Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 26, 2012 3:18 pm Hi all, We were hoping to get some opinions/advice, about building a house on a piece of land of limited size. Due to council regulations regarding setbacks etc, it looks like the maximum dimensions of a house on this land can only be ~13m wide and ~11m deep. We've had a look at some of the project builders' websites, and haven't come across any designs that would fit this criteria. So we were just wondering whether anyone here might have had any experience with such a set of constraints? Are there any project builders with a design that might suit? Or would we have to go to an architect and have a custom build? Thanks for any help, Anthony Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 2Feb 26, 2012 5:34 pm Hi Anthony. . . I'm Jo. . . and I like to do floorplans. . . just for fun. Where is your land? Were you going to build single or double storey? I'd go custom build every time, but that's just me. What kind of spec were you looking at? How many - bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, dining, living, theatre, rumpus, alfresco, garages, storage, pantry, linen, laundry. . ??? What are the dimensions of your block. . . will the house be a square 13m x 11m? Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 3Feb 26, 2012 7:43 pm Hi Jo, we don't really have many requirements. But we do want a double storey house, with a minimum of 3 bedrooms. Hopefully 4 bedrooms though. We'd also want a double garage (possible single garage?). Don't really need a separate rumpus room, although perhaps a separate entertainment area for the kids would be nice. We currently have a 15-month old and another on the way. And 2 children is as much as we will have. And yes, the maximum footprint of the house would be 13m wide and 11m deep. Just seems like there are so many narrow block designs at the project builders, but no suitable designs for a shallow lot size. Beginning to think we might have to go for a custom build, but we'd like to avoid the extra cost involved. My impression (correct or not), is that a custom build could cost a lot more than a "off-the-shelf" design from a project builder. Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 5Feb 26, 2012 11:32 pm Oh the front of the house would face south. Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 6Feb 29, 2012 10:42 pm Hi Anthony. . . excellent choice of plot! How about something like this?
Front Elevation Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ground Floor Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Top Floor Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I've stuck with the rectangular build, so as not to waste any space for you, but I've put two balconies at the front for a bit of a visual, so the house doesn't end up looking like a big box. On the ground floor, the main living areas face north, and will have big windows to heat the house during winter (I haven't added any windows yet). The west side of the house won't have any windows in my design, to protect from the harsh summer afternoon sun. Balconies on the front of the top level will give a bit of protection from the summer sun too, but it may be wise to put an outside blind on the two ensuite windows. You get a double garage (yay), but this does limit your space downstairs. I've stuck a compact basin in the WC to save extra space for the laundry. The laundry has a space for the washer (and a dryer on the wall above if you like) with a 2m stretch of cupboards on the south wall. Kitchen has a 4.5m bench along one wall, with a 2.5 x 0.9m island bench (i.e. 300mm overhang on the dining room side, for bar stools). Study west wall can be deleted to make it an open plan area. Master bed + 2 kiddy bedrooms + 1 guest bed (which has a front balcony) + open plan area upstairs (rumpus? extra TV room?) As I'm a bit of an amateur, I've overestimated a bit on the stair area. .. you can have storage space under the stairs, and maybe push the stairs to the south wall a bit to have a linen cupboard in the dining room. I can also add storage in the rumpus upstairs if you like. If you want to increase space in the master bed, I can change the WIRs to built-ins. It's just some ideas flung together, let me know if I can change it in any way to suit you better, or if I'm going in totally the wrong direction I'm sure all of the H1'ers will have lots of good ideas on making things better! ooh. .. if you wanted a different look, french doors would look lovely upstairs! Edit - actually, this design will probably need a brick pillar at the outside corner of the two balconies. . . to support the roof! Although we could flip the design if you really want to, this orientation is better as we can avoid having windows in the west wall. Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 7Feb 29, 2012 10:48 pm Plunkett Homes in Perth have some new narrow/shallow 2 storey home designs. One design is called The Leederville. Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 10Mar 03, 2012 3:20 pm Great job Jodge. You can have an internal access door from the garage into the entry way too Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 11Mar 03, 2012 8:00 pm Thanks Lee75 and JLD! I hope Anthony returns to take a look. . . I was a bit undecided about the door from the garage. . . maybe to the front foyer, or to the bottom of the stairs? I'm also a bit unsure about the stairs. . . they may have to be wider. . . may have to steal some space from the garage and WIR upstairs. Also don't know how Anthony will like having the ensuite at the front of the house. . . it's a bit of an unusable space otherwise. If it were me, I'd enquire to the council about putting a bit of cosmetic work outside of the 13 x 11m building envelope. . . then maybe we could have a portico over the front door area (useful for when it's raining and you can't find your keys), and maybe some sticky out bricking around the garage and study window? Something that you can have in a feature brick or different colour if you're bagging or rendering? Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 12Mar 03, 2012 8:04 pm jodge I was a bit undecided about the door from the garage. . . maybe to the front foyer, or to the bottom of the stairs? I'm also a bit unsure about the stairs. . . they may have to be wider. . . may have to steal some space from the garage and WIR upstairs. I would switch the stairs around so you can have a door/access into the garage. Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 14Mar 03, 2012 10:09 pm okily dokily. . . with changes. . . Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Actually, I think I prefer it with the brick pillars to the balconies upstairs. . . looks more solid. Oh. . . and I've added a little linen cupboard at the top of the stairs, and understair storage. Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 15Mar 04, 2012 7:31 pm Great idea on the stair change and door. Not sure I'd have the wall at the bottom of the stairs as it would make getting furniture upstairs difficult, maybe just open plan? Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 16Mar 04, 2012 7:41 pm another great idea JLD. . . or maybe double sliding doors into the lounge, so you still have the option of closing off the rest of the house for heating / cooling? Looks like the owner of the thread might never come back to see his fabulous design huh? hahaha Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 17Mar 04, 2012 7:46 pm jodge- well done you! I would suggest that the upstairs has eaves across the back of the house because otherwise the rumpus & two rear bedrooms would get steamy in the summer with all that lovely Northern exposure-automated external blinds would also do the trick! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 19Mar 04, 2012 7:53 pm For the downstairs? Yep-or with a lovely grapevive grown over a timber pergola- whichever rocks his boat more! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: Building a house on a shallow lot 20Mar 04, 2012 9:33 pm I have become a jodge groupie!! brilliant design. You know I am going to talk to you about this seriously on Sunday. I wish we knew you when we were designing. So where is Anthony? Where is he building? SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Would anyone on this forum know of a builder/company in Brisbane with house designs for a shallow block. I have a block 20 x 20 so with front and rear set backs I need a… 0 4715 You must be new to the internet. You're also the only person anyone here has ever heard of washing their garage wall. I hate to break it to you, there are insects and… 6 4795 I am building in claymore NSW and this is shown in the building envelope plan. … 0 9961 |