New Construction House. Builder Flipped Floor Plan Layout
AshMSport
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
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AshMSport
8 months agoMark Bischak, Architect
8 months agolast modified: 8 months agoRelated Discussions
Floor plan design review for new construction
Comments (16)I think this house is ill suited for such a long narrow lot. It does nothing to work with the landscape. I have a problem when the foyer/hallway is larger than the dining room and some of the other rooms. The pantry is only 4' wide which means there is no way you can fit a freezer in the space. At a minimum the freezer takes up 25" which means the walkway in front of the freezer would only be 23" wide. The stairway sticking out into the foyer/hallway is just not good. The storage closet in the gym is only 4' wide with a door that's only 2' wide. Why is there a double door from the garage into the mudroom? Is that such an important room that it needs double doors? Doors that will also let in fumes from the garage? The mudroom leads through the kitchen area. It can be better. Why does the gym have double doors entering it? Is it that special a place? Also ho will you turn the lights on if both doors are opened? Going up the stairs and then seeing closets at the landing doesn't have a sense of arriving at the next spot. Why not have the staircase landing on an outside wall so it can have a window in the landing? And then when you arrive upstairs, what do you see? A linen closet. The upstairs hallway will be dark. Moving the stairs to an outside wall and adding the stairwell window will help somewhat. The laundry room is only 5' wide which means you can't have tall shelves on the opposite wall from the washer/dryer. A full sized washer/dryer sticks out into a room 29" which only leaves you 31" of space to walk and pull laundry out. Barely enough room if you don't have to bend over. As others noted, why is a storage closet getting prime real estate on a corner where instead the master bedroom could be? Instead of the master having cross breezes and light from two sides, it only has windows on one wall. With double doors into the bedroom, how will you turn on the lights? Same with walking into the master bathroom. The 2 upstairs bathrooms seem to have 30" between tub and vanity. It's doable but it will look and feel very tight. What's the idea with the desks in closets in the upstairs bedrooms?...See MoreKitchen Design - New Construction Layout Plan Review PLEASE
Comments (37)Having landing space behind the fridge on an island is convenient if one has a French door fridge. I have a single door fridge, but I find the island convenient if I am laying out multiple items--packages of carrots, celery, and meat for soup. Todd, I was thinking about your 'stadium seating' at the island. Since you have a long back wall, you could put the fridge on that wall, then have two seats on the short side of the island, which would also allow you to make the aisles a little wider, and would be more conducive to conversation. Downside is that the fridge will be more visible from the dining room. I moved the hall opening back, if that is feasible....See MoreHelp Choosing an Architect/ Builder for New House Construction
Comments (25)@John Hrivnak, ArCH, AIA, MBA, NCARB, LEED AP - This is a problem with anecdotal evidence. You are not going to architect your way out of a bad builder. When we look at the advantages and disadvantages of design/build firms in aggregate it is pretty easy figure the trade-offs inherent in the model. This is not rocket surgery, it is a simple backward or forward vertical integration business combination and they have been happening a long time now. Somewhere deep in the past a wine maker said. "I think we would be more profitable if we grow the grapes." THE GOOD Every combination requires synergy, so the two parts being better together than they would be apart. In the case of the winery owning the grapes it is a change in the decisions around growing and harvesting grapes. Essentially you can tailor your wine to your grapes and your grapes to your wine. In design/build firms plans will be tailored to take advantage of builder proficiencies and enhanced communications. The designer will be able to anticipate areas where the builder may struggle and will design away from that when possible and communicate more clearly when not. Plans are more likely to hit cost targets as the design process is automatically designing to efficiency. There will also be more communication between the builder and designer during the design phase when they are in the same office. THE BAD Every combination has a sacrifice because of the exclusive nature of the combination. In the case of a winery, if you own the fields and have a grape harvest that is not particularly fantastic while a competing grower has a fantastic harvest, you are still required to use your grapes. If you sell your grapes and buy the others you have destroyed all of the value in the combination. In design/build firms that tailoring of plans to building efficiency will limit creativity. An architect for a design build firm is not going to design towards something the builder is not good at doing. They are going to design to strengths and away from weaknesses. Those strengths and weaknesses might not be shared by every builder. This is a tangible weakness and should be given serious consideration (e.g. If a builder has a preferred window supplier the designer is likely to find a way to incorporate those windows in the design even if a different window would be better). --- This entire thing assumes that quality is equal across the board, which it is not. I can assure you that the answer above is correct, yet it is also meaningless in your decision. Your decision is going to be based on your needs and your market. In your market you may well have several architect driven design/build firms (forward vertical integration), or you might have cost conscience builders providing design services (backward vertical integration). Do your due diligence and then pick the arrangement that you are most comfortable with. I would advise that you take pricing quotes with a grain of salt, the best value is not likely to depend on a quoted upfront price. Also I personally would not look at portability of plans from a design/build firm. This seems like the worst of all worlds... You limit design to strengths of one firm and then don't use that firm. Just my 2 cents... Good luck....See MoreNew Construction - House Plans
Comments (39)Hi K F, thanks for your kind words. Your writing reveals that you are a centered, loving and intelligent individual. I hope you forgive me one last intrusion. I just get excited thinking of how lovely your home will be, specially given the location. So, I am adding an additional revision of the plan showing that (1) you could take the pantry all the way to what would be the south wall, and (2) a possible treatment of the play room (the den). Imagine that the eastern wall features a large round window mounted on a thick stone wall and at night the LED projectors cast "magical" light effects on the woods nearby. The room also features a wooden platform with drawers and two twin mattresses that will be used as sofas and nap beds and are on the ready for adult overnight visitors. The more storage you can built-in in this room the better to deal with the children's toys, books, etc. Remember also that the plan can be flipped so you have the morning sun in the entry way and the evening sun in the living room, or as it shows now, where the morning light streams into the living and kitchen space and the sun sets the opposite way (of course!). Cheers!...See Moreanj_p
8 months agoJeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
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