Calling all Charlie Luxton wannabes (or the real deal)

[mtnash]

Hi All,

 

I'm sure you've seen episodes of Charlie Luxtons TV programme, "Building the dream". There's a part in the show where Charlie sits down with the clients and a pen to look over their plans and make suggestions of ways to improve them.

 

I've created some plans (see attached) for a 4 bed detached new build and am now looking to get the Charlie Luxton treatment to gain some feedback and advice and make any improvements I can. The house is for a family of four on a south facing plot (approx 55m x 22m). Ideally I'd like the house to be as efficient as possible energy wise, i.e. high levels of air tightness and insulation and ASHP, etc.

 

As you may well notice, these plans are not from an architect, they are just my own drawings from an online floorplan tool with a view to taking them to an architect to get proper drawings made.

 

I'm no architect so feel free to make whatever comments you think would help. I've just seen a lot of plans over my time and know what it is we're looking for.

 

Many thanks in advance. I look forward to seeing what you think.

 

Ash

[DachaidhDubh]

Looks very efficient, my only small comments are would you want the flexibility of a downstairs shower (and bedroom by converting the office or large lounge) to accommodate people who may not be able to use the stairs?  In your family space next to the diner, would you want to point people towards the south facing view instead of having your back to it?  Where would you put all the families boots, coats etc?  

 

Good luck, we spent hundreds of hours looking at plans and designing our own, and will finally be starting building in a few months time!

[eandg]

I'm sure others will ask around orientation and the like but from a functional perspective it looks a well-thought out design with little wasted space and generous bedrooms. I'm not sure what benefit having two equally sized living areas are, rather than a larger, more formal/full family room and a snug though (albeit you might not be able to do that within the current footprint). From experience, I would personally prefer one large window rather than two in the master and bedrooms 3 and 4, which may also make furniture positioning a bit awkward. 

[Thorfun]

I don't like commenting on other's designs as I'm definitely not qualified. my comment is that if you're going to use an Architect and turn up with a plan like that you're basically asking him to draw up that plan and thus removing any extra design value that the architect might bring. I would suggest going to an architect with a brief of what you want and letting them design it without any preconceived ideas.

 

but I just wanted to say that I remember how exciting we were at this stage of designing and tried to come up with ideas, plans, layouts etc so I know how hard it is not to want to get stuck in straight away and put your ideas on paper.

 

Good luck with it all.

[Ferdinand]

The orientation question is the heffelump in the hosta.

 

From a Luxton angle, I'd say that your points where water plumbing is required could all be much closer together. That's a hell of a lot of pipe run, and you risk gurgling noises.

 

I think some added drama would be an improvement.

[the_r_sole]

31 minutes ago, mtnash said:

I'm no architect

 

You're in luck then because neither is Charlie Luxton! ?

[Ferdinand]

15 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

 

You're in luck then because neither is Charlie Luxton! ?

 

I gather he does have a BA in Architecture (Oxford Brookes), whatever that is, but did not do his "Part 3s". And an MA in Architecture from the RCA - also whatever that is.

 

I honestly don't know which bits that means he missed out on. It may be he has missed out on practical experience, or on the opportunity to give the pompous people at the RIBA oodlees of £££.

 

Let me do your reply:

 

"BA, humbug".

 

?

[ProDave]

Yes plot orientation, i.e. which way is north, where are the views?

 

I would turn the stairs round so they start by the front door and come up into the centre of the landing not right at the front.  That would allow you to have an open void above the front door making a double height space if you wanted to.

[TonyT]

Is this your forever house?

any plans for allowing you to utilise house when you are old/ ill /infirm?

 

some rooms have 2 small windows? 
why not make them bigger and 1 unit keeps installation costs down, and detailing around 2 windows instead of 1.

 

what about a larger porch with room so outer door can be closed prior to opening inner door and letting all the heat escape?

 

I also agree with Thorfun regarding giving Architect a brief, as opposed to a set of plans.

 

[NickK]

I have to say that seeing other people’s plans is super exciting for me as it gives me lots of food for thought when it comes my own build sometime in the future.

 

I don’t think it’s bad to create your own plans before going to the architect. If your chosen architect or architectural designer are good they can see pass that and still express their view of the brief and push the boat out - I.e. turn the ugly duckling into beautiful swan ?.

[Jason L]

The internal layout is a personal preference and to suit your needs.

Looking at the bigger picture and the elevations, a rectangular shape will look a bit plain, its good to introduce steps / projections,  If you plan to have a gabled roof, most do nowadays, you have a very wide gable, which can look a bit overbearing and the planners are not keen on wide gables.

Your Architect should be able to refine the plans to add some shame and interest and make to work. 

[mtnash]

Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas, it's much appreciated. Really interesting to hear others views.

 

re: orientation - the front of the plot faces primarily South, i.e. the plans are more or less oriented as you'd expect. Personally I'm not too bothered about this as whilst it'd be nice to have the sun at the rear in the winter I'm not convinced I'd want the sun streaming in through all of the glass in the rear in the summer. There's slightly better views to the East than West.

 

Any other input or questions would be greatly received.

[NickK]

I am not experienced enough to really comment but purely based on personal preference:

 

1) Fewer but larger windows look better than many small ones and probably gives you more light. (Air tightness may easier to achieve with fewer openings?)

 

2) Regardless whether it’s forever home or not, I think it’s important to have provision for downstairs decent sized bedroom with at least jack and Jill bathroom. I’d prefer it instead of making provision for lift.

 

3) This will be controversial, but I don’t understand UK obsession with so many bathrooms. I come from continental Europe where having maximum 2 bathrooms is good going. We are large family and never had issues. 

 

3) I would have main bathroom bigger than en-suite as it would be used more.

 

4) Agree with double height space at entrance by moving staircase round.

 

 

 

  

[mtnash]

1 hour ago, DachaidhDubh said:

Looks very efficient, my only small comments are would you want the flexibility of a downstairs shower (and bedroom by converting the office or large lounge) to accommodate people who may not be able to use the stairs?  In your family space next to the diner, would you want to point people towards the south facing view instead of having your back to it?  Where would you put all the families boots, coats etc?  

 

A number of people have mentioned the downstairs bedroom/bathroom, which I hadn't considered so food for thought.

 

To be honest, the family space next to the diner would be more of a play room space for the foreseeable future but think it offers the flexibility to reorient furniture in future.

 

Boots, coats, etc. would be kept in the storage to the left of the front door and also under stairs storage.

[NickK]

18 minutes ago, Jason L said:

If you plan to have a gabled roof, most do nowadays, you have a very wide gable, which can look a bit overbearing and the planners are not keen on wide gables.

Your Architect should be able to refine the plans to add some shame and interest and make to work. 

 

@Jason L at what point would you say gable gets too large? 

[mtnash]

The size/number of windows is an interesting one. The "smaller" windows are still 900mm each and personally thought having a pair of smaller windows each would look nicer but I'll now investigate this a bit more.

 

Was thinking of replicating an older style with narrower, taller windows and the roof ridge running across the house in slate, possibly even with chimneys at either end poorly for aesthetic reasons but I kind of love/hate that idea. Plus the front door would have a mini gable above it (hope that makes sense without the visuals).

[mtnash]

49 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I would turn the stairs round so they start by the front door and come up into the centre of the landing not right at the front.  That would allow you to have an open void above the front door making a double height space if you wanted to.

 

That was how I originally had it as I too liked the double height area. However, I switched it around as it left the top of the stairs right next to one of the bedroom doors and didn't know if that'd meet building regs considerations (I really don't know). Having switched it round I do kind of like the stairs being accessed more centrally which makes it feel a little more included in the house rather than being quite so separate.

[mtnash]

1 hour ago, TonyT said:

What about a larger porch with room so outer door can be closed prior to opening inner door and letting all the heat escape?

 

That's a really interesting point. I hate it when the door gets left open for whatever reason and I end up paying to heat the street. Will investigate. Thanks.

Edited January 27, 2021 by mtnash

[TonyT]

What about making the floor to ceiling height different to the normal 2.4m designed to fit a sheet of standard plasterboard( appreciate you get larger sizes)

[Jason L]

10 minutes ago, NickK said:

 

@Jason L at what point would you say gable gets too large? 

at say 7.5m, max 7m would be prefered

[Ferdinand]

10 minutes ago, NickK said:

 

@Jason L at what point would you say gable gets too large? 

 

Normally it gets too wide at the bottom. ? (Runs and hides). 

 

An alternative is deliberately to go for a roof slope of 25 to 30 degrees, rather than 40-50. As that is a different aesthetic, and will make the height lower. Not soo good if you have rooms in the roof.

[the_r_sole]

3 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

 

I gather he does have a BA in Architecture (Oxford Brookes), whatever that is, but did not do his "Part 3s". And an MA in Architecture from the RCA - also whatever that is.

 

I honestly don't know which bits that means he missed out on. It may be he has missed out on practical experience, or on the opportunity to give the pompous people at the RIBA oodlees of £££.

 

Let me do your reply:

 

"BA, humbug".

 

?

 

Good for him - I'd imagine it's much more lucrative to get on the telly than putting in the hours doing the boring bit, an enviable position - generally if you do the study and not the practical side, it's likely you haven't done the contractual side of things, or potentially a lot of the practical building stuff either.

 

Being a member of the RIBA gentlemen's club isn't a prerequisite of using the title either - they have zero relevance to me up here at least.... it's always amazing what people think you need to do or not to use the title

 

 

[Ferdinand]

17 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

 

Good for him - I'd imagine it's much more lucrative to get on the telly than putting in the hours doing the boring bit, an enviable position - generally if you do the study and not the practical side, it's likely you haven't done the contractual side of things, or potentially a lot of the practical building stuff either.

 

Being a member of the RIBA gentlemen's club isn't a prerequisite of using the title either - they have zero relevance to me up here at least.... it's always amazing what people think you need to do or not to use the title

 

 

 

Having bought some things from them, I would not call the RIBA "Gentlemen". ? 

[Mr Punter]

I would make the porch bigger and have it properly double fronted.

 

I had a Victorian house a while back that was a similar design but a bit smaller.  Sadly it was on a main road, the chimneys compromised some of the rooms and it cost a fortune to heat.

 

[mtnash]

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

 

To those commenting on the window size, the upstairs windows in this photo are the sort of look/size I was thinking but with a pair in most rooms due to their size. But I hadn't really considered it from an amount of light point of view or increased number of openings to make air tight or where to put furniture internally. All interesting points for consideration. Thanks