New House Design

by Alex
(Auckland)

Hi,
I am impressed by what I read on this site as I have no experience in drawing and find this very helpful. Currently I am trying to find a way to sketch a house that I intend to build and not sure where to start. I am aware that at some stage I need to work with an architect to develop and realize my ideas but I would like to be able to do as much as possible myself in order to obtain the personal feeling of "my own house".

any advise on where/how I should start? Do you provide assistance? what other services do you offer?
Regards
Alex


My Answer

Hi Alex

Thanks a lot for your message I'm very pleased that your're finding this website useful. It is here for you to discover as many ideas as possible and to get you started on your concept design and planning drawings. There are many ways in which to begin a new house design. Here are some ideas for you.

Work from the inside out

You could start by envisioning what type and where abouts you intend to put your furniture. By working at this scale you could create room layouts and begin to start working out the type of space you think the furnishings would suit.

For example, you could decide what type of kitchen you would like, a U,L or an Island kitchen. From this you could then say the room would have to be a footprint, in order to provide lots of circulation space, of a square or rectangle. From this info you could then create an initial layout design showing the basic floor profile. Once you have a profile you can then begin to build up the drawing by adding windows walls and the furnishings. The beauty of this is that you will know that it will make the construction run far smoother and guarantee everything will fit when it comes to installing fixtures and fittings.

Views and Eco

Are there any views you would like to capture? Try and orientate the plan so that it faces a good view of the surroundng scenary.

Locate the floor plan and room layouts so that they are south facing. This will allow the building to take advantages of solar heat gains and make the building thermally efficient.

Be generous with the living space to begin with and link it with another room, possibly the kitchen, so that it gives you a large multipurpose space which could be opened up and used for when entertaining guests.

"Currently I am trying to find a way to sketch a house that I intend to build and not sure where to start"

I will explain a way for you to be able to get started it requires for you to do some research into the room sizes which can then be used to create a floor plan.

First of all you will need to create an outline brief which should include a list of rooms and their approximate sizes.

e.g. Kitchen - floor area 100-140 sqft

Living Room - floor area 180-200 sqft

Utility Room - 60-80 sqft

Office - 80-100 sqft

Lavatory - 40-50 sqft

Master Bedroom - 100-120 sqft

2xChildrens Bedroom 80-100 sqft

Storage 20-30 sqft

Spare Bedroom/Study 75-95 sqft

Once you have a list of rooms and their sizes you can go on to develop your own sketch design. There is a quide on how to do this at www.plan-and-build-a-house.com/draw-house-plans.html.

"I would like to be able to do as much as possible myself in order to obtain the personal feeling of "my own house"."


By developing your own sketch scheme this will ensure that you get your own ideas worked into the design at an early stage.

Do you provide assistance? what other services do you offer?

I can provide you with a custom house design service. All you have to do is send me me your outline brief and some picture ideas and I can create a custom house plan for you. (The next stage up from a sketch scheme.)

This service includes a concept plan and two elevations. This will show how the building will function and what it will look like. During the design development I work very tightly with the brief and develop a design which is customised to suit you. Plans produced are developed using CAD software.

If you would like me to produce these drawings just send me an outline brief and a sketch scheme and I will send you a quote for producing the plans and elevations. Prices for house design packages start from $60. You can contact me at any time mon-fri 9-5.30 at;

planand2@plan-and-build-a-house.com

Best of luck with your house design.

Adam

Ps: If you create a sketch scheme feel free to contact me at any time for assistance.