New build design - thoughts welcome!

[Radian]

38 minutes ago, AppleDown said:

Chimney - we like the design, but agreed that air quality and practicality win here

 

I would also add that in our drive to reduce carbon emissions, a chimney - even a fake one - sends all the wrong signals into the future. I only mention this to assist you in 'letting go' of the idea.

[ETC]

Once more with feeling……….

[AppleDown]

12 hours ago, ETC said:

Once more with feeling……….

 

Definitely given us more to think about. The bedroom section of the house makes sense, and does keep it all quite standard and simple. Really appreciate the input and effort.

[ETC]

[Dave Jones]

unimaginative design for such a nice plot. 

[AppleDown]

3 hours ago, Dave Jones said:

unimaginative design for such a nice plot. 

Any suggestions on how to improve? Lots of restrictions which have lead to the current design - so any ideas are appreciated.

[AppleDown]

12 hours ago, ETC said:

We do really like this - and the modular aspect is something we both originally wanted. Another potential issue is ridge height of the current property on the land, 6.2m and we can probably get away with a little more.

[Dave Jones]

14 minutes ago, AppleDown said:

Any suggestions on how to improve? Lots of restrictions which have lead to the current design - so any ideas are appreciated.

 

find another architect.

[AppleDown]

2 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

 

find another architect.

Thanks - very helpful.

[ETC]

[AppleDown]

3 hours ago, ETC said:

Looks great - really like the modular separation, as well as the extension of the outer end walls and roofline past the footprint. We've got some great examples now to go back to our architect with. He's actually been really good at listening to our feedback and ideas, so I'm hopeful we'll get something better. Will update once we have something - or if we have more questions!

[Big Jimbo]

@ETC Great job.

[Iceverge]

I spent some time yesterday playing with the design and the architect has done an aesthetically nice job really. 

 

Although not the cheapest or easiest to build, the stepped sizes of the 3 blocks are quite harmonious. Anything I drew became quite plain in comparison. See this sketch. The original is nicer. 

 

 

 

Eliminating the chimney might make it tricky to look well although maybe a box dormer or similar to the ensuite/dressing room  would make it work. 

 

 

I've been playing with the ground floor. See what you think. 

 

 

Swapping the "cut" in the gable wall will give a nice covered and hidden area outside the utility for any welly boots etc. Getting rid of the small corridor by the backdoor would keep it the same size . 

 

Make the utility a long "walk through room". It'll naturally keep itself tidier then and you'll have plenty of wall space for storage/work areas.  I would dispense with the separate plant room and put the MVHR,  water/ASHP/Boiler in there too. A hoist up drying rack could be included in the vaulted ceiling in the North End too maybe. 

 

I've done rationalising of the windows too. Hopefully eliminating a need for too many depleated carbon uranium diamond coated nanotube spacegel skyhooks which architects like to use to hold stuff up.  

 

The corner windows are gone too. Mainly because I'm a dryballs, but also they're hard to get right thermally and structurally. Perhaps before you commit to them explore how to build them without serious cost or thermal bridging. 

 

 

[ETC]

Still don’t like it.

[ETC]

[Iceverge]

1 hour ago, ETC said:

Still don’t like it.

 

The elevation I drew was one for the bin. I might try again if I get a moment. 

 

@AppleDownHow about the adjusted layout?  Any thoughts? 

 

 

On 28/04/2023 at 08:19, AppleDown said:

Other considerations are that it's in a conservation area

 

Maybe tell us more about the style of this conservation area. Some pics might help. 

[ETC]

43 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

 

The elevation I drew was one for the bin. I might try again if I get a moment. 

 

@AppleDownHow about the adjusted layout?  Any thoughts? 

 

 

 

Maybe tell us more about the style of this conservation area. Some pics might help. 

Don’t like the layout or elevations - both of them. Quite contrived.

[Bozza]

Ok…so…

 

if you love the architecture, and the layout is perfect for you..I would 100% encourage you to build what you love if it is this house.  That’s the whole point of self building.

 

….but I would equally encourage you to rethink this design completely.

without even meeting you, and I am no architect, it seems very little consideration has been given as to your circumstances.  Small child / young family / dog.  Your architect has given you what feels like a 70s bungalow that has been extended, resulting in some weird long rooms and long distances to walk to/from different key areas.  Distance (and separate floors) between master bedroom and young child’s bedroom for example. That’s quite poor actually.  
The strange thing is that you like what @ETCcame up with and that’s totally different to what your architect came up with, and is in my opinion 100x better.  Did your architect come up with a few different indicative designs or get a feel for the style you like.  Or did he just give you that design.   I think you’re building it in a garden so I assume the idea is to match what’s already there.  If that’s the case you may have limitations with the exterior design but not so much the layout.  For a young family you need a design that is flexible as everyone gets older.  What is currently an office may be a bedroom in future for example.  I don’t see any multi functionality in that design.  Sorry if coming across all negative genuinely trying to encourage you to get the best design you can.

 

I would encourage you to rethink entirely, as opposed to tweaking.

 

likes of Etc can only go on what we see in your post.  Plot pics including adjacent house would help us to help you better. 

 

 

 

[Andehh]

Always an important rule in self building, everyone has an opinion... But its your choice, and build it for you! 

 

BuildHub disapproved of our designs, for fair reasons, but our bespoke needs/wants meant we took the good ideas, but stuck with our core option. A year later, and it's coming together, and we love it!! 

 

stick with what you want, but do ensure you take counter factuals into consideration to ensure you are totally sure. 

[Kelvin]

Yes this is a really good point. There are four types of objections generally. 1. Technically wrong so don’t do it. 2. Complex design so expensive to build. 3. Inefficient design so expensive to heat/cool. 4. Opinions on style. 
 

1. Definitely change it. 
2. Make sure your financials add up and you can afford it. If money no real barrier crack on. 
3. Take it into account and try and mitigate or not. 
4. Take on board or ignore. 
 

 

[AliG]

@AppleDown it would really help people if you came back with some info on who will be living in the house, where you spend tme and how long you plan to live there, understanding that plans change.

 

If you are a retired couple looking for a house with a couple of spare rooms, versus having young children and working from home, this really should impact the internal layout. Also do you plan to live there forever or sell it at some point?

 

It looks to me like your architect has worked from the outside in. You wanted a certain look and then rooms were fitted into the house that was designed. This has resulted in a compromised internal layout. @ETCsuggested layout looks much better.

 

When we designed our house, I gave the architect a list of the rooms we wanted with rough sizes. I then let him design a house around them. Our thinking was that we live in the house, but he is an expert on design. Consistently we have found that we have had to push him on practical aspects e.g the size we wanted bathrooms to be, whilst he is vastly better than us when it comes to aesthetics. This reflects the fact that we will live in the house not the architect and are better placed to decide what kind of space we will need, not withstanding he will also have useful input.

[AppleDown]

Thanks everyone - all very good points. @Iceverge appreciate your help with the drawings too.

 

I won't quote everyone, but answers to most questions below:

 

Photos - I can't seem to find the photos we sent the architect so we please accept some obscure angles used for selling a car! I'll try and get better ones when next visiting. Also another photo looking at the plot from the SE corner where we were playing with layout on the grass. The house is where the monopitch and triangular shapes come from.

 

Us and usage - two 30 somethings, 7 month old (probably stick to just the one) and a lab. Study/office needed as I WFH 4 out of 5 days, and wife will WFH 2 days also (so needs to fit both of us in there). 3rd bedroom is seen as playroom/bedroom, so pull out sofa is fine (but needs to fit a double bed). When not in the study/office area, we probably spend our time 60/40 in the lounge and kitchen/diner respectively.

 

Rooms we 100% want and spec:

 

Utility/plant - needs to be big enough for washer and dryer, plus a small low level shower area for the dog (trust me, it's needed), and plant will house DHW cylinder fed from ASHP, MVHR and network hub.

 

Study/office - needs to fit two of us and our desks/chairs

 

Master suite - we want to maximise this space to be our own little getaway hub. I know it was mentioned before that some prefer the master being near other rooms for their kids etc. but we don't see that as an issue, it's not like it's 100 metres away. We love that the current design has the walkway over the hall.

 

Lounge/kitchen - we see the kitchen/diner as one big open space, and the lounge as an area we can relax and watch TV. Current design is OK, and we've already noted some pocket doors/double doors between the two.

 

Layout on plot - the current design is too close to the current house, so we want to pull this back.

 

Our thoughts on layout - attached is what we've put together based on an altered version of the architects plan. Has everything we need in a more simple design. External - @ETC we want to use your 'EAST FRONT' on the attached pics for the utility/plant and all the way back to the kitchen, that gives one uniform module, with a nice vaulted ceiling for the kitchen area. Middle section will stay similar to the architects design - but the rear would be a box/rectangular dormer to give the headroom on the second floor and also allow a bit more style. From our POV it makes most sense to have the first floor mass in the centre of the build rather than on either side. Then the west side of the house will be mono-pitch as in the architects drawing at the front (giving that lovely shape/height internally), join up to the current middle section of the roof, and then return to mono-pitch at the rear with the new extended section for the bedroom.

 

But all of that will most likely change as always!

[ETC]

Had a bit of fun with your own layout this afternoon. Put a different set of clothes on it. Haven’t read your comments above but will do once I post this picture-take with a big pinch of salt please-letting my imagination run away with me.

[ETC]

[ETC]

I think you might be missing a trick here -you’ve a massive hall-far bigger than it needs to be, you have an internal wc the back door and the living room is facing north.

 

The idea to have the full gable from the utility right through to the kitchen is - in my opinion a waste of the feature.

 

If it was me I’d move the living room to the back and the bedrooms to the front and probably hand the plan so that you get morning light into the bedrooms. At the moment they face west and will only get evening light.

 

I also think the house form - with hips everywhere and a room in the roof space will be expensive. You will more than likely need steel hips.

 

I’d also give the Gf wc a window, create some kind of shelter to both the front and rear doors. You will curse every time it’s raining and you have an armful of groceries.

 

I’d also look again at the location of the study - it would be nice to have it overlooking the garden rather than the driveway.

 

ETC.