Thoughts on my draft floor plans?

[freshy]

Any comments appreciated.

 

I've already requested a few changes i.e. missing w/c under stairs, door to garage & utility to move between garage & kitchen area amongst other small things.

 

 



Edited August 28, 2020 by freshy

[Jml]

External door into utility room?

[freshy]

32 minutes ago, Jml said:

External door into utility room?

@Jml  Thanks, when the utility is repositioned. It will have 3 doors, one to the garage, the kitchen & external (right-hand side).

[ProDave]

Upstairs landing is vast.  Shrink it a bit and make bedrooms 1 and 2 bigger.

[freshy]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Upstairs landing is vast.  Shrink it a bit and make bedrooms 1 and 2 bigger.

Yes! Agree. Upstairs needs more work. I'm planning to reduce the landing & insert a first floor utility room for washer/dryer.

[Bozza]

The kitchen is huge but with the majority of units facing walls, so person in there will mainly have back to windows/view outside/guests & family in dining area.  The C shaped bit (garage wall) could  be quite dark.  Utility could feel like a never ending corridor and appears excessively big/long.

 

If you moved the utility between kitchen & garage, you could create a panty and a smaller utility room (noting you intend to have a laundry room upstairs).    Your kitchen therefore could consist of a bank of mainly higher units and a massive double depth seating island.  Whoever cooks therefore would be mainly facing into a fantastic spacious dining kitchen with the windows / views.  

 

Probably would be cheaper to do as would need less kitchen units.  very rough sketch attached just to provoke an alternative idea.

 

[freshy]

@Bozza Excellent! Thanks.

[Ferdinand]

At the moment it feels a little raw - like a whisky still needing a bit longer in the barrel to become vintage, as if you need to think about how you live your life now and in the future eg do some scenario plans (eg "two people working from home", "after retirement with one person in a wheelchair".). I would also suggest exploring houses you find attractive with a tape measure or carry a laser measure. A common thing that we self-builders do is incorporate extra space without really making it work for the money it cost us.

 

I think you may want a larger bathroom / ensuite if you want to spend time there socially with partner - and in a house that size imo you need at least one bath.

 

Double doors can be awkward if you find yourself opening both more than is convenient - eg need to put down a tray. Each half needs really to be normal door width.

 

I would consider having the landing done to incorporate a workspace somewhere, and the stairs less central.

 

And I'm not really sure about that quantity of bifolds. Suspect that at least some of them will never be opened.

 

There's lots of detailed stuff but which will change later anyway - kids will turn that utility into an archery range or skittle ally. Which may be fine ?.

 

You also need to consider the sun and views. If you don't have them on the plan we cannot comment.

 

Overall I like the concepts, but I think you are at about 70% if potential. Let it steep for a bit.

 

40 sqm is a huge house. Do you need it? Build cost will be 450k to 900k.

 

HTH

 

F

Edited August 28, 2020 by Ferdinand

[freshy]

@Ferdinand I appreciate the feedback, some real good helpful advice there... I already carry a laser measure with me! ? 

 

I'll be sharing my second draft with updates in due course.

 

Thanks all.

 

 

 

 

[Mr Punter]

It looks huge.  At the moment there is not that much the I really love about it.  Does it look good from the outside?  Perhaps look at some front elevations you like for this house size around the location you are going to build in.  Check out Rightmove and see what you find excites you.

[Bozza]

22 hours ago, freshy said:

@Bozza Excellent! Thanks.

Just to add a bit more for you freshy, in addition to the other comments.    I’m assuming you have a big budget because you’re looking at building such a big house.  As a result you want to build something impressive.  That’s understandable.  But big is not always impressive, I once went into someone’s self build who clearly were wealthy and their living room was easily 8x8m. It had two sofas and a tv in it, plus a couple of bits of furniture.   It looked like a looted furniture store it was so unwelcoming.  Unless you specifically need something so huge with so many huge living rooms downstairs, I would think about the space a bit more. 
 

A house of that size demands an impressive master suite with walk in wardrobe/dressing area.  You definitely need a large family bathroom.  Upstairs has a feel of a Travelodge.  You need more storage both downstairs and upstairs.   Double height / vaulted hallway?   

If that design was done by a qualified architect as a blank page creative design, I’d be a little concerned unless he was specifically told to draw that layout.  
 

With that size of build you could easily build something stunning. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Conor]

 

 

 You've a lot of big windows and bifolds on the ground floor. I can't tell where north is. Has overheating been modelled? You'll need to spec very high spec triple glazed units if you don't want over heating in the summer and big heat losses in the winter. Our 3G bifolds are coming in at just under £10k for 5m span for top spec.

 

In such a large house, insulation and airtightness will be critical in keeping running costs down. Has your architect discussed this with you? What levels of insulation are you aiming for?

 

As for layout... It's all a bit ordinary tbh.. but I've a irrational distaste of square, hipped roof houses! You've limited scope with that form and they all end up the same. Is that a planning restriction or choice?

 

I'd be expecting a large walk in wardrobe/dressing room for the master, and the 8m long living room is too big unless you plan to separate it with furniture like a tall bookcase.. You'd be looking to have at least 3m high ceilings in there or it'll feel like a cave.

 

I don't think the kitchen is optimised. You'll want to see a kitchen designer sooner rather than later. Never found architects any good at kitchen layouts.  I'd have a separate walk in larder/pantry rather than a single utility, and have the functional areas and island much closer together. You've space for a decent sized island with informal dining table attached (opposite of a breakfast bar). Function of utility and pantry are very different and you've got the floor are to easily have both. 

 

Boot room? Always good to have the mucky stuff come off in the same place in the house so mess of shoes, coats etc can be contained. A must in our design brief.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by Conor

[freshy]

Just some more context around the plans, the draft plans are based (more or less) on the footprint of the approved pair of semi's for the plot, as for budget I'm aiming for £1000/Sqm using contractors and DIY.

 

My requirements were for a double garage, cinema room, drawing room and open plan kitchen/dinner/lounge. I wanted to keep the design simple from a cost perspective, knowing this is not my forever home (max 10yrs). This is a reasonable amount of time so I do want some niceties to enjoy, I see this is a stepping stone to learn from before I build my final home.

 

I've had to scale back my plans already (double height/vaulted ceiling, basement, etc..) as my initial designs were far too ambitious for the local area (SL3). I have looked at many local properties and spoken to estate agents, the current size & outline design are inline with local demographics.

 

I'm trying to reach a happy medium if there is such a thing, I hope this makes sense.

 

All your feedback is thus far is much appreciated. ?

 

[freshy]

17 minutes ago, Conor said:

As for layout... It's all a bit ordinary tbh.. but I've a irrational distaste of square, hipped roof houses! You've limited scope with that form and they all end up the same. Is that a planning restriction or choice?

@Conor Thanks for the feedback, some very good points. 

 

Planning restrictions as I'm replacing a bungalow, I'm aiming for 2.7m ceilings.

 

Architect keeps reminding me about windows & heat gain/loss.

 

Agree about the kitchen designer hopefully see one next week.

 

I'm not happy with the upstairs at the moment as my wife wants a walk-in, large bathroom, etc, so this will have the biggest change.

 

I'm truly thankful with all this feedback, I can't even begin to imagine how bad the final design would have been! ?

 

 

 

[Mr Punter]

Regarding the money side of things, £1,000 a metre is very ambitious as a build cost.  Unless you do most yourself and have very good industry contacts you may find that could be doubled.

 

In your area you may achieve £5,000 a metre for the resale.

 

Out of the 364 detached houses sold in the SL3 postcode in the past 5 years, only 5 fetched more than £1,300,000.

 

I suggest you could look at this as a ceiling figure and work backwards to find the optimum property size, being about 260m2.

 

If you could get a second house on the plot then all the better.

[ash_scotland88]

Looks a bit McMansionish

No guest loo?

[freshy]

1 hour ago, ash_scotland88 said:

Looks a bit McMansionish

 

I feel a bit like that too. There are 3 separate new builds (all 600sqm+), within 1/3 mile radius, due to be completed this year. I would hate to think what they would feel like if mine is too big.

 

Trying to stay focused on my build, these are my first draft plans & I'm aiming to incorporate a lot of the valuable feedback in the next version.

 

Thank you.

 

 

[freshy]

4 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

If you could get a second house on the plot then all the better.

 

The previous owner tried that & failed, best was a pair of semi's.

[AliG]

This will change a lot as you refine it.

 

The most obvious thing is at the moment you have marked no storage at all.

 

Even moving the utility room next to the garage, what would you do with a 5.4m long utility room. I would split it into a utility and plant room.

 

Personally I would rather the toilet was not stuck under the stairs in such a large house. It is a room a very high percentage of visitors will use and so I think people don't give it enough space often.

 

I agree with most of the already made points re bifolds, better master bedroom etc.

 

I would add, double doors into a cinema room is not a good idea, they are normally glass, you want to be able to make it dark.

 

All those little areas where the ground floor sticks out past the edge of the roof will require lots of steel beams and little flat roofs which will be awkward/expensive to build. Especially that bit at the side which creates an almost 10m span. It kind of looks like a side extension.

 

As hinted at 8.2m is too long for a lounge, you will end up with large gaps at the end. It also has so many windows and doors that you would struggle to put furniture in it. It is often useful to think about the furniture you want and how it would fit.

 

[freshy]

I've lost count on what version I'm at.. This is the latest, thoughts and opinions appreciated. ?

 

[Mr Punter]

Is this a knock down and rebuild?  If so, it would be nicer not to have sloping ceilings throughout the first floor.

 

When I looked at this earlier it seemed like you could achieve £5k per metre.  If you budget 2.5k build costs you may arrive at the ideal size property.

 

I have only ever made the sums work out when demolishing 1 and building 3 but I have to make a living from this.

[freshy]

21 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

Is this a knock down and rebuild?  If so, it would be nicer not to have sloping ceilings throughout the first floor.

 

When I looked at this earlier it seemed like you could achieve £5k per metre.  If you budget 2.5k build costs you may arrive at the ideal size property.

 

I have only ever made the sums work out when demolishing 1 and building 3 but I have to make a living from this.

Yes, It's a knock down & rebuild.

 

Planning restrictions = chalet bungalow style and we are building it to live in.

[Mr Punter]

Good news is there should not be any CIL and if you demolish you should get the VAT back.

 

The stair being open plan may be an issue with building regs fire and also sound and kitchen smells going upstairs, which I would not want in a larger house.

 

If it is what you want and the layout suits, go for it.

 

Personally I like that there is some separation between the kitchen dining and the lounge.  It will be interesting to see how this scheme looks externally.  Only you know what works for you.

[freshy]

Thanks, some good points. ?

 

The stairs, I'm struggling with the most, initially they were coming up from the hallway. 

 

I'll post the first floor plan and external scheme soon as I can.

[Adsibob]

On 28/08/2020 at 12:30, Ferdinand said:

 

I think you may want a larger bathroom / ensuite if you want to spend time there socially with partner - and in a house that size imo you need at least one bath.

I agree. I also don’t understand why all four bedrooms need an en-suite. Getting rid of one of them makes space for a larger en-suite off the master bedroom. You could then have a jack and Jill bathroom or a family bathroom instead of the two others.