Designing your own home is something that many of us have wanted to do.
I have been lucky in that I have designed with the help of an architect my own home and a couple of others. It’s fantastically satisfying a lot of hard work and imagination goes into making living spaces work together.
We have also built some houses which were very nice indeed, space, light, and the overall structure being something that I would be proud to own and I can appreciate the skill that has gone into designing them.
When it comes to putting pencil to paper some of us will have a firm idea of what we want certainly as far as the key elements such as living room, kitchen and bedroom are concerned we will then battle to fit the “rest” in to place.
Did you know ? The majority of architects are left-handed and have excellent spacial awareness. This is what makes them excel at what they do. For us mere mortals/amateur sketchers here are a few tips.
1, Anything that you design, no matter how beautiful should only be regarded as a sketch useful for explaining to the architect what your ideas are.
2, If you spend hours working on a CAD (design software) The results should only be regarded as a sketch useful for explain to the architect what your ideas are.
3, If you have been to a show home and taken an illicit copy of the house plan in the brochure. This can only be used as a rough sketch.
4, In Portugal an “Engineer” or “Designer” are NOT Architects so do not work with them. When things go wrong the person who signed off the plans will not be the person that you have been dealing with or even in the same company.
If you want to save money negotiate with a registered architect.
5, If it feels right it probably is. If I like a rooms dimensions and lay out when I walk around I may take a note of the room size, ceiling height and location of the windows. This information can be given to an architect as guidance to describe a room that feels good to you.
I have been pretty harsh with my comments above. Only because I have seen and experienced a lot here in Portugal which I think is worth sharing.
I have recommended that you only work with registered Architects and I am firm in that opinion.
In the last ten years I have seen many horrible mistakes made by qualified architects. For instance – The house roof on the plans would not fit on the house. It was a different roof all together cut and paste onto the plans (the plans were passed by the council!). Or what about the house plans which showed the structural reinforced concrete on the outside of the house.
I have also seen many plans with windows and external doors missing. Everyone makes mistakes and it would be best if you had some come back when things get difficult.
Another thing that happens here in Portugal is that plans are often passed onto a Structural Engineer to design the reinforced concrete structure. They will do this in isolation and in the most cost-effective way. Occasionally resulting in concrete columns and beams where you didn’t expect them and not detailed on the architectural design layout.
One of the reasons that CAD packages are only a sketch tool is that they don’t account for locally used materials, building regulations, material strengths’, dimensions or characteristics. Sketching your dream home is not the same as creating a technical drawing or structural design. These areas are also controlled by building regulations and material strengths.
Then you have the external style of home that the software application produces. Designing a British, German, American or Swedish looking house in Portugal may not be approved by local planning.
Here are a few common mistakes first time designers make.
Being too stuck on your idea. Let the Architect give you a couple of options based on your ideas and get them to explain why they are suggesting them.
Don’t be upset if the Architect points out the simple mistakes in your sketches. I have seen rooms laid out with no corridors or doors so the rooms could not be accessed. The people who sketched the floor plan were so focused on maximizing the available space they had not noticed.
BIG spaces means BIG cost of build.
Not including enough or large enough shaded areas.
Not including a staircase between floors.
Two final things. The Cost of constructing your new home is directly affected upwards by the structural design, number of bathrooms and the size of rooms.
It is said that you get your Seventh house design right !
Here are a few links to more information on stairs
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/tag/open-tread-stairs/
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/tag/steep-slippy-stairs/
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/tag/curved-stone-staircase/
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/tag/stairs-make-a-stetment-in-any-home-stair-design/
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/category/woodworm-wood-worm/
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/tag/narrow-or-steep-stairs/
https://www.casteloconstruction.info/2014/11/10/rustic-staircase/
