ᐅ Building a House – Where Do I Start? I Feel Like I’m Going in Circles!
Created on: 7 Mar 2018 17:29
D
Dynamit Harry
Hi everyone!
First of all: I’m afraid this will be a longer post…
Starting with the current situation:
I currently live in an older house (owned property) built sometime in the late 1800s. I renovated the ground floor and basement a few years ago. Now it’s time to update the first floor and the roof. This will cost a lot of money, and yet the house will still be old. On top of that, the location isn’t ideal. However, I also have a building plot available. It’s quite small (about 480m² (5,167 ft²)), oddly shaped (roughly 14m (46 ft) wide and 34m (112 ft) deep), with side setbacks of 3m (10 ft) each, and I have to keep an 8m (26 ft) distance from the street. I don’t remember the rear building line at the moment.
Anyway, I’ve started planning myself and had initial talks with house manufacturers (timber frame construction). But I keep going in circles…
If I stick to the building boundaries, I can’t fit my ideas “into the house.” The main issue is the 8m (26 ft) setback from the street. If I could reduce that, things would look better.
Of course, it could be that an architect comes up with brilliant ideas to realize my plans within the building limits.
But if the architect can’t manage that, I’m back to the problem of “exceeding the building boundaries.” Then the question is how to handle that best. Should I present my own ideas to the local authority? I might “sell myself badly” because I’m not very familiar with the procedures. Result: application rejected. Or should I leave it to an architect who knows the “tricks” to better convince the authority? Even then, acceptance is not guaranteed. If the architect charges according to the fee schedule, just this initial assessment will cost a significant amount of money… And without any guarantee of success. Don’t get me wrong! I understand that work must be paid for.
If I decide to go through an architect, the question is: should I hire an independent one or use the one from the potential house manufacturer? I would prefer the “in-house” architect because I can assume they are familiar with the specifics of timber frame construction. Besides, there’s the question of whether the architect I pick would be any good or not… When you ask them, of course, they’ve done it all before, know everything, and all their customers are very satisfied. Whether they will give you the names of unhappy clients… ;-) So picking the right architect is really a choice between the lesser of two evils ;-)
I can already imagine the laughter from the builder when I come to them with this request: “Look, if you manage to fit my ideas within the building envelope or arrange for me to leave the building envelope, you probably get the contract…” And since the company currently with the best offer for me is fully booked, they don’t need to chase customers.
At the moment, I’m stuck and don’t know the best way to proceed…
Any suggestions?
Thanks and best regards
T 🙂 m
First of all: I’m afraid this will be a longer post…
Starting with the current situation:
I currently live in an older house (owned property) built sometime in the late 1800s. I renovated the ground floor and basement a few years ago. Now it’s time to update the first floor and the roof. This will cost a lot of money, and yet the house will still be old. On top of that, the location isn’t ideal. However, I also have a building plot available. It’s quite small (about 480m² (5,167 ft²)), oddly shaped (roughly 14m (46 ft) wide and 34m (112 ft) deep), with side setbacks of 3m (10 ft) each, and I have to keep an 8m (26 ft) distance from the street. I don’t remember the rear building line at the moment.
Anyway, I’ve started planning myself and had initial talks with house manufacturers (timber frame construction). But I keep going in circles…
If I stick to the building boundaries, I can’t fit my ideas “into the house.” The main issue is the 8m (26 ft) setback from the street. If I could reduce that, things would look better.
Of course, it could be that an architect comes up with brilliant ideas to realize my plans within the building limits.
But if the architect can’t manage that, I’m back to the problem of “exceeding the building boundaries.” Then the question is how to handle that best. Should I present my own ideas to the local authority? I might “sell myself badly” because I’m not very familiar with the procedures. Result: application rejected. Or should I leave it to an architect who knows the “tricks” to better convince the authority? Even then, acceptance is not guaranteed. If the architect charges according to the fee schedule, just this initial assessment will cost a significant amount of money… And without any guarantee of success. Don’t get me wrong! I understand that work must be paid for.
If I decide to go through an architect, the question is: should I hire an independent one or use the one from the potential house manufacturer? I would prefer the “in-house” architect because I can assume they are familiar with the specifics of timber frame construction. Besides, there’s the question of whether the architect I pick would be any good or not… When you ask them, of course, they’ve done it all before, know everything, and all their customers are very satisfied. Whether they will give you the names of unhappy clients… ;-) So picking the right architect is really a choice between the lesser of two evils ;-)
I can already imagine the laughter from the builder when I come to them with this request: “Look, if you manage to fit my ideas within the building envelope or arrange for me to leave the building envelope, you probably get the contract…” And since the company currently with the best offer for me is fully booked, they don’t need to chase customers.
At the moment, I’m stuck and don’t know the best way to proceed…
Any suggestions?
Thanks and best regards
T 🙂 m
S
Sondelgeher128 Mar 2018 09:47I can understand his point... I assume the road is to the north of his property, so he is simply giving up the 8 meters (26 feet) as an entrance, where a few meters less would have been sufficient... nevertheless, a nice house should still fit on the lot, right?
Dynamit Harry schrieb:
(...)
However, I still have a building plot available. It is quite small (about 480m² (5,167 ft²)), awkwardly shaped (approximately 14m (46 ft) wide and 34m (112 ft) deep), with a 3m (10 ft) side setback on each side and an 8m (26 ft) setback from the street.
(...)
Do you have any suggestions?Try searching for:Schöner Wohnen – Modern gable roof house with brick facade
The floor plan is also available there.
A slender, quite interesting design.
D
Dynamit Harry9 Mar 2018 06:09Hello!
First of all, thank you for your contributions. I’m currently quite busy... A detailed response from me will come in due course. Further suggestions and input are, of course, welcome.
Best regards
T 🙂m
First of all, thank you for your contributions. I’m currently quite busy... A detailed response from me will come in due course. Further suggestions and input are, of course, welcome.
Best regards
T 🙂m