A very boxy house in Devon

[DevonKim]

Good evening all, 

 

I am (hopefully) going to be the owner of a nice, flat plot in Devon soon.  The plot is about 0.2 acres, and the plot passport allows me to build up to 150m2 footprint. 

 

I can't afford / don't want something that big, but I do want to maximise the garden. 

 

Just to give a bit of context, I am messy, and would like a reasonable bit of space, but I live alone, so don't need a huge house.  I don't like en-suites, but want a big utility room so that when I come in from a walk covered in crud and dripping wet I can enter the house through the utility. I work from home, so need an office.  I want it to be simple to build, and cost effective, but with a few "pretty bits".  It is at the back end of a fair sized estate full of boxy houses, so won't look out of place!  

 

I want solar on the S facing roofs. 

 

The house has been designed with that sort of thing in mind.  

 

The back of the plot faces S, so I have designed this house as an L shape, with the inside of the L facing south, giving a private area.  The main "box" is 2 storey with attic trusses, which will be white render, and there is a single storey "shippon" style part at the back.  The single storey bit is the kitchen, which will have a vaulted roof, and will be timber clad.  Plans and plot layout below.  At the moment, the windows are a bit messy, so they need tidying.  

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't too sure what this might look like, so I made a scale model, I'm just hoping that the real thing will be better build quality! 

 

 

 

 

I'd be interested in some feedback here, and have a few questions

 

Internal layout

I have been doing some research on fire regs and what they mean for a 3 storey house like this, and I think I will have to have a fire door (or doors if I want a double door) between the kitchen and the living room.  Double fire doors are expensive, but a lot cheaper than a sprinkler system.  I assume that the planners won't be particularly bothered about things like that, so can I adjust minor details of the internal layout between planning permission and ordering the frame?  

 

Orientation on the plot

I need to go back and lay it out either on the plot, or on a proper large scale plan before its position on the plot is finally fixed.  This will also depend on what access I am able to negotiate, as the key bit will be getting the van onto its space.    It may slide a few meters one way or another, or turn by a few degrees to make it sit well on the plot.  Again, how much of an issue is that likely to be?  

 

Value engineering

Is there anything that will be particularly expensive about this design?  Are the room sizes sensible for construction?  Will I need any steel anywhere?  Is there anything that I haven't spotted / need to be aware of?  Does this design look as though it should work?  

 

Comments appreciated! 

 

Kim

 

 

 

[ProDave]

If you want value, the little entrance "extension" will cost more per square metre than other bits of the build and add little of value.

 

Consider designing the layout so you can add a second floor and another bedroom to the single storey rear annex.

[Thorfun]

tap up @ETC as he offered to help members with designs and, from what I've seen so far from other posts, his ideas have been brilliant.

 

 

[Moonshine]

2 hours ago, DevonKim said:

Comments appreciated! 

 

I have two very initial ones.

 

1) upstairs shower enterance looks crowded, i would look into the layout of it.

 

2) i would really think about putting bi folds in the kitchen out the the garden, adds £££ but would really make it a nice space.

 

Edit: got nosey and figured out where you are, great location and have visited the main builders site a couple of times professionally.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Moonshine

[SteamyTea]

2 hours ago, DevonKim said:

I want solar on the S facing roofs. 

The main roof does not look that large, roof area is your friend with solar.

Shading, of any sort, is your enemy.

 

[Adsibob]

This shape building means your ratio of perimeter to volume is quite high. In other words, every internal room of the house has at least two external walks and in some case three or four. That will make it less efficient from a heating perspective. But if you invest in a lot of insulation, you will be fine, just giving you the heads up that you want to be relying on at least 125mm of EWI. Others will advise better than me.

[ETC]

Let me know if I can help in any way.
 

The main roof is pitching the “wrong way”.

Three storey means you’ll need a protected staircase - difficult (but not impossible) to achieve with trusses.

Very small office in an out of the way location. I’d move it if you intend to spend a lot of time in it.

A bit of “wasted space in the kitchen/dining and living room.

Consider a single volume rather than multiple off-shoots. More economical.

Why three-storey? Why not a single or two-storey dwelling?

[Adsibob]

3 hours ago, DevonKim said:

Double fire doors are expensive, but a lot cheaper than a sprinkler system.  I assume that the planners won't be particularly bothered about things like that, so can I adjust minor details of the internal layout between planning permission and ordering the frame?  

You could also consider a fire curtain in certain circumstances. Cheaper than sprinkler system, but more expensive than FDs.

 Yes, planners won’t care, but you will if you later realise there is a better use of space that requires you to amend your plans. I wouldn’t rush this stage, it’s REALLY important.

[DevonKim]

Thank you for the comments so far folks, much appreciated. 

 

@ETC, I have seen you work magic on some of the other plans on here, so I'd be grateful for any improvements / suggestions 🙂 

 

The roof pitches N /S so that I have got a really good S facing slope for solar.  I have to have the front of the house facing the road, so that is why I have ended up with the odd roof pitch.  Its a slightly moot point on my plot, as I don't have a road frontage, but I am trying to hit the spirit of the planning conditions.  

 

The L shape is to make the most of the plot, as I am keen to have private area at the back of the house, in the L.  I did think long and hard about the single volume, but I wasn't able to make it look anything other than a big box - I'd be really interested to see what you might be able to come up with.  The other thing for me is that I want more downstairs space than upstairs, and I love the look of a vaulted kitchen.  It was a bit of an attempt to make it faux Devon vernacular in style too!  Possibly a misguided attempt. 

 

The garden, and making the most of the sunny area is pretty important;  as you can see there are two root protection areas too.  This is why I want to get the house as close to the Northern boundary as possible. Again, this is why the main block is 3 storey (most volume for footprint).  There are quite a few 3 storey buildings on the main estate, so it fits with the local development too.  

 

It would be great to see what you might be able to come up with 🙂 

[DevonKim]

@Moonshine

 

Yes, I agree about that access to upstairs bathroom, thank you!  I'm glad you agree about the location too.