What makes the basis for a good new
home design?
These
blogs are designed to assist anyone, homeowner or professional housing
designer, to gain expertise or knowledge regarding the subject of good home
design.
So the very first question has to be what makes a good house, or bungalow, design? The answer to this has to be a good plot of land. It need not be a large plot, unless you require a large house, but you do need to consider several factors very carefully before committing to the purchase of the land, these are known as the constraints with some of these being:
1.
Is the plot
level? A slope exceeding 1:10 gradient
is going to necessitate the use of a split-level design; or force you to into
an ‘underbuild’ situation, where you have to put up walls and steps up to reach
your front door!
2.
Orientation and
views? Which way does your plot face? It is no good having your main views to the
North if you are looking forward to sitting in a lounge flooded with sunlight
whilst you enjoy those views, it just won’t work without a ‘through’ room. Think in terms of your breakfast area and bedrooms
facing East, to take advantage of the early morning sunshine (definitely NOT
West for children’s bedrooms). South or
West is great for living rooms used extensively during the daytime; West for
dining rooms used in the evenings.
Reserve the North walls for the kitchen, utility, cloakroom, bathrooms,
garage etc. This, as you will see, is
not however always possible.
3.
Ease of
access? If you will need a short
driveway off a very busy road then you also need space to turn your car around
on the drive. Also remember that a steep
drive can become a nightmare in the case of snow or ice.
4.
What surrounds
your plot of land? It’s not just the
views out of your new home that matter.
Generally the Local Planning Authority will want you to fit in with the
style of surrounding properties so, if your plot is within an estate of
mock-tudor houses they may not look favourably upon a proposal for a modernist
cube of blue concrete with glass blocks for windows! You also need to ensure that your home and
areas of the garden you wish to be private are not unduly overlooked by your
neighbours. In turn (neighbourliness)
you need to ensure that you do not create a situation where you will be causing
overlooking, or overshadowing, of their homes.
5.
The lie of the
land? A stream at the bottom of the garden is a
lovely feature but are you sure that it will not become a flooding issue.
6.
Drainage and
services? You need to check if you have
all of the main services that you will require, electricity, mains water, gas,
telephone; and do not forget to check on fast broadband availability as this is
not yet available everywhere. If mains
services are not all available (or at a distance from your plot) there are ways
around this, but remember the additional costs that may be involved.
7.
Old disused wells
and septic tanks/cesspits? These are
still quite common in rural areas and will need to be capped off or filled;
another cost!
8.
Previous land use
and possible ground contamination? Most
Local Planning Authorities will insist that you check up on these possibilities
and provide information with your Planning Application. This can now be carried out reasonably
cheaply through specialist web providers.
This
is just an overview and all of these issues will be covered in more detail in
future separate blogs, as each is quite an extensive subject on its own.
In
my next blog we will look at the basics of how best to lay out your new home,
on the basis of a fictitious client brief for a specific building plot.
