could possibly do a straight stair, possibly from the dining/kitchen - incorporate kitchen cabinets into the void beneath and use the space in the hall to have a smaller utility for example.

 

You could re-plan this floor all day I suppose. I don't know what you want, you may love it. I'd also consider carefully your lounge door position and check it isn't going to open directly into an area you may want a couch etc. 

 

 

 

[Big Jimbo]

20 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

My living room is 3.5m wide, once you take out the stair case, it is about 2.8m, totally useless space really, it is just a corridor.

Steamy Tea. You always make me laugh, so thank you. Most of us say, i did this, and its brill, or my house is great because of x. You however, are always having a dig at your poor house. Lucky for you it it can't talk back. please don't stop though, It always makes me smile, and we need more things in the world to help us do that. Your posts and the other one about "walk on glazing" are priceless.

[Bitpipe]

Our living / dining area is 10.5m long and 3.5m wide at the narrowest (where hall door is) , however most of it is 4m ish. Two 4.5m sliders break up the back wall and the room flows into the kitchen at the dining side and study (via glazed doors) on the living side so not an enclosed space, more of a L or U depending on how you view it.

 

However feels and looks fine - yours should work especially if your family room is a cul-de-sac and not a through route.

 

Can you comfortably get a couple of couches and a tv into the family room, maybe a bookcase etc along the wall for storage? If not consider pushing the living room wall in a bit to widen the family room - depends which gets most use. 

[SteamyTea]

28 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

You however, are always having a dig at your poor house

Not my house, it is the useless architects that designed it.  They fell into the trap that small is cheaper, though they also knew that they would never live in something so small.

How much would an extra 7m² really cost.

[Temp]

 I think building regs require walls over a certain length to have a pier, pillar or wall at right angles. Think that's about 11m but check part A.

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, Temp said:

 I think building regs require walls over a certain length to have a pier, pillar or wall at right angles. Think that's about 11m but check part A.

im just over 11 so will a need one?

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

Our living / dining area is 10.5m long and 3.5m wide at the narrowest (where hall door is) , however most of it is 4m ish. Two 4.5m sliders break up the back wall and the room flows into the kitchen at the dining side and study (via glazed doors) on the living side so not an enclosed space, more of a L or U depending on how you view it.

 

However feels and looks fine - yours should work especially if your family room is a cul-de-sac and not a through route.

 

Can you comfortably get a couple of couches and a tv into the family room, maybe a bookcase etc along the wall for storage? If not consider pushing the living room wall in a bit to widen the family room - depends which gets most use. 

i wouldnt really want to make the lounge any smaller though its already on the small side, what do you think of the idea to remove wall between kitchen and utility to make kitchen bigger?

[Temp]

4 hours ago, Amateur bob said:

im just over 11 so will a need one?

 

I can't answer that. I had a quick look in Approved Doc A....

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429060/BR_PDF_AD_A_2013.pdf

 

But its not easy to find where its mentioned. One bit implies 8m.

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Temp

[Amateur bob]

On 26/11/2019 at 14:08, nod said:

Yes to narrow 

It would look like a tunnel 

would a window at the end of the family room and different flooring from kitchen help to break it up a bit?

[nod]

8 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

would a window at the end of the family room and different flooring from kitchen help to break it up a bit?

Yes a window would help

A change of flooring would also help 

[puntloos]

Take my comment with large amounts of salt, not an architect, but "clearly" it would be better if your fam/din/kit area was wider, but I guess it depends on which rooms you expect to be in, most of the time. My family primarily uses the family area and a lounge would be very occasional.

 

If you're like me, then indeed emphasize living area. And, to me it seems you can:

 

1/ make straight stairs, running roughly from dining entrance to front door. 

2/ Cloak/toilet under the stairs.

3/ Lounge takes a hit of say 1m - 3x4 isn't bad. Can even move the side wall a bit more to the right (with my suggested stair design)

4/ Utility will probably be compromised. I don't have a great answer there, but perhaps worth considering putting it behind the kitchen

[Amateur bob]

On 30/11/2019 at 00:39, puntloos said:

Take my comment with large amounts of salt, not an architect, but "clearly" it would be better if your fam/din/kit area was wider, but I guess it depends on which rooms you expect to be in, most of the time. My family primarily uses the family area and a lounge would be very occasional.

 

If you're like me, then indeed emphasize living area. And, to me it seems you can:

 

1/ make straight stairs, running roughly from dining entrance to front door. 

2/ Cloak/toilet under the stairs.

3/ Lounge takes a hit of say 1m - 3x4 isn't bad. Can even move the side wall a bit more to the right (with my suggested stair design)

4/ Utility will probably be compromised. I don't have a great answer there, but perhaps worth considering putting it behind the kitchen

ive been looking at many town houses for sale and was surprised how many kitchen diners are even narrower than mine, many are 2.7m wide, personally i wouldnt want to make the lounge any smaller as i feel it should be the main room at night for watching tv etc and the kitchen diner/family room more for meals and tv before hand/entertaining, im thinking of facing the house west so the lounge gets the sun at night and the kitchen/diner gets it in the morning what do you think about this idea? thanks

[puntloos]

15 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

ive been looking at many town houses for sale and was surprised how many kitchen diners are even narrower than mine, many are 2.7m wide, personally i wouldnt want to make the lounge any smaller as i feel it should be the main room at night for watching tv etc and the kitchen diner/family room more for meals and tv before hand/entertaining, im thinking of facing the house west so the lounge gets the sun at night and the kitchen/diner gets it in the morning what do you think about this idea? thanks

 

As any actual Architect will say, it depends a ton on your lifestyle. For example, my reality is that I only am in my 'lounge' (office) when I need to separate myself from my family and do work. at any other time, cooking, chatting, watching tv with family, so we have one main big living space, aimed at the sun as much as we can. Instead, if you plan to remove yourself from your kitchen area the moment you're done, then emphasis on the lounge makes a lot of sense.

 

No truly right answer here I suspect. Your design sounds OK, it's just that I feel both areas are compromised a bit, where I personally would go for one non-compromising large area and just 'ignore' the other.