Apologies if this the wrong forum for this. I hope everyone is safe in this trying time.
I would like the architects here to help review my floor plan design.
Disclaimer: I'm a software developer, not an architect. I just thought I could design my dream house using SketchUp.
Design Thought Process:
Red lines represent Glass Sliding doors.
A crucial aspect is that official visitors should have access to my office without entering the living room. That's why I have a door to my office at the main entrance.
The office and study are the same room separated by a glass sliding door. This way, I can have visitors in the office while residents are using the study at the same time.
The purpose of the guest toilet is for VIPs that will have access to the living room. This is why the passage to the toilet is in the living room. Needless to say, I can easily open the sliding door separator (for the office-study room) for the official guests to use the restroom.
I just can't figure out how to add some ventilation to the dining section, and more for the living room vertical wall. and I wouldn't want to temper with the vertical wall in the living room because of the floating TV stand shown here(https://ibb.co/g91jvHS )
You are aware that what is worthy of $$ is actual production of presentation drawings and CDs aka deliverable? Your design advice is really just your useless opinion that does not carry much value. We may listen to your critiques a little more if you are some big name Architect. But even then, we laugh at some big name starchitect's designs. So don't value your ideas too much like those students unless you can sell it to a client that actually pays to build it.
Some of the people on this forum won't be so kind, so brace yourself.
I on the other hand enjoy looking at this sort of thing, but all further comments will end with "Hire an Architect".
I absolutely hate a living room that is used for passage. Everyone that enters the front door makes a diagonal path to get to the bedrooms. Throw some furniture in there and it gets awkward.
Square homes can be beautiful, but this plan doesn't work well. The dining room has no natural light and a guest shouldn't have to walk through the living room to get to the guest bathroom, nor should there be a clean line of sight from the toilet into a living space.
Talk to an architect about what you need and let them come up with a flow that's less awkward.
You're going to get comments like "I'm an architect and not a software developer, will you review my code?"
pro-tip no1: just because you think you can design does not mean you should.
pro-tip no2: design is not just organizing space like it was a spreadsheet. That's the engineering mind that needs to make and label boxes so that everything has a place. Spatial quality needs to be considered as well or else you just have another boring box
pro-tip no3: hire, and pay for, an architect if you want design advice.
pro-tip no4: your plan is unimaginative, boring, and very wasteful in terms of spatial organization.
Oh damn, looks like the op just vanished... must have realized their error and tried to hide their ignorance/nativité. Fear not, I still had the OG image in a (accidentally opened) 2nd browser window. Here it is in all it's glory:
It's not a total dumpster fire like we often get... but it's not good either. I particularly like that the attention was given to 3 tiny sliding glass pocket doors instead of making any sort of sense of the living/dining/sleeping spaces.
I'll take OP at his word that he intends to hire an architect so there's really no reason to argue for the value of that.
OP what you're doing is basically a programming concept, basically laying out what kind of spaces you want and what requirements you have for the connections between them. That's a helpful starting point once you work with an architect, and you don't need to get it all figured out yourself.
You've given no information about the building itself, your own needs and preferences, or the scope of work to be done so it's totally impossible to evaluate any of this. I have no idea if this is a new build or interior renovation, nor does there seem to be any consideration of how this all looks. Obviously you will have a budget which will impact whether this is all feasible. So regarding the design, no comment. Again, your architect will guide you through this.
I think we should keep in mind that some other professions share ideas and ask for advice very often on forums such as stackoverflow. Parametric software users in the architecture business head to forums too for help with Grasshopper. This habit could have lead to some folks outside the design profession to seek advice on forums like this. Of course, there will be some who are looking for free design services and those should be shunned (As someone who is looking to get free custom written code on a programmer forum wil be). A quick first take (akin to simple debugging help in the software business) should be fine.
Assuming this is an imaginary dream house scenario, and we don't know where this house will be located, I say that these rooms are awfully small on the whole. That may be your intention; I'm not sure. Also please get rid of the dead-end corridor!
Typically architects (at least good ones) work in plan, elevation, and section at the same time in order to understand how relationships change as design decisions are made. Space has 3 dimension, but no ceiling heights have been indicated. There is a big difference in a room with an 8 foot ceiling vs. a 12 foot ceiling. Create a basic elevation and section if you intend to keep developing this idea on your own. If the intent is to develop this idea into a real building, others are right to suggest hiring a professional. On the whole, I applaud your efforts. This is truly a lot better than the majority of what is posted on this forum.
1st of all, in residential design, you can do whatever you want with the layout, people have preferences, a home design is absolutely personal. The only concern you should have, is how deep of a pocket you got. Anyone can have the layout of their dream home, what other people say about your layout is just their opinion of your design. Much like table reversed, you are the designer and they are the client, they don't like your design and wants change. And remember, if you are looking for custom, you do not want efficient. If you want efficient, just grab some premade floor plan schemes done by hundreds of architects off a residential house plan book.
Aug 28, 20 4:04 pm ·
·
Jay1122
Now after defending OP, time to give you the reality. Anyone can do layout, even my old grandma can lay out the plan using logic and preference. It is the basic way of design to most people. I should say this design method is frowned upon in design school. After you do layout, you extrude it one level or two, resulting in some boring boxes, then you put in some punch window, a roof. If you use standard 2x4 stick, vinyl siding, shingle roof, punch window. It is probably just another garbage house that is not efficient or beautiful. If that is the kind of house you want, you should just buy a mass produced developer house off the lot. It will be cheaper and more efficient. You need to know why custom house is custom, why dream house is your dream. It is all about things you cannot get with mass produced house. For example, large rooms, high ceiling spaces, big storefront windows, exotic construction & finish materials.
Aug 28, 20 4:22 pm ·
·
Jay1122
Rather than critique on your layout, it is much better to educate you on what it means to have an architect to design your custom house, assuming you have enough funds. Layout is really not important, efficiency is also not important. You want to consider spatial quality,natural lights and openings, construction methods, Finish materials, acoustical qualities, and much more. Not even Arch school recent graduate students can do a full custom house design, although they always think the 3D boxes with programmed space they make is architecture.
Aug 28, 20 4:42 pm ·
·
u/Snoo-11525
I appreciate your comments Jay. This is very informative and I'll keep that in mind. Your explanation of custom design is very comprehensive and relatable, similar to how I explain software development concept to fresh graduates.
Aug 28, 20 6:47 pm ·
·
Jay1122
Although i do not expect people from outside the profession to know all the criteria that goes into a custom house design, it is great to keep those things in mind. Because inevitably, you will have to pick and choose between those different qualities based on your budget. Like, settle for efficient box layout, but have high ceiling space and premium finishes, example: high end apartment or loft. Or go with larger space and footage but go with cheaper construction material and method. You just need to figure out what architecture feature is most important to you. As a professional, i recommend large storefront window, natural light is a must. I suggest 10-12 ft ceiling, totally worth the money. I suggest to upgrade exterior siding to cladding, better modern look. Then flat roof if you can afford. So break away from thinking about those detailed layouts and stuff, look for major features you want in your design as your dream home. It is personal, some people want huge outdoor terrace because they want parties all day long, some want huge luxurious living room because they have big gathering and want to showoff. At the end, you want a design visualized through rendering and you want the space designed to pop and attract you.
As one software engineer to another, good luck with your project!!
I spent years sketching my dream homes, but when I was ready to talk to my architect I left my pencil at home to see what he would draw from a conversation about my program and aesthetic tastes- and I'm really happy with the result. I do think it is useful to play with your own designs to get a feel for what spaces you want and how you want them to relate, gain some familiarity with standard dimensions of common elements, and to have a better appreciation for the tradeoffs in any floorplan. The clearer you can be about how you occupy space, the more your architect can optimize the plans to fit your lifestyle- like the difference in code quality when you grok the big picture from the start vs build with piecemeal inconsistent late-breaking requirements.
As for my amateur feedback, I'm wondering if you're constrained by a small lot and yet a requirement for single-floor living? If not I'd try to keep to one or two rooms deep and elongate / add L wings / build up as needed- it helps with the natural light and keeps the scale of the roof in check (assuming some sort of pitched roof- important to consider as you design so the exterior isn't hideous). Also consider the orientation to the sun and relation to outdoor elements- like, most dream homes have some sort of porch or patio and a driveway if not garage? And trees are nice... :)
Starting from your current plan I'd pull the master bedroom forward to be even with the office and put the gym / playroom in the newly created space (closer to the shower, keeps kid noise away from a nice dinner party, adds more buffer between master and other bedrooms...). Then run the front porch full length between the symmetrical wings, center the main front door (and really a foyer would be nice) and put a second exterior door off the left side of the porch directly into your office space.
Then shift the dining room outward to have the exterior wall and swap the pantry/ utility space to the interior, connecting the kitchen to the dining area like a butler pantry. With the kitchen across the back of the house you could open up that hallway to the back door (maybe an open countertop rather than a wall?) and maybe have space for a sunny breakfast nook along the back wall?
Just my amateur opinion, hope it gives you something to think about :)
cover that with hot rubberized asphalt waterproofing and some stainless steel panels and you'll have a Gehry-designed roof.
Apr 23, 21 1:39 pm ·
·
chris-chitect
tduds, I actually kind of like what you did. Each flat portion should really be an opening with a vibrantly coloured interior. Throw on some shadows and you might have something interesting as each room is activated by light at different times of day according to sun angle. Sometimes the best creativity is fueled by sarcasm haha.
Floor Plan Review Needed
Hi,
Apologies if this the wrong forum for this. I hope everyone is safe in this trying time.
I would like the architects here to help review my floor plan design.
Disclaimer: I'm a software developer, not an architect. I just thought I could design my dream house using SketchUp.
Design Thought Process:
Red lines represent Glass Sliding doors.
A crucial aspect is that official visitors should have access to my office without entering the living room. That's why I have a door to my office at the main entrance.
The office and study are the same room separated by a glass sliding door. This way, I can have visitors in the office while residents are using the study at the same time.
The purpose of the guest toilet is for VIPs that will have access to the living room. This is why the passage to the toilet is in the living room. Needless to say, I can easily open the sliding door separator (for the office-study room) for the official guests to use the restroom.
I just can't figure out how to add some ventilation to the dining section, and more for the living room vertical wall. and I wouldn't want to temper with the vertical wall in the living room because of the floating TV stand shown here (https://ibb.co/g91jvHS )
2D Plan: https://ibb.co/m4Q6DRj
3D Sneakpeak: https://ibb.co/g91jvHS
Thank you for your reviews/suggestions in advance.
I will hire an architech in due course. But It would be nice to have a conceptual view of what I want.
you are aware you are asking for what is a paid service for the folks who inhabit this forum, right?
damn, I wanted the first reponse! took too long.
You are aware that what is worthy of $$ is actual production of presentation drawings and CDs aka deliverable? Your design advice is really just your useless opinion that does not carry much value. We may listen to your critiques a little more if you are some big name Architect. But even then, we laugh at some big name starchitect's designs. So don't value your ideas too much like those students unless you can sell it to a client that actually pays to build it.
If that’s your value, vibes...
Dunno about you but at my firm we also bill clients for Programming & SD.
Yep, that's a floorplan.
Some of the people on this forum won't be so kind, so brace yourself.
I on the other hand enjoy looking at this sort of thing, but all further comments will end with "Hire an Architect".
I absolutely hate a living room that is used for passage. Everyone that enters the front door makes a diagonal path to get to the bedrooms. Throw some furniture in there and it gets awkward.
Square homes can be beautiful, but this plan doesn't work well. The dining room has no natural light and a guest shouldn't have to walk through the living room to get to the guest bathroom, nor should there be a clean line of sight from the toilet into a living space.
Talk to an architect about what you need and let them come up with a flow that's less awkward.
You're going to get comments like "I'm an architect and not a software developer, will you review my code?"
Thank you Chris for being nice. It would be nice to hire someone like you. I'll send you a private message
pro-tip no1: just because you think you can design does not mean you should.
pro-tip no2: design is not just organizing space like it was a spreadsheet. That's the engineering mind that needs to make and label boxes so that everything has a place. Spatial quality needs to be considered as well or else you just have another boring box
pro-tip no3: hire, and pay for, an architect if you want design advice.
pro-tip no4: your plan is unimaginative, boring, and very wasteful in terms of spatial organization.
pro-tip no.5: hire a architect
Point taken
No problem, thanks for sticking around instead of disappearing immediately. Most do... those wankers.
Anyone else having trouble loading the image?
OP must have been editing their post. OG image in my response below.
Oh damn, looks like the op just vanished... must have realized their error and tried to hide their ignorance/nativité. Fear not, I still had the OG image in a (accidentally opened) 2nd browser window. Here it is in all it's glory:
It's not a total dumpster fire like we often get... but it's not good either. I particularly like that the attention was given to 3 tiny sliding glass pocket doors instead of making any sort of sense of the living/dining/sleeping spaces.
I, for one, like when my office is large enough to fit a desk.
well, that's like, your opinion, man. This person prefers corridors.
Thanks for being nice. I'm sure you have a lot of clients :D
^I do.
but not residential ones iirc :)
^not officially no... although that's all I've been working on for the month of august.
I'll take OP at his word that he intends to hire an architect so there's really no reason to argue for the value of that.
OP what you're doing is basically a programming concept, basically laying out what kind of spaces you want and what requirements you have for the connections between them. That's a helpful starting point once you work with an architect, and you don't need to get it all figured out yourself.
You've given no information about the building itself, your own needs and preferences, or the scope of work to be done so it's totally impossible to evaluate any of this. I have no idea if this is a new build or interior renovation, nor does there seem to be any consideration of how this all looks. Obviously you will have a budget which will impact whether this is all feasible. So regarding the design, no comment. Again, your architect will guide you through this.
Right. Thanks for the suggestion
I think we should keep in mind that some other professions share ideas and ask for advice very often on forums such as stackoverflow. Parametric software users in the architecture business head to forums too for help with Grasshopper. This habit could have lead to some folks outside the design profession to seek advice on forums like this. Of course, there will be some who are looking for free design services and those should be shunned (As someone who is looking to get free custom written code on a programmer forum wil be). A quick first take (akin to simple debugging help in the software business) should be fine.
Assuming this is an imaginary dream house scenario, and we don't know where this house will be located, I say that these rooms are awfully small on the whole. That may be your intention; I'm not sure. Also please get rid of the dead-end corridor!
Typically architects (at least good ones) work in plan, elevation, and section at the same time in order to understand how relationships change as design decisions are made. Space has 3 dimension, but no ceiling heights have been indicated. There is a big difference in a room with an 8 foot ceiling vs. a 12 foot ceiling. Create a basic elevation and section if you intend to keep developing this idea on your own. If the intent is to develop this idea into a real building, others are right to suggest hiring a professional. On the whole, I applaud your efforts. This is truly a lot better than the majority of what is posted on this forum.
Thank you for the explanation :D
1st of all, in residential design, you can do whatever you want with the layout, people have preferences, a home design is absolutely personal. The only concern you should have, is how deep of a pocket you got. Anyone can have the layout of their dream home, what other people say about your layout is just their opinion of your design. Much like table reversed, you are the designer and they are the client, they don't like your design and wants change. And remember, if you are looking for custom, you do not want efficient. If you want efficient, just grab some premade floor plan schemes done by hundreds of architects off a residential house plan book.
Now after defending OP, time to give you the reality. Anyone can do layout, even my old grandma can lay out the plan using logic and preference. It is the basic way of design to most people. I should say this design method is frowned upon in design school. After you do layout, you extrude it one level or two, resulting in some boring boxes, then you put in some punch window, a roof. If you use standard 2x4 stick, vinyl siding, shingle roof, punch window. It is probably just another garbage house that is not efficient or beautiful. If that is the kind of house you want, you should just buy a mass produced developer house off the lot. It will be cheaper and more efficient. You need to know why custom house is custom, why dream house is your dream. It is all about things you cannot get with mass produced house. For example, large rooms, high ceiling spaces, big storefront windows, exotic construction & finish materials.
Rather than critique on your layout, it is much better to educate you on what it means to have an architect to design your custom house, assuming you have enough funds. Layout is really not important, efficiency is also not important. You want to consider spatial quality,natural lights and openings, construction methods, Finish materials, acoustical qualities, and much more. Not even Arch school recent graduate students can do a full custom house design, although they always think the 3D boxes with programmed space they make is architecture.
I appreciate your comments Jay. This is very informative and I'll keep that in mind. Your explanation of custom design is very comprehensive and relatable, similar to how I explain software development concept to fresh graduates.
Although i do not expect people from outside the profession to know all the criteria that goes into a custom house design, it is great to keep those things in mind. Because inevitably, you will have to pick and choose between those different qualities based on your budget. Like, settle for efficient box layout, but have high ceiling space and premium finishes, example: high end apartment or loft. Or go with larger space and footage but go with cheaper construction material and method. You just need to figure out what architecture feature is most important to you. As a professional, i recommend large storefront window, natural light is a must. I suggest 10-12 ft ceiling, totally worth the money. I suggest to upgrade exterior siding to cladding, better modern look. Then flat roof if you can afford. So break away from thinking about those detailed layouts and stuff, look for major features you want in your design as your dream home. It is personal, some people want huge outdoor terrace because they want parties all day long, some want huge luxurious living room because they have big gathering and want to showoff. At the end, you want a design visualized through rendering and you want the space designed to pop and attract you.
Jay112 - Your design advice is really just your useless opinion that does not carry much value.
Honestly you need to hire someone who knows what they're doing. That plan is problematic at best.
Certainly
I like to think of the hijinks that will ensue when someone enters the kitchen from the dining room at the same time as someone from the corridor.
Oh :D
Ensue, hi-jinx! Damn you, ensue!
There can never be too many toilets.
True. But there can be enough toilets.
As one software engineer to another, good luck with your project!!
I spent years sketching my dream homes, but when I was ready to talk to my architect I left my pencil at home to see what he would draw from a conversation about my program and aesthetic tastes- and I'm really happy with the result. I do think it is useful to play with your own designs to get a feel for what spaces you want and how you want them to relate, gain some familiarity with standard dimensions of common elements, and to have a better appreciation for the tradeoffs in any floorplan. The clearer you can be about how you occupy space, the more your architect can optimize the plans to fit your lifestyle- like the difference in code quality when you grok the big picture from the start vs build with piecemeal inconsistent late-breaking requirements.
As for my amateur feedback, I'm wondering if you're constrained by a small lot and yet a requirement for single-floor living? If not I'd try to keep to one or two rooms deep and elongate / add L wings / build up as needed- it helps with the natural light and keeps the scale of the roof in check (assuming some sort of pitched roof- important to consider as you design so the exterior isn't hideous). Also consider the orientation to the sun and relation to outdoor elements- like, most dream homes have some sort of porch or patio and a driveway if not garage? And trees are nice... :)
Starting from your current plan I'd pull the master bedroom forward to be even with the office and put the gym / playroom in the newly created space (closer to the shower, keeps kid noise away from a nice dinner party, adds more buffer between master and other bedrooms...). Then run the front porch full length between the symmetrical wings, center the main front door (and really a foyer would be nice) and put a second exterior door off the left side of the porch directly into your office space.
Then shift the dining room outward to have the exterior wall and swap the pantry/ utility space to the interior, connecting the kitchen to the dining area like a butler pantry. With the kitchen across the back of the house you could open up that hallway to the back door (maybe an open countertop rather than a wall?) and maybe have space for a sunny breakfast nook along the back wall?
Just my amateur opinion, hope it gives you something to think about :)
Is it for a door showroom? So many doors!
It's adorable.
Its the showroom for Real Fake Doors!
claustrophobic.
but metric!
How is the roof plan of this plan? Can anyone help me
nope, sorry. can't/won't. Do your own work you lazy bastard.
Wow this forum was rude as fuck
I was just asking for tips
No you weren't.
Here's a tip. The roof is on top.
In 2 second I thought of at least 5 different ways of roofing that plan.
pointy side up. preferably sloped according to gravity.
Don't all slopes work according to gravity?
"Preferably sloped [to drain] according to gravity."
Or is that giving away too much of our trade secrets?
Drains on the roof are the only way to remove the water.
"In 2 second I thought of at least 5 different ways of roofing that plan." Was one way an... almost- hip roof?
Mansard is the correct answer.
Dead Flat 4 Life
Here ya go
cover that with hot rubberized asphalt waterproofing and some stainless steel panels and you'll have a Gehry-designed roof.
tduds, I actually kind of like what you did. Each flat portion should really be an opening with a vibrantly coloured interior. Throw on some shadows and you might have something interesting as each room is activated by light at different times of day according to sun angle. Sometimes the best creativity is fueled by sarcasm haha.
SSTduds... way to straight-up rip off the famous 1967 World Fair African Pavilion's design.
and yes, I deliberately decided to show a winter scene.
I can only hide my natural brilliance so much with sarcasm, a little genuine good is bound to shine through. ;)
chris-chitect, sounds familiar ... hmm ...
That building might be the ugliest exterior / prettiest interior contrast I've ever encountered.
I think the exterior has moments, but generally I agree.
Someone needs to know what diagonal lines on asphalt means.
means i can park anywhere inside it because nobody else will
Bunch of electric vehicle charging stations and Nissan Leafs there.
tduds lmao w that sketchup model!!!
Hey, if you'd like send me a PM and I can see if I can be of help to you!
No need, we've already done the work.
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