Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 10, 2016 5:08 pm Hi everyone, this is my first post here on the forum and I am looking forward to some constructive critique's of a proposed custom home design due to be constructed in February or March next year. To explain the concept behind this design, I wanted rear (north) facing living areas. I also dislike hallways very much as they bloat the overall home size and thus increase costs. As a result a side entry was chosen which eliminated an entry hall and also makes plenty of side access space for, among other things... possibly a pool in future. The other strong influence in the design is the overall size being kept small and it tops out at around 185m2. We are using this home as a way to downsize from our current 268m2 home, which cost a packet to build. We are wanting to spend no more than $225k this time around. Floor Plan: The one issue that has been bugging me is the ensuite located at the front of the home. Without this section projecting from the home, the facade is quite lifeless and bland, so I've tried to make this an appealing feature brickwork which contrasts from the weatherboard exterior elsewhere. See Elevations: Site Plan to make sense of it all: Ok, looking forward to hear what you all think. Don't worry about offending me at all, just say what comes to mind and if you can offer any solutions (window types / blinds / etc) to the street facing ensuite, please share! Regards, Dean Re: Floor Plan Judgement 2Nov 10, 2016 6:06 pm Hi Dean, the living area at the back will be great in the future for outdoor entertaining especially with the pool. The only thing I would maybe reconsider is walking through the laundry to access the bathroom ? In regards to window furnishings, I'm currently building and have ordered white plantation shutter throughout the house (incl. bathrooms ) and will do a day/night roller blind on sliding door which leads to alfresco. All I recommend is shop around. I got 6 quotes for blinds and they varied at 4K difference between the highest and lowest. You could always make a feature of the ensuite pop out whether it be with a different brick, render, stack stone or even just landscaping? Have you thought about an alfresco under the main roof line. This is the one thing I'm looking forward to the most! Re: Floor Plan Judgement 3Nov 10, 2016 6:31 pm Thanks for the feedback. The laundry forming an access hallway was initially a point of concern and discussion for us. It was very difficult to afford to add space for a dedicated laundry so we opted for a European style setup with front loading washer and dryer under a stone top. We are also going with an undermount sink so the laundry has as upmarket a look as possible. We'll have to keep things tidy in there though! Hope that decision doesn't come back to haunt us later! I hadn't thought of the stack stone but now you mention it I will have a look. Currently it's going to be white painted brickwork with either ironed or flush mortar. The weatherboards are also white. To explain the lack of alfresco under the roofline... I agree they are great and we will miss that about our current home but the 14m block means our new home has to be quite narrow, so we didn't want to block the northerly sun coming into the main living area. Where did you get the plantation shutters from? In our current home we have some from Shutterkits and they are raw cedar with an oil finish. White would match the new home much better though. Re: Floor Plan Judgement 4Nov 10, 2016 6:49 pm I can see your reasons for not including hallways however I couldn't personally deal with bedrooms opening onto the main living area. All depends on whether you have kids I suppose, or plan on having guests, and your future plans for resale/leasing of the property. Re: Floor Plan Judgement 5Nov 10, 2016 6:54 pm Dean the company is based in Newcastle and hunter valley. Pazazz blinds and shutters. Floor Plan Judgement 7Nov 11, 2016 9:14 am My partner came up with our floor plan and he also didn't want to have long and narrow hallways. We do have entry ways and we did tweak our front entry to be a bit long to give definition to our family room though. I am still unsure about it to this day (and we are in gyprock stage already!) as most houses do have them so bedrooms do not open into the main living area. And the more I read about it the more I get convinced that we might have done it wrong. But my partner is not at all worried and told me to stop reading too much. Lol! I wouldn't know how it will be until we live in the house with guests in it. Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Floor Plan Judgement 8Nov 11, 2016 4:16 pm Hi Dean, similar situation to us. We downsized too and moved into our home almost 3 months ago which cost the same as what you want to spend. I dont like long narrow hallways either but they do give some privacy but as our front door is on the longside of the block the hallways are not long. I have a build thread on here if you want to see what we did. Our bathroom and ensuite windows are all street facing which couldnt be avoided so we decided on not going frosted glass as i thought that would look horrible, we have roller blinds and i have hung sheers in ensuite and you cant see in when the blinds are up during the day, still yet to do the bathroom and toilet sheers but next on the list and that way all the street facing windows curtains match so its not so obvious. Your kitchen/family area looks great but dont like the front door opening onto living room, no privacy when opening front door if someone is relaxing in the lounge, and also dont like walking through laundry to get to bathroom. Our block is narrow also and we managed a 8m long alfresco and our home is well lit all the time, if you're worried you could always put in a skylight. With downsizing you also need to maximise your storage options. We included a store area in our garage, have a linen cupboard and broom cupboard, master bdrm has a slider door to maximise space and we also got a bay window to increase floor space in bedroom. We went with Burbank and customised one of their layouts to fit our narrow block, we were so relieved when burbank told us they could build from the plan hubby drew up as our block was $30k cheaper than all our neighbours due to the size so we were determined to make something fit! Build thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=81011 Floor Plan Judgement 9Nov 13, 2016 7:28 am Hi Dean I wish we could afford your area space to build my dream kitchen with a butler's pantry. Having said that I know you will be more confused after reading everyone's opinion. I for one love grand entry/ hallway (it doesn't need to be long and narrow) , it is the 1st impression when you open the door. In my opinion, having the lounge ( closed concept) will give an illusion that house is small. Unlike the picture here, the opened concept and the window makes it look bigger. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Secondly, ample storage space is a must unless you don't have much things at all. Lastly both you and your husband has to come to an agreement and build. what it best to both of you may not be what people like. Re: Floor Plan Judgement 10Nov 13, 2016 8:17 am capricorn Hi Dean I wish we could afford your area space to build my dream kitchen with a butler's pantry. Having said that I know you will be more confused after reading everyone's opinion. I for one love grand entry/ hallway (it doesn't need to be long and narrow) , it is the 1st impression when you open the door. In my opinion, having the lounge ( closed concept) will give an illusion that house is small. Unlike the picture here, the opened concept and the window makes it look bigger. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Secondly, ample storage space is a must unless you don't have much things at all. Lastly both you and your husband has to come to an agreement and build. what it best to both of you may not be what people like. Everything capricorn said is the same I would say. [i][i][i]Building Ambassador 41 Wisdom Homes[/i][/i][/i] Re: Floor Plan Judgement 11Nov 13, 2016 2:13 pm I love many of your ideas, & advise people on this site to incorporate them in their design.
I wish more people would consider downsizing their 'grand plans'. Downsizing is not only a money saver at the initial time of purchase, on both a smaller block of land, & cheaper house build, along with the very large mortgage savings over time. It will also save you money on maintenance & heating/cooling costs. It's great for the environment, reducing electricity usage for heating/cooling, & lowering embodied energy, the energy consumed producing all your building materials, & transporting them to site. Not to mention that the time required to keep the house clean will be reduced. So congrats, I like your thinking! Love the north facing living areas. Lots of passive design elements in the plan, I'm guessing you're familiar with the concept, & are familiar with the Aussie government's Your Home website? http://www.yourhome.gov.au/ If not, I'd recommend reading up on all of it. Tonnes & tonnes of information there. Areas of particular interest would be passive design, designing for your climate, & orientating your house correctly. It goes into more depth with glazing (a higher proportion to the north which you've done). But not overglazing, as glass in such a poor insulator. This is true even to the north, you do have a lot of N glazing, so you may want to check that! Plus the ratio of thermal mass to glazing is important, which will vary depending on your climate. Thermal mass are materials which absorb heat, re-radiating it at a later time. It is an important consideration for storing any heat generated by the winter sun. You don't want your hose over heating in the middle of the day, only to cool off by 5pm. I don't think you've told us where you're building (I can't get back to your initial post atm, or check your profile). Climate should play a big part in your overall design. Hobart will have very different requirements to Cairns. Do you live in a climate that will predominately require heating, cooling or both? Have you designed for cross ventilation, using summer cooling breezes? If you live in Sydney, these breezes will be from the NE. If you live in Perth they'll be from the SSW. How many people will live in the house? Are there younger children, older children, no children? I'm not a fan of bricks, so am glad you chose a lightweight cladding. It's better for the environment, & when well insulated, in most climates it's easier to control indoor temperatures (brick is a high thermal mass material, which absorbs heat from the sun, radiating it later in the day). Agree with the idea of a side entrance, to eliminate the long, dark (south facing) entrance hallway. Eliminating an entrance hallway does reduce the house footprint, but is not to everyone's tastes, so you'll have to carefully consider what's right for your family. Also agree that a north facing alfresco area would rob your living areas of valuable winter sunshine. Although many people want the alfresco off their living areas, if you want one, I'd consider an alfresco in the NW corner. It's not so critical to have northern sunshine in bedrooms, so shading bed 3 is not a problem. You could consider extending the roof over the NW corner of the house, to match the northern eave of your living areas. This many increase cost a bit, particularly if you chose to have a cantilever. However, there may be savings too. You'd have a simplified hip roofline to the north, without all those little triangular roof sections which Aussies love (& I hate). This will have other advantages, namely solar PV, which I'll discuss later. Positioning the alfresco here means it will not really impact the northern sunshine of your living areas. You could also consider an horizontal awning on the northern side of this alfresco. This is the setup my parent's apartment has. They have the exact same orientation as you, slightly east of north facing. In winter the awning is usually retracted. In summer it can be extended to offer shade over their balcony, & the remove the slight bit of morning sunshine they get through their windows at this time of year. I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of a outdoor concrete area to the north. Concrete, along with brick is a high thermal mass material. In summer it will bake in the sun all day, & re-radiate that heat long in to the night. Your eaves are effective at shading your windows from direct radiation from the sun, but will have no effect at blocking radiation from the hot concrete. So I'd reconsider the option of concrete here. Grass & plants actually have a cooling effect, though they shouldn't be right against the house. Timber is an option, as it is a low thermal mass material. There may be other options too. Talking of thermal mass, what options have you chosen for the flooring of your living areas? Thermal mass should be used in north facing living area in most climates. Unless you're in tropical northern Australia, or warm/temperate coastal locations, where it should be used sparingly. North facing flooring is a good option for thermal mass, as it will receive winter sunshine. Exposed polished concrete is a good option, as are tiles. Timber is a low thermal mass material, so is not a great option. Carpet is an insulator, so is a poor option. I'll post this, so I don't lose it. Have another look at your plan, then continue on. Re: Floor Plan Judgement 12Nov 13, 2016 3:54 pm Just a few more thoughts, some of which are competing ideas, & not well thought out. It's good that you've built close to your W boundary, as the neighbouring block may shade your W windows. What is the lay of the land like. Do you have W & E neighbours, are they 1 or 2 story? What's the lay of the land like, will it help shade from the W? You won't be overshadowed from the N will you? Generally I'd try to minimize W windows, or even eliminate them if possible. Bedroom 2 has a W window. This is the worst place for bedrooms, due to evening heat. Better to place garages, bathroom & the laundry here. Would you be happy to move the minor bedrooms to the front of the house? the mater could be in the NW corner, with a N window, the ensuite with a W window. The ensuite would be closer to your other wet areas, shortening plumbing runs, saving building costs, & water. Not sure if the bathroom would then need to be moved, as I can't see the plan now. Other ideas. I'm not mad about rooms with no external windows, particularly wet areas. Showers would be the worst, but toilets & laundries wouldn't be far behind. My parents European laundry has no ventilation, & even though they try to keep everything in there dry it still smells a little mouldy. If you extend the NW roof, you could move the laundry beside the bathroom, to the W wall, so it has a window. ATM the bathroom wouldn't have access, but you could re-jig it, & maybe have access to the laundry through the bathroom. Moving the laundry will give more room to the lounge, maybe you could now have a small entrance hallway, if you feel so inclined, with just a little re-jigging. Good place for umbrellas, jackets, boots. As others have mentioned, unless you're total minimalists, without kids, don't forget to have adequate storage. So I said I wasn't a fan of Aussie style roofs, with their many, many, teeny, tiny triangles. Very bad for solar PV installations. Are you thinking about getting solar PV? Even though the feed-in tariff (FIT) is so low, economically, it's still a good idea to get a solar PV system. But as the FIT has decreased the optimum PV system size has decreased. Generally you want to get a system size that will cover your daytime usage. For the average family that's about a 3kW system. At this stage, as it's best to cover your own usage, it's best to have panels facing E & W, as you'll produce electricity over a longer period. W panels are particularly useful, as they will limit the power imported for running afternoon AC's, whether for heating & cooling. As battery systems become more common things will probably change. Back to the idea where maximum production is more important than the length of time panels produce power. In this case N facing panels will be optimum. So if you change your roof design, opting for a simple hip roof to the north, you'll have a very good roof for solar PV. A reasonably large NNE face, for maximum production, & a large WNW face, for afternoon production. Even if you're not considering solar PV now, it's worth planning for a future installation. What are you choosing for your heating/cooling sources? Although reverse cycle AC is not great for the environment when cooling, it's a great heat source. It's very efficient for heating, 3-5 times more efficient than other electrical heat sources. It can also be run off solar PV. As gas prices rise, RC AC becomes a better heat source, both for the environment, & for your wallet. Generally, split systems are more efficient than ducted, & smaller systems are more efficient than larger systems. Lastly, window furnishings. As I mentioned, windows are a large source of heat loss (& gain in summer), due to the very insulation properties of glass. Obviously, what you require is dependent on your climate, you may even require double glazing. Cellular (honeycomb) blinds are very good insulators, compared to other blinds. If you prefer curtains, something heavy will insulate well. But don't forget the pelmets, which greatly reduce heat loss from convection currents. Ok, all done. Good luck with the build Re: Floor Plan Judgement 13Nov 14, 2016 8:54 am Thanks everyone so far for the comments, I will try my best to take the advice on board as there are a few things I had not considered. This forum is proving to be a great platform for building ideas! To address the passive heating, we are using a mid-tone tiled floor as we are closer to Brisbane than Sydney (we are building in Northern NSW - Ballina, near Byron Bay). We don't want to generate too much thermal mass as we may well cook. Aircons are planned for the lounge and dining/family areas but I predict it will be used mostly in the east facing lounge, especially mid morning. We have two small children, 6 years and 18 months. There are currently no houses or units next to our block, as it's not even got title yet. So it's going to be a lucky dip as to what we get next to us. Both blocks beside us are designated as possible duplex developments. It's unlikely we will have our backyard overshadowed by a structure as the covenants require setbacks of at least 4m from the rear boundary and the building envelope restrictions ensure solar access to adjoining lots. Won't stop trees being planted next door though... The laundry will have an exhaust fan and we will run this periodically to reduce any moisture buildup. I have looked at the your home government website quite a lot and the solar access issue is at the top of my mind with this build, as well as overall home size being smaller along with our mortgage. We want to have money to live life with while we are still young! Presently it's killing us. I feel so passionately about living with a smaller physical, financial and environmental footprint however when you see a really small home, it's clear we still have a very spacious home. The local council requires a home (excluding garage) to be a minimum of 140sqm. Well if you take our garage off, the home is around 150sqm, so we just get over the line. So many design principles pulling at each other have made it very hard to design this home at this size and still maintain a feeling of spaciousness. All the suggestions are great, especially the large entrance hall. Our current home has a very nice entry under a portico but this was quickly minimised in the new design to save costs and enable a more efficient layout. I'll have another close look at this plan and hopefully I can squeeze some improvements that have been suggested in and lose a few more brain cells in the process! Re: Floor Plan Judgement 14Nov 14, 2016 11:22 am As a parent myself, with two young kids, having those bedrooms directly opening out onto the main living area could definitely be a problem - especially in a couple of years time, noise constraints might mean that you effectively can't use that area - especially the kitchen - while the kids are asleep (or, probably more significantly, supposed to be going to sleep). It would also mean that the TV would also possibly be best positioned away from those bedrooms (in the lounge room in that plan) - would that work for you? I'd strongly suggest that you consider some separation between those bedrooms and at least the kitchen, if not that whole living area. You haven't mentioned how long you imagine living in this house, so I'll assume it's for at least a decade. Have you considered how you'd live as a family when the kids are teenagers? Is the plan to 'nudge' them out of their bedrooms and into the living areas? Bedroom sizes can be a key part of this 'behavioural suggestion' - how did you arrive at the bedroom sizes in your plan? Even with encouragement to be more often in the common areas, teenagers often do require some separation and privacy - do you think that this plan would be sufficient for that? What about when *you* might want to be away from *them* for a bit? As a family, I repeat what's been said above - you'll definitely want some more storage space. Also, the lighting in the laundry will be an issue, especially with it also being the corridor to the bathroom, quite apart from ventilation issues. A skylight, perhaps? i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17167 Hi, Seeking volume or semi-custom builder in victoria(east), which have existing double story wide floor plans. Seeking 18-20m wide homes with depth of 12-15m long. Or… 0 25049 Hi there! Absolutely agree on the wasted space. We have no desire for the master to be that oversized, but it occurred when we increased the depth of the garage. We have… 4 12391 |