ᐅ Roof design / Mandatory use of the second floor in buildings with two full stories
Created on: 8 Mar 2017 16:29
M
mertmk3Hello,
Our development plan allows for 2 full stories with a pitched roof at an angle greater than 30°. We are currently considering the best way to utilize this space. We are certain that we want at least a knee wall height of 1.8m (6 feet) on the upper floor, but we are also open to building without a knee wall and having 2.5m (8 feet) ceiling heights instead. Since we are planning a basement, we don’t need to use the entire attic space for storage, which raises the question: What roof pitch and upper floor height make the most sense? Building unnecessarily high doesn’t make sense, nor does having a large unused attic area. Are there examples of how the roof could be designed architecturally to enhance the sense of space? Essentially, an open roof design to create a generous, spacious feeling?
How would you design the roof given the above conditions?
We would appreciate suggestions, preferably with pictures.
Next week we will visit the architect and will of course ask these questions, but having ideas beforehand would be even better.
Best regards
Our development plan allows for 2 full stories with a pitched roof at an angle greater than 30°. We are currently considering the best way to utilize this space. We are certain that we want at least a knee wall height of 1.8m (6 feet) on the upper floor, but we are also open to building without a knee wall and having 2.5m (8 feet) ceiling heights instead. Since we are planning a basement, we don’t need to use the entire attic space for storage, which raises the question: What roof pitch and upper floor height make the most sense? Building unnecessarily high doesn’t make sense, nor does having a large unused attic area. Are there examples of how the roof could be designed architecturally to enhance the sense of space? Essentially, an open roof design to create a generous, spacious feeling?
How would you design the roof given the above conditions?
We would appreciate suggestions, preferably with pictures.
Next week we will visit the architect and will of course ask these questions, but having ideas beforehand would be even better.
Best regards
Where two full stories are planned, you would usually need quite large plots if you preferred to build a similarly sized single-story house there. In other words, if single-story construction were allowed in areas where the zoning plan specifies two stories, the floor area ratio would typically only allow for a small house (or you would need an extra-large plot).
The regulations defining what counts as a "full story" can also be used in reverse: instead of designing to avoid a full story, you can size the knee wall so that you deliberately exceed the full-story threshold with a combined upper and attic floor. If the critical height is 2 m (6.6 ft), this can be easily achieved with a knee wall height of 1.8 m (5.9 ft) — a roof pitch of 30° is more than enough for that.
On the other hand, this pitch results in a noticeable increase in ceiling height for an open roof space. Therefore, I would consider using this approach sparingly — if necessary, in a way that creates several separate attic spaces that are not interconnected. However, this makes insulation more complex.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
The regulations defining what counts as a "full story" can also be used in reverse: instead of designing to avoid a full story, you can size the knee wall so that you deliberately exceed the full-story threshold with a combined upper and attic floor. If the critical height is 2 m (6.6 ft), this can be easily achieved with a knee wall height of 1.8 m (5.9 ft) — a roof pitch of 30° is more than enough for that.
On the other hand, this pitch results in a noticeable increase in ceiling height for an open roof space. Therefore, I would consider using this approach sparingly — if necessary, in a way that creates several separate attic spaces that are not interconnected. However, this makes insulation more complex.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Open gable ends can look nice—in my opinion, but only if the rooms are sufficiently large. In smaller rooms, I find that the distorted perspective makes them appear even smaller than they actually are.
Many people plan loft spaces or mezzanines in children’s rooms if the ceiling height allows. However, you should consider whether the children will still want to use these spaces at age 15 and what the spaces will be used for once the children have moved out.
You might also consider designing the attic from the start as an office, guest room, or possibly even a children’s bedroom (though this would probably only be suitable for older children who are comfortable being alone on their floor) and then adjust the entire layout accordingly by reducing the overall floor area.
I would not recommend limiting yourself initially by the roof pitch but rather choose it based on the final use: keep it as low as possible with an open gable (to prevent the ceiling height at the ridge from becoming excessive) or make it correspondingly larger if it is a full additional floor intended for living space.
Of course, you might want to visit show home parks to get a feel for different roof pitches—sometimes you might find some options to be far too much or too little. (By the way, show home parks often offer great inspiration, and I highly recommend checking them out ;-) )
Many people plan loft spaces or mezzanines in children’s rooms if the ceiling height allows. However, you should consider whether the children will still want to use these spaces at age 15 and what the spaces will be used for once the children have moved out.
You might also consider designing the attic from the start as an office, guest room, or possibly even a children’s bedroom (though this would probably only be suitable for older children who are comfortable being alone on their floor) and then adjust the entire layout accordingly by reducing the overall floor area.
I would not recommend limiting yourself initially by the roof pitch but rather choose it based on the final use: keep it as low as possible with an open gable (to prevent the ceiling height at the ridge from becoming excessive) or make it correspondingly larger if it is a full additional floor intended for living space.
Of course, you might want to visit show home parks to get a feel for different roof pitches—sometimes you might find some options to be far too much or too little. (By the way, show home parks often offer great inspiration, and I highly recommend checking them out ;-) )
Maria16 schrieb:
I wouldn’t limit myself by the roof pitch from the start, but rather choose it according to the final use: as low as possible with an open gable (so the ceiling height at the ridge doesn’t become excessive), or correspondingly higher for a separate upper floor with living space.Ideally, I would prefer that too, but here the development plan limits the freedom by requiring a minimum of 30°.
In my opinion, this is a good roof pitch for both options: separate upper floors (first floor and attic) only start to create usable space without knee walls at this angle; for a first floor with an open roof structure, I would prefer something a bit lower (around 20° roof pitch feels comfortable to me).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
The original poster raised the question about the roof pitch, and I simply recommended that they first consider the intended use and then determine the roof pitch accordingly.
Whether 30 degrees works well depends on factors such as the width of the house and the design of the staircase.
Whether 30 degrees works well depends on factors such as the width of the house and the design of the staircase.
Thank you for your responses.
What concerns me most is that I will have a relatively large, unused roof space if we build with a high knee wall or no knee wall at all. I have looked at some open roof designs with a gallery or similar, which is something I could definitely imagine. However, the architect would need to provide more details on that. I think we will start with the basic planning and then see how we can integrate the roof. Otherwise, it will just remain closed off and be used as storage space. 🙂
What concerns me most is that I will have a relatively large, unused roof space if we build with a high knee wall or no knee wall at all. I have looked at some open roof designs with a gallery or similar, which is something I could definitely imagine. However, the architect would need to provide more details on that. I think we will start with the basic planning and then see how we can integrate the roof. Otherwise, it will just remain closed off and be used as storage space. 🙂
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