Hello from Perthshire

[ETC]

Central living space - bedrooms to each end.

[ProDave]

So this is a concept of the accommodation you would like.  Not much point going much further until you actually have a plot.

 

Some key things with a plot are where south is, to get the sun, and where the views are.  Until you know that you don't even know which room wants to face where.  Don't assume you must have rooms facing front and back, our best view is out of the side to the west down the glen to the mountains.  Part of the positioning and angling of the house on the plot was so we could see down the glen in front of the house next door to achieve that.

 

Point taken about stairs being "non productive" space, but we had already decided on a 1.5 storey house so stairs is a given, it was a case of make all rooms open to the hall or landing in the most efficient way (i.e. directly) without corridors or multiple doors to pass through.

 

Try to imagine a lot of rooms might have notional names assigned to them, but a downstairs bedroom could equally make a good office or additional reception room if not actually needed as a bedroom.

 

And it is important to either try and follow the local vernacular, or design something totally different (like the examples above)

 

Re cheap to build on plots, dead flat is not always the best. Our plot was on a slope, which gave a perfect place to use all the excavated soil to make it less of a slope for the finished garden.  No muck away costs.

[jaymd_123]

6 minutes ago, nod said:

Definitely 

SE is a must Most will do your BC submission if required A lot cheaper than an Architect 

This is great confirmation. Getting mixed reviews for my floorplans - I'm all ears. Hoping to get enough feedback on here to make suitable changes so I don't need to get an architect involved.

[jaymd_123]

5 minutes ago, ETC said:

A couple of sketches I’ve done in the past.

 

 

These are nice. A lot like the ones I created in the past. The problem I found with this layout is space. I have two kids with another on the way. Ideally, I would cluster their bedrooms in a way that isn't disturbed by the rest of the house.

 

13 minutes ago, ETC said:

Leave it with me. I’ll sketch a few ideas.

I would love to see what you can do to help us improve our idea. Genuinely, would deeply appreciate it.

[jaymd_123]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

So this is a concept of the accommodation you would like.  Not much point going much further until you actually have a plot.

 

Some key things with a plot are where south is, to get the sun, and where the views are.  Until you know that you don't even know which room wants to face where.  Don't assume you must have rooms facing front and back, our best view is out of the side to the west down the glen to the mountains.  Part of the positioning and angling of the house on the plot was so we could see down the glen in front of the house next door to achieve that.

 

Point taken about stairs being "non productive" space, but we had already decided on a 1.5 storey house so stairs is a given, it was a case of make all rooms open to the hall or landing in the most efficient way (i.e. directly) without corridors or multiple doors to pass through.

 

Try to imagine a lot of rooms might have notional names assigned to them, but a downstairs bedroom could equally make a good office or additional reception room if not actually needed as a bedroom.

 

And it is important to either try and follow the local vernacular, or design something totally different (like the examples above)

 

Re cheap to build on plots, dead flat is not always the best. Our plot was on a slope, which gave a perfect place to use all the excavated soil to make it less of a slope for the finished garden.  No muck away costs.

Your view sounds truly fantastic. Got a photo of the glen from your home?

I completely get your idea of a 1.5 story house, and I am really open to the idea. After designing countless attempts, we started copying houses that we loved (all too big for what we assume is within budget) and scaled them back to work. It just happened, the final was a bungalow. 

A downstairs bedroom would make a good office for sure. We have looked at many 5-bed houses with this in mind - solid advice and we're aligned.

Your idea about reusing the excavated soil to flatten the land isn't something I had considered. Certainly food for thought. There is a plot here (out of budget and larger than we need) which is a on a slop so we disregarded it straight away... Might be worth another look...

[ProDave]

3 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

Your view sounds truly fantastic. Got a photo of the glen from your home?

 

View to the west from our kitchen window.  Best viewed from the seating on the kitchen island.  Not a bad view while washing up at the sink either.

[ProDave]

7 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

After designing countless attempts, we started copying houses that we loved

We did that.  When designing room in roof, most people opt for some variation on conventional dormers.  But I do not like them, usually the cheeks are hard to detail in both terms of appearance and insulation detail.  Then while on the Isle of Skye I saw what I have termed "gable ends" instead (there is probably a proper name for them) that we used.  With this roof design, and with a roof hung from ridge beams, you can create a totally open room in roof space without many or the limitations of conventional dormers and attic trusses.

 

[jaymd_123]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

View to the west from our kitchen window.  Best viewed from the seating on the kitchen island.  Not a bad view while washing up at the sink either.

 

Fantastic. I will be lucky to land a view like that! Not far enough north.

[jaymd_123]

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

We did that.  When designing room in roof, most people opt for some variation on conventional dormers.  But I do not like them, usually the cheeks are hard to detail in both terms of appearance and insulation detail.  Then while on the Isle of Skye I saw what I have termed "gable ends" instead (there is probably a proper name for them) that we used.  With this roof design, and with a roof hung from ridge beams, you can create a totally open room in roof space without many or the limitations of conventional dormers and attic trusses.

 

Smart! I accidentally did something similar with my entrance hallway, though admittedly, very different on the ground floor. 

What floor size/number of bedrooms are you at?

I might need to go back to scouting out plans and reconsider 2 stories. 

[ProDave]

Overall size of house 11m by 7m.  Living room, kitchen diner and utility / WC (another story) downstairs and 3 bedrooms (one en-suite) and a bathroom upstairs.  Then a single garage and the room above accesed via a bedroom, is a workshop / office.  About 150 square metres in total.

[ProDave]

8 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

 

Fantastic. I will be lucky to land a view like that! Not far enough north.

20 years ago we built the house 2 doors down that you can just see the edge of the roof in that picture.  That did not get the mountain view due to all the trees in the neighbours garden.  Then we managed to buy this plot 2 doors up the same road but with a better view.

[ETC]

48 minutes ago, nod said:

Definitely 

SE is a must Most will do your BC submission if required A lot cheaper than an Architect 

With a lot less imagination too!

[saveasteading]

3 hours ago, ProDave said:

vaulted living space at one end,

I misread the dims. That central area is nearly 9m x 9m. That is a big span if you want ceilings to be higher than the wall level, so there is cost there.

Easy enough to do, but there is a tradeoff between clear space and cost.

[Iceverge]

I would certainly contemplate a bungalow after our 2 story house build. 

 

Easier to clean gutters and paint the walls.  Less hassle climbing stairs and accessable to everyone. You will suffer with form factor though so be prepared for +450mm walls for proper insulation. 

 

This one is my favourite.

 

https://oldholloway.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Really like this one too. 

 

https://www.gologic.us/1700-model

 

 

 

[Bozza]

Welcome.

 

1.  hold off on house design until you’ve got a plot.  Though good that you know what you want at this stage. The house design should come after the plot. 

 

2.  What @ETC has presented / suggested is significantly better design & architecture. 

 

3.  The good news is that contemporary Scottish rural builds are very simple in their form - agricultural - and thus can be less expensive to build.  Per 2. Above

 

good luck !
 

 

 

[Gus Potter]

On 24/09/2024 at 18:34, jaymd_123 said:

Evening all,

New here but I've been following this forum for over a year. 

We're currently making baby steps toward building our first self-build and still trying to leave the dreaming stages; it's all a little overwhelming. 

We plan to build a 230m2 bungalow (190m2 heated) in Perthshire. I've attached plans and renders I created using Floorplanner for anyone interested. We've spent several hundred hours over the two years redrafting our floorplan based on our findings and recommendations, and learning what is most important to us. I will admit the current flaws I can see are: the bathrooms are far apart and will create additional cost, the utility next to the office isn't ideal, no mech room (we will likely use the garage), and the kid's rooms are slightly smaller than I had hoped.

We're on a pretty lean budget for the construction, at around £1300 per m2 for the total build. I've renovated a few properties previously and will be doing some of the work myself, using friends & family to help where appropriate, and managing the project myself.

Glad to finally have taken the plunge to sign up and share the above. It makes things more real.

Next step is to find a plot and hopefully figure out a way to work out plans in (though appreciate we may have to start again!)

Cheers
J

I love the amount of work you have put into this as a concept. This is improtant as you have sat down and identified the type of house that would suit you and the internal spaces.

 

For me Perthshire is stunning. Some of my family lived in Perthshire the rest now on the inner hebrides.. the white beach is the end of their garden there is no fence just the sea.

 

The critical thing is the services and that is going to have a big effect on the overall build cost. Once you start to live in rural Scotland there are other costs.. travel.. just to get a pint of milk.. don't underestimate these. Take your car for a service.. you may not get it back for a week! But the land prices in Perthshire have rocketed but olocal services are still expensive.

 

What is still affordable is Argyll for the self builder on a budget.

 

 

[jaymd_123]

15 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

I love the amount of work you have put into this as a concept. This is improtant as you have sat down and identified the type of house that would suit you and the internal spaces.

 

For me Perthshire is stunning. Some of my family lived in Perthshire the rest now on the inner hebrides.. the white beach is the end of their garden there is no fence just the sea.

 

The critical thing is the services and that is going to have a big effect on the overall build cost. Once you start to live in rural Scotland there are other costs.. travel.. just to get a pint of milk.. don't underestimate these. Take your car for a service.. you may not get it back for a week! But the land prices in Perthshire have rocketed but olocal services are still expensive.

 

What is still affordable is Argyll for the self builder on a budget.

 

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback. It's appreciated.

We already live in Perthshire (Pitlochry area) and plan to build within about 5 miles of where we are now. The reason land has taken so long is, it's hard to find land here! We have kids and family support here so moving away isn't something we're really considering.

Maybe I should have clarified in my welcome that we're building in Perthshire, in the town we already live in. Judging by some of the comments before, I feel a few people have assumed we're looking to build in rural Scotland, which isn't really the case.

[jaymd_123]

On 24/09/2024 at 23:04, Iceverge said:

I would certainly contemplate a bungalow after our 2 story house build. 

 

Easier to clean gutters and paint the walls.  Less hassle climbing stairs and accessable to everyone. You will suffer with form factor though so be prepared for +450mm walls for proper insulation. 

 

This one is my favourite.

 

 

These are awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Using the feedback above, my wife and I have started playing about with some new floor plans, blending a 1.75 story bedding area with a single-story living area.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the initial concept. It's 220m2 vs 230m2, but we do lose the garage which would need to be a future project. On the positive, it allows us the expose oak trusses with end glass panels and separates the kid's area so they won't be disturbed when entertaining. It also allowed us to cluster the bathrooms. We took inspiration for the living area from Storries Scottish Steading (just up the road from me).

Note: The exterior renders are really rough and need more thought. Just knocked this out for concept.
 

Edited September 26 by jaymd_123

[Iceverge]

Getting there. Really nice renders. What did you use?  

 

For context I'm an un-refrormable passive house disciple and cheap skate.

 

Get rid of these areas. Complete waste of cash and add loads of external wall for no benefit meaning loads of extra heating. 

 

 

What way is south on your site,? The glazing seems very unresolved and not considering of sunlight at the moment. 

 

 

 

[saveasteading]

7 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Get rid of these areas.

That's good logic. 

But sometimes this works. Thinking of this as 2 small and simple buildings with a link. If the 2 areas are very different this gives simple connections.

Fof self build if also allows phasing and you could move into half early.

Yes, insulate extra to compensate.

[jaymd_123]

1 hour ago, Iceverge said:

Getting there. Really nice renders. What did you use?  

 

For context I'm an un-refrormable passive house disciple and cheap skate.

 

Get rid of these areas. Complete waste of cash and add loads of external wall for no benefit meaning loads of extra heating. 

 

What way is south on your site,? The glazing seems very unresolved and not considering of sunlight at the moment. 

 

 

I use FloorPlanner. It costs about $5/£3.50 a month for 4k renders. Great for quick concepts, although I have spent more time on that platform than I care to admit.

So, this living space I have used in 20-30 different designs. Many of them are bungalows. A handful with 1.75 sleeping areas. Whilst I completely agree with what you're saying regarding cost, I can not figure out how to connect the two areas of the building without some form of spacer; it just looks really weird on a 1.75 (which is what the quick renders are great for showing). The living area is almost a steading style, which suits the area well (new building, not renovating anything) and the sleeping section is much more modern.

EDIT* Fair point with the windows -- I've designed the living area to be able to flip it around. Taken into account what you've said and made edits. Thanks for pointing this out.

Edited September 26 by jaymd_123

[jaymd_123]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

Fof self build if also allows phasing and you could move into half early.

I hadn't actually thought of this. Very good observation. Trying to think of ways to tie in the two buildings.

I have allowed for the single-story building design to be flipped vertically and horizontally; as shown below.

Edited September 26 by jaymd_123