Help with House Design

[Matt Sugden]

Hi I have the very rare opportunity to buy some (decent) land, and build our own house. So my wife and I are seriously considering it.

 

While the land already has planning permission for a large 5 bed detached house, it's design is very bog standard and we are speculating on putting something far more modern on there. At this stage it is very open ended as I need to speak to planners about setting a precedent and the viability of putting something more contemporary on there.

 

So I have put together some ideas of the sort of direction I would like to go in, however I'm a little frustrated at my own creativity and wish the building had a bit more design flair. So i thought I'd put out to this community to try and get some interesting ideas from you all.

 

At this stage I'd like to push the envelope as much as possible in design terms, though I am still mindful of both the planning restrictions regarding suitability for the area and also making the most of the plot. so I've limited myself to two above ground stories.

 

Anyway, I've attached some slightly rough images, and also my max and dwg in a zip file for the project, so any positive ideas or feedback would be really appreciated. cheers

[Bwana Kahawa]

At the very least, a sedum moss roof on there would be cool...

[Preludevtec22]

PM sent

[STRAT]

give kevin Mccloud a ring, we can all watch you struggle then on tv

[mbowers]

I would explore using some solar shades/louvers on the exterior, it'll help break up that 'blank box' look. Play with your fenestration and materials.

 

Designing your own home is probably one of the most wrenching experiences. I've been designing my home for 5 years and it isn't done. Doesn't help when the MRS. changes her mind every 6 mo! Good luck.

[Vince Paske]

The house is lacking a defining entry element and I'm not too crazy of having a car parked on top of the front door. Perhaps there's a way to form some sort of sequence...zone of entrance, zone of transition and zone of gathering that extends from the street to the front door that orders the arrangement more strongly. Build a clay model and try several massing studies.

From a more practical standpoint, I don't know how much snow you get in Cheadle, but having windows that close to the ground will leak eventually and rot the frames.

[vizwhiz]

do you have a site plan in autocad format with The setbacks?

do you need The fence at The Lot edge next To The sidewalk?

 

which way is North?

are There any views?

 

can you drive in from The main street and exit onto The side street?

what i am asking is can you do a one-way drive at The very corner of The Lot?

 

**

 

what kind of floor plan/space requirements do you have?

children/reading rooms/kitchen/how many baths/master bedroom sq footage?

 

interior vs exterior stairs?

do you need a yard? or can The Lot be all house?

 

just an idea

 

Thanks

[Matt Sugden]

Hi thanks for some of the comments so far on this.

 

in terms of our requirements, we want 4 decent sized bedrooms, enough for double beds, and two ensuites, one for guests and one for us. With some kind of dressing space.

 

Then downstairs we're hoping to have a very open plan living/dining/kitchen area, and closed of utility and large office space for me.

 

Views wise the back of the plot if very private, which is why I was considering having the building looking in on itself, the other streets are fairly typical leafy suburban streets.

 

I take on board the comment about the entrance, as I think the front of the building is lacking a defining shape or feature, so ideas for that would be good.

 

The way I have positioned the house so far is the front and side walls are effectively running along the existing building lines of the two streets.