Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (28/3- updatedfloor pl 22Apr 11, 2010 11:44 am Fernyhouse It looks great. Is there any reason the door to bedroom three is at the end of the hallway. I wonder if moving it to opposite bed 4 could create a storage area at the end of the hallway instead. We discussed something similar with our architect... our thoughts being that Bed4's wall/robe could be pushed south into the hallway to make that room a bit bigger (since it is smaller than Bed 2 and 3 by quite a bit). He explained why he did it this way... 1) Prevent Bed 3 & 4's doors from looking into each other - more privacy. 2) Allows the door and window in Bed 3 to line up ... 2a) ... because Bed 3's window in its current location will look onto land (as opposed to eg. Bed 2 and the bathroom which are above the garage entrance) and in the future, could be made into a door with a private deck (which is a bit luxurious for a kids bedroom but its just an option!) 2b) ... because it allows for better "circulation" in bed 3 not having big bits of furniture being in the way. 3) We would lose the "games cupboard" storage area (although this doesn't apply to your suggestion). 4) That corner of the house doesn't get much light, so he added a window to the end of the hall (will probably be opaque - eg. glass bricks) Before he started he said when locating rooms, deciding features etc. he said he usually thinks of 2 or 3 reasons for every decision made in the house, to decide the optimal layout - rather than just plonking rooms where they fit. (That's probably why we've had so few comments on our house plan!) Regarding the different sized rooms, he asked if any of us had all rooms in the houses we grew up in the same size? (He, my wife, and I each happened to be from three-child families and we did agree that the "migrating of rooms as the older children moved out" was a bit of a ritual. Besides bed 4 is still larger than the two minor bedrooms in our current house, and it has direct access to the internal deck, so it has its benefits! Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (28/3- updatedfloor pl 23Apr 29, 2010 8:04 am Minor update: I've written up a blog post with "before and after" maps/diagrams of our current house and land, and the new house and land! http://blog.chuq.net/2010/04/house-befo ... -land.html By the way, we've been told at our next architects meeting he'll have a 3D cardboard model of the house to show us Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (29/4 - old v new map) 24Aug 06, 2010 11:51 pm An update at last! Things have been happening over the last couple of months, I just hadn't updated my blog (or this thread)... Latest post: http://blog.chuq.net/2010/08/house-upda ... tures.html Includes... Cardboard model Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 3D render Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ .. and some stuff in Sketchup! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Plan is currently in council.. assuming its approved, the next step.. engineers plans and get quotes! Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 25Aug 07, 2010 10:51 am WOW!!!! This is going to be WOW!!!! Rikster might be looking at some stiff competition for favourite house on the forum!! I like the idea of the window at the end of the hallway. Hallways can be dark gloomy places and I think the loss of a little space is worth it for the feeling of light. The storage is awesome and I love how it has been thought out and spread out around the house so that things can be stored in their most logical place and close to where they'll be used. I'm really looking forward to watching this build. I have one teeny tiny suggestion. In the main bathroom, I'd move the basin further long the bench so it isn't right outside the shower door. Not sure on the age of your kids, but if one is drying/getting dried outside the shower, another can't be brushing teeth at the same time. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 26Aug 07, 2010 11:17 am Your place looks gorgeous Chuq - I absolutely love it Thread - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36205 Land Settled - 19 Jul Site Scrape - 23 Aug Slab - 2 Oct Frame - 27 Oct Locked Out - 1 Dec Handover - 11 Mar Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 27Aug 07, 2010 11:31 am Wow Chuq, your house is gorgeous!! Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 28Aug 09, 2010 4:38 pm joles WOW!!!! This is going to be WOW!!!! Rikster might be looking at some stiff competition for favourite house on the forum!! I like the idea of the window at the end of the hallway. Hallways can be dark gloomy places and I think the loss of a little space is worth it for the feeling of light. The storage is awesome and I love how it has been thought out and spread out around the house so that things can be stored in their most logical place and close to where they'll be used. I'm really looking forward to watching this build. I have one teeny tiny suggestion. In the main bathroom, I'd move the basin further long the bench so it isn't right outside the shower door. Not sure on the age of your kids, but if one is drying/getting dried outside the shower, another can't be brushing teeth at the same time. Thanks joles!! We said the same thing when we saw the original plans... we have basically not changed the main layout at all since we first saw it! I actually haven't seen Rikster's house, so I did a search, ours houses are totally different styles so I don't think you could compare the two BTW, my personal "other favourite" house is somewoman's (http://house.yeoh.info) if she is reading this! I can tell you, we are looking forward to it (the build) way more! Although we haven't got quotes yet, we would be devastated if we couldn't go through with it .. we have already resigned ourselves to the fact that the three big rooms downstairs will be completely bare when we move in (i.e. only garage and laundry complete) for budget reasons. We are happy to make that concession! The kids are only 11 months and 2 1/2 at the moment, but we haven't finalised bathroom plans in any case... will remember that tip though and take it into account! Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 29Aug 09, 2010 5:01 pm Talk about well planned - cant wait to watch to your house come together. (I am a big fan of somewomans' awesome home too) good luck with it all ************* First time renovator VIC Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 30Aug 18, 2010 5:38 pm PLANNING APPROVAL RECEIVED!!! Another meeting with architect on Friday More to come ... Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 31Aug 20, 2010 10:37 pm We had a very successful meeting with architect today He has a few different builders who do the bulk of their work, and has run this plan by a few of them. One particular builder was very excited about doing the house, gave a ballpark price for house, decks, retaining walls and driveway that is within our budget, and is able to start in January 2011! And to top it off he is very finicky about quality of workmanship. We also discussed a few of the green features of the house... in particular, ground-source heat pumps, solar panels, solar hot water and even mini wind turbines! He has already done some asking around and got some ball park prices... the GSHP in particular is expensive but it pays for itself after only a few years. We'll be on holidays for a couple of weeks so fortunately will be setting of in a very positive frame of mind! Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 33Sep 15, 2010 7:08 pm Chuq your house wins by far hands down for me in your architectually designed home from anything I have seen on here. I absolutely love it!!! Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 34Sep 16, 2010 1:27 pm Many thanks dollar, we fell in love with the plan the first time the architect showed it to us! We hope the house ends up as good as it looks on paper! I've posted a new thread with a poll in the home theatre forum - http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=38514- where should the network/AV patch panel go? Comments welcome! Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 35Sep 20, 2010 7:36 am New blog post - "Before and after - Part 1" - http://blog.chuq.net/2010/09/before-and ... art-1.html This series of posts shows some parts of the new house, compared to our old one, goes into a few details about some of the more unique features! This first post features the master bedroom (plus robes and ensuite), and the kitchen/meals/dining area. Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 36Nov 11, 2010 1:44 pm Chuq, What an extraordinary house plan you have here. I had a look at the architect’s web page and love the building language they have developed. I think the reason you have received little comments on your plan is the fact that it is so bespoke with yours and your architects ideas. I will have a look at it and see if there is anything I can offer. Out of pure curiosity are all the houses on the architects web page all in Tassie, where they all built by the same builder and what approx cost per square meter are you costing on. Please accept or reject these comments as you see fit. These comments are in no particular order. 1. The entry stair case needs to have a void beside it for the full length of the stair. From the stair you want to experience the entry feature to the left of the entry. I don’t want to feel cramp using this space every time. Open it up by losing a little of the office/music. To make this even more special have the entry to the office off a short balcony area to the top of the stair and move the joinery across, this way you achieve two results. First you have a platform which allows you to enjoy the void space, second you don’t have to cross the lounge to enter the study. Why do you have a cavity sliding door at the top of the stairs. 2. I really don’t like the separated robes around the master bed, and think in the clothes in the ensuite may suffer. I would reduce the pantry slightly and reconfigure the robes. Are the robes adjacent to the bed a connected piece of joinery. 3. The ensuite shower. I hope this is a full height sheet of glass, if so build a screen wall on the deck to allow you to have the full glazing. You can see the sky and feel very fee in this space. You could even push the shower into this space and use a glass roof. 4. Reverse the door swing to bed 4. It juts into the room. 5. love the window at the end of the hall. This is very important as it offers light, ventilation as well as a focus when you use the hall as well as from the loung area. 6. Why does Bed 2 and 3 have small windows, is this not the view, I do like the windows opposite the doors. 7. Could, should the bathroom be reduced in length to open the space towards the courtyard. Continue the book shelf space across here by moving in the bed 2 door. This space could be really special. Is there a sliding door connecting this space to the central courtyard. 8. Not sure on your budget but question the need for the side out child gate within the joinery. Kids grow up too fast. 9. Not sure if the drawings are correct but ensure the deck of the kitchen begins outside of the building line below, just to remove any waterproofing issues. 10. Back to the entry down stairs. If you have a nice car it would be really nice to see the car from the entry and when using the stairs. It also adds a view out of the garage. My father in-law has this and I love going down has stairs. Just make sure you want all you visitors to see your cars and garage. 11. Ensure the central court yard has adequate drainage as well as good access for maintenance. Also ensure the upper court deck has correct falls and waterproofing. 12. Are you happy using alucabond on this house? What other material have you discussed? I look forward to seeing more of this house. Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 37Nov 13, 2010 10:38 pm Hi David, (For anyone else reading this, I sent David a PM asking if he could "review" our floor plan, seeing as he had done a great job on some other threads!) David, one thing I didn't mention in my PM is that we are at such a late stage in planning that we aren't able to make structural changes (well, we could, but we would miss our preferred builders' availability window and could put the build off by a year or more)! david242gt Chuq, What an extraordinary house plan you have here. I had a look at the architect’s web page and love the building language they have developed. I think the reason you have received little comments on your plan is the fact that it is so bespoke with yours and your architects ideas. I will have a look at it and see if there is anything I can offer. Out of pure curiosity are all the houses on the architects web page all in Tassie, where they all built by the same builder and what approx cost per square meter are you costing on. Thanks David, yes I believe all the houses on their site are in Tasmania. Builders - I'm not sure. I just had a look through the details in their blog, the engineers get a mention but the builders don't! They have 4-5 preferred builders, but I'm not sure if they "feature" houses are all by the same one or not. At the very start we were told to estimate final cost on $2000-2500 per square metre. A lot more than average but includes many things as standard which are often extras (examples - 2700mm ceilings, double glazing on windows). Quote: Please accept or reject these comments as you see fit. These comments are in no particular order. No problem - some things have specific reasons for their design.. I'll detail as I go! Quote: 1. The entry stair case needs to have a void beside it for the full length of the stair. From the stair you want to experience the entry feature to the left of the entry. I don’t want to feel cramp using this space every time. Open it up by losing a little of the office/music. To make this even more special have the entry to the office off a short balcony area to the top of the stair and move the joinery across, this way you achieve two results. First you have a platform which allows you to enjoy the void space, second you don’t have to cross the lounge to enter the study. Why do you have a cavity sliding door at the top of the stairs. The wall between the office and stair - at the moment it is a half height wall (approx 1200mm) and open the rest of the way. So in a way there is void space next to the stairs! We aren't sure about this - may put glass there instead. The office needs to be the size it is as it will be the home for my computer/workbench, wifes computer, wifes business stock storage, wifes music teaching area (including a piano), plus general stuff (filing cabinets, etc). We did originally want two offices but joined them to keep the house size down! Going through the lounge is good for a couple of reasons - the lounge will be a tidy/formal area where my wife can demo products to clients, or where students parents can sit and relax if they arrive just before the end of a lesson. Cavity slider - for safety (small children) and also for separating for heating/cooling (obviously the office door would have to be kept shut when not in use!) Quote: 2. I really don’t like the separated robes around the master bed, and think in the clothes in the ensuite may suffer. I would reduce the pantry slightly and reconfigure the robes. Are the robes adjacent to the bed a connected piece of joinery. There's more to the robes here than is obvious on first look :) The ensuite robe is labelled as such, but it will really be more of a linen storage are than anything else - possibly also vacuum packed clothes that aren't in use. The walk through parts will be used for hanging space (plus maybe a shelf up the top) and the main robe mostly shelves and drawers. Now the "hidden extras" - - The items next to the bed are just bedside tables, but will be extra wide and be built in. Being built in, things can't fall down the back :) The space between will be exactly the right space for a king size bed. - Near the window, we will (at first) leave this clear for a cot, change table etc. until we've finished that stage of our life, then have some low storage/daybed put there (similar to the dining room) - providing us with a bit more space. - Last but not least, not related to the house, but our bed has built in drawers underneath! We really like all the space in the pantry (we have absolutely no space now) - it will be a bit of a butlers pantry with some appliances, microwave, maybe even a chest freezer in there, so it's not something we want to change. We'd also like to keep the wall in front of the bed empty for a picture or wall mounted TV. Quote: 3. The ensuite shower. I hope this is a full height sheet of glass, if so build a screen wall on the deck to allow you to have the full glazing. You can see the sky and feel very fee in this space. You could even push the shower into this space and use a glass roof. We aren't sure what this will be! The deck will be the kids secure outdoor play area, and as you may notice it will see straight into the lounge room, so there are privacy issues to consider. Not sure if the window will be in the form of a highlight window, obscured glass, or some combination. The idea of pushing it out so it has a glass roof sounds fantastic! But I think the cost increase would be a bit prohibitive. By a screen wall, you mean like a timber screen just outside the window? Quote: 4. Reverse the door swing to bed 4. It juts into the room. Good point. Although, with the robe there, I'm not sure how much practical difference it will make! Quote: 5. love the window at the end of the hall. This is very important as it offers light, ventilation as well as a focus when you use the hall as well as from the loung area. True.. we initially didn't have it there but thought it would be best! Although regarding ventilation, we'll probably have glass bricks, for security reasons - it's going to be a fairly out of sight window (only 1m from that wall to the boundary fence). To be decided! Quote: 6. Why does Bed 2 and 3 have small windows, is this not the view, I do like the windows opposite the doors. The view is partially to the south but also to the west. Those windows will be floor to ceiling so should let enough light in to the rooms. Also being south facing we have tried to limit the number of windows on this side of the house. Quote: 7. Could, should the bathroom be reduced in length to open the space towards the courtyard. Continue the book shelf space across here by moving in the bed 2 door. This space could be really special. Is there a sliding door connecting this space to the central courtyard. Hmm, you mean have a mini-room in the middle of the hallway? Maybe... it could be too small to be useful though.. yes there will be a sliding door from the hall to the internal deck, and from bed 4 to the internal deck (and one from the kitchen as well, for good measure!) Quote: 8. Not sure on your budget but question the need for the side out child gate within the joinery. Kids grow up too fast. It's possible we have been punished by poor design in our current house.. meaning there is basically no practical spot to put a child gate in the kitchen - so every single drawer and cupboard has one of those annoying ugly child safe clips on it. The benefit of having a gate which recesses into the joinery is that when you don't need it, it hides away and you don't know it's there. Cost - well, to put it into perspective we are considering a ground exchange heat pump, I don't think the child gate will be too much of an issue! Quote: 9. Not sure if the drawings are correct but ensure the deck of the kitchen begins outside of the building line below, just to remove any waterproofing issues. Not sure what you mean - so that any run-off from the deck will go into the courtyard, to prevent pooling of water on the "roof" (ie. surface under the deck?) I'll ask the builder/architect about this when I see them next. Quote: 10. Back to the entry down stairs. If you have a nice car it would be really nice to see the car from the entry and when using the stairs. It also adds a view out of the garage. My father in-law has this and I love going down has stairs. Just make sure you want all you visitors to see your cars and garage. Hmm, I think the state of the garage would probably not be something we'd want to show off! Quote: 11. Ensure the central court yard has adequate drainage as well as good access for maintenance. Also ensure the upper court deck has correct falls and waterproofing. We expect one of the glass panels will function as a door - there has to be some way to retrieve all the balls which will no doubt get thrown off the deck above! I did just notice that the latest plan in this thread is very slightly different to the plan that went for DA approval (including the bed 4 door & robe being flipped over - the version in this thread is the "correct" one!) and the DA plan has a drain marked in the middle of the courtyard! Quote: 12. Are you happy using alucabond on this house? What other material have you discussed? We like alucobond because it is virtually maintenance free, it just needs a wash once every 10 years - we are the kind of people who are, lets say rather slack with maintenance! So it suits us well! The "undercover" bits (undercroft, drying deck, main deck etc) will be timber - to offset the black, and being mostly hidden from direct sun will mean it won't fade as quickly. We also hope to use modwood for the decks for the same reason as the alucobond! Quote: I look forward to seeing more of this house. Oh so do we, trust me! Thanks for the review/comments, they are much appreciated! I wonder if I should put up the house plans to our current house, it is seriously a shocker... I bet you could find 20 major issues with it on first glance! Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 38Nov 15, 2010 10:35 pm Chuq, Great to see your responses to all the comments and justify them as considered design decisions. This house is truly bespoke and does require the full background and input of your lifestyles to understand and appreciate the layout. Great work and look forward to the build. Point 7. Kids play in the most silly places. This area is in the kids wing between the bedrooms, next to the deck and on a cold day could?? get the northern sun shining into this area. The rest of the upper level doesnt have a "kids" zone, so this could be their space, plus they can spread out across the hall and onto the deck. My 5 year old loves to play in tight corners, dont know why but will fill the area in front of him with pirates and lego. With some clever planning and joinery i think it could work, then become a little reading area with bean bags. Point 9. I was referring to the rear deck; the line work indicates the timber deck overlaps the wall of the level below. For waterproofing it would be better to have the deck connected/built to the exterior of the building. David Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 39Nov 16, 2010 8:37 am What an awesome plan Chuq Awesome......It really is going to be WOW Re: Chuq's custom 5br courtyard house (4/8 - model, 3D pics) 40Nov 16, 2010 9:43 am My fave house on here! Hello, we can help you please get in contact 0421019219 thank you 3 31838 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 25163 |