How to design your dream home? (Part 4)

By Phil / On Jul.27.2015 / In / Width 0 Comments

In this post I have chosen to focus on one design, the first in our typologies, traditional. I started with a concept plan, basically some rectilinear shapes defined by the arrangement of gables on the outside wall. I don’t have any involvement in the design of American style homes so I took a look at some stock house plans for traditional homes on-line. Many were very beautiful with diagonal geometry and some with curved geometry. I probably should have done something similar were I able, however I have to say it did influence me to add some diagonal walls, but I also wanted to maximize the space, and from the model it was clear I could use the loft, so I stuck with a modern conventional layout of rectangular rooms linked with straight corridors. It’s true that corridors are frowned upon in American residential design, but here in the UK, building at three storeys requires a protected escape route with a single access stair, and in addition there is a need to avoid building inner rooms (rooms leading off other rooms with no alternative means of escape), which represent a fire risk, so corridor layouts remain a pragmatic solution.

In short the plan and model were pushed about to accommodate all the practical requirements, the results of which are below. The staircase I changed from a freestanding one in the entrance hall, to a straight run along the spine wall, somehow a free standing staircase didn’t seem very traditional. The dormers looked too big in proportion, so I made them smaller. I added bathrooms to the bedroom layouts, being careful to locate them such that they could each have a small window. I enlarged the garage to more comfortably accommodate three cars. The corridors initially shorter, I finally extended such that they could each receive natural daylight. There is still no materials or window patters but the form is becoming clearer I hope.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.