I am doing my own project and I have created the following floor plans. I am a noob so I would like to know if you can find better ways to divide the rooms. My intention was to build different apartments in one building so that they could be divided in the future by just building a wall. I am open to any new suggestions please see the pictures. It is a 3 floor building.
Wood Guy
Jul 14, 24 1:32 pm
Hire a professional.
joniale
Jul 14, 24 2:26 pm
Of course I will, but I just want some general impressions. If this is totally wrong and present some ideas so that we have a starting point.
graphemic
Jul 15, 24 12:21 pm
It's totally wrong.
Non Sequitur
Jul 14, 24 3:28 pm
hire a professional. Good useful advice costs money.
logon'slogin
Jul 14, 24 3:44 pm
You are asking for a major surgery thinking it's a manicure-pedicure. Are you doing this because you can bootleg another unit later?
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 14, 24 4:40 pm
It’s against the law to practice architecture without a license where I live. Where are you?
natematt
Jul 15, 24 1:45 am
If you're not selling services passing yourself off as an architect, or actually building something of size, most places it's not a problem. I really don't think this person is currently or will ultimately break any laws.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 15, 24 9:16 am
We don’t know any of that. And planning a project does fall under the definition of practicing architecture.
natematt
Jul 15, 24 12:35 pm
Only if they are selling this service to someone else, or if they try to permit/build it without a licensed professional.
You can draw a plan for any building you want and post it on the internet for people’s opinions. There is nothing illegal with that.
The assumption about wh
at they will do is a bit different. I’m mostly skeptical they are capable enough with what they are doing to get anywhere with doing it illegally hahahaha
natematt
Jul 15, 24 2:20 am
I dislike how this forum typically jumps right to “hire a professional” … because it's almost always the right advice, yet people just misconstrue the terseness as gatekeeping or something haha.
This looks like the floor plan to a building that would be listed on AirBnB as “sleeps up to 58” … The layout is wild. It almost looks like a computer is autogenerating these spaces through some sort of half-baked AI that just really likes bedrooms.
Just looking at the third image – you have 8 beds, 3 baths, and 2 kitchens? And it’s maybe a 2000sqft floor plate? Dang. You’re missing some spaces, and you’re trying way to hard to reduce circulation. And it's wildly uncomfortable and atypical. The proportions of the spaces are inconsistent, the layouts are dreadful, and while residential code is not my specialty, I’m doubtful much of this would be legal in a lot of places.
If you actually plan on doing anything with this, I would seriously suggest you hire an architect, someone who does residential design that you like. Start out with your goals for the space, and then let them do the work to figure out how to achieve that. Work with them, but let them be the architect... It will be much easier than asking them to untangle this knot.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 15, 24 8:28 am
I don’t like that either but professionals can get in trouble offering advice online. I thought of making some comments, this is too close to that type of comments but then you run the risk of the original poster and all the subsequent readers thinking that tweaking a plan is all it takes.
Wood Guy
Jul 15, 24 8:43 am
I agree, natematt, and I had tried a few ways of wording a friendlier answer, including the fact that it's an unusual layout and we don't know the program. But I ended up just cutting to the chase.
Non Sequitur
Jul 15, 24 9:56 am
I'm still on vacation so I kept mine short and sweet with minimal snark. No promisses for similar posts next week.
natematt
Jul 15, 24 12:47 pm
It’s not a criticism of the forum, it’s a criticism of the way outsiders take it.
Chad Miller
Jul 15, 24 1:29 pm
Wilma Buttfit wrote:
"I don’t like that either but professionals can get in trouble offering advice online. I thought of making some comments, this is too close to that type of comments but then you run the risk of the original poster and all the subsequent readers thinking that tweaking a plan is all it takes. "
This interests me.
Would you be able to point to any legal decisions where architects were found liable for advice given online?
joniale
Jul 15, 24 2:44 pm
Really? I fail to see how advice given on a forum can be taken as liability and have legal consequences if something goes wrong. Everyone should be free to have an opinion and if someone follows it, it is their responsibility. If that were the case, YouTube would be full of lawsuits.
graphemic
Jul 15, 24 2:51 pm
You fail to see because you're not a professional. Our services include following
the law.
Chad Miller
Jul 15, 24 2:56 pm
joniale - Just an FYI. Architects have been held liable for sketches they did on bar napkins for people who weren't clients.
joniale
Jul 15, 24 3:02 pm
natematt thanks for your honest comment. That helped!
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 16, 24 10:49 am
I cant think of any cases off the top of my head, no. I think we are smarter than to offer that kind of advice. I have a good story that is sorta related. I recently lost a proposal for a very small retail project. The client hired another architect. A few days later she emails me and tells me she is marking up the plans for the architect and wants to know what the code minimum requirements are for the plans so she can tell the architect what to do.
Chad Miller
Jul 16, 24 11:24 am
eeep.
archanonymous
Jul 15, 24 6:34 am
We're not telling you to hire a professional because we want your money (you type of clients are the absolute worst) nor because we are mean, but because architecture is very difficult to get right.
People live in buildings and have opinions about them so they think they can design one. That is as wrong as thinking because you live in a body you can play god.
Wood Guy
Jul 15, 24 8:48 am
This is what I sent a potential client a few months ago who asked what programs they could use to get a head start on the design. I thought it would probably turn them off, but they ended up appreciating my honesty and have hired me to design their forever-home.
There are a few programs available but I don't have experience with any of them, only Autocad and Sketchup, the professional programs I use that have steep learning curves. (A free version of Sketchup is available and it's easy to learn the basics of using it, but nothing is automated so it's not for novice home design.) I have heard that 3D Home Architect is reasonably good for novices. Honestly I think graph paper is as good as anything if you want to start playing around with ideas.
There is a lot that goes into designing a home and schematic design--the basic concept--is where it all starts. You are free to play around with ideas if you want and I will consider them, but I have found repeatedly that it's an exercise in futility for both parties. I have spent thousands of hours over my career developing design concepts so I am fast and I take all of the relevant factors into account. I don't get too emotionally attached to any of the designs because I have done so many of them, and having seen many of them through to the finished home I know what will result in a home you love vs. one that simply provides the necessities.
If you have not designed a home before, 100% of your lifetime effort will be invested in the design you come up with. You may not think you will become attached but I guarantee that you will; every one of my past clients who have tried their hand at design have. Then it becomes a debate of whose plan is better and you'll be biased toward yours.
One of my current projects actually went this way. One of the owners tried her hand at designing an addition/renovation. She didn't like any of the three concepts I showed her and instead of letting me take her feedback for another round of design, the typical approach, she wanted to go with hers. I warned her that she was going to spend a lot of money to get only slightly more space, laid out awkwardly. She insisted so we went forward with her design. After two years of attempting to make it work, tens of thousands of dollars in design fees, starting the permitting process and with the builder ready to start, she decided that she was going to be spending a lot of money (over $1M) to get only slightly more space, laid out awkwardly, so she cancelled the project.
Another project, currently about halfway through construction, my clients designed using predesigned plans from a website. They cut the plans apart and reassembled them to get what they wanted, as they wanted to save money on design fees and thought they would enjoy the creative aspect. I could not convince them that custom design would result in a space better tailored for their life and unusual site. They will now have a 4,200 sq.ft. home for just the two of them, including a living room larger than my house, because they couldn't figure out how to avoid it. I could have easily designed a home for their needs in 3,000 sq.ft., so by saving maybe $10K on design, they are now spending hundreds of thousands more than they needed to on construction and will have a gigantic living room that they didn't want.
joniale
Jul 15, 24 2:38 pm
I see your point. Maybe it is not good to bring such a detailed plan. I would probably be very attached to my plan right now. I did not know how else to explain what I wanted. Thank you for your experience and comment.
Wood Guy
Jul 16, 24 7:12 pm
It may be great! I don't know enough about that type of building to comment on it. But how good were you the first time you cooked food, or painted art, or swam?
joniale
Jul 15, 24 2:30 pm
I do not know why this is such a big deal. This is a sketch to share with my architect, I used a trial version of a software. I am not an architect, I am just a client who wants to start a project with some ideas. I need to transfer these ideas somehow. I thought this would be a good place to start. I am not a professional and it is crazy to think I could do this without a professional. I really appreciate natematt's comment. This is what I was expecting, an honest opinion from a professional before I proceed. I would like to have some reasoning rather than it being completely wrong or me not knowing where to start. As I said, my intention was to build something with many rooms, something between a house and a hotel. I also like the terraces very much. I think I will go straight to my architect and see what he can do with it. Thanks for your comments and time.
Non Sequitur
Jul 15, 24 2:34 pm
How much are you expecting to pay your "architect" for this work? BTW, what you're showing is pretty bad, even for an amateur.
joniale
Jul 15, 24 2:57 pm
I am not an amateur. I am a client who want to share his ideas. I think I have already said this. It is the architect who has to make the estimate. This is a big project. Please, if you have some comments about what exactly is bad, then please could you share your thoughts, that was the idea of my post.
graphemic
Jul 15, 24 3:00 pm
It will be most helpful for your architect if you have a clear idea of the program, i.e. how the building should be used. Articulating that idea in plan is a bad idea because there's a million steps between the program and the plan that you don't know how to do. All your desires could be satisfied by dozens of different plans. Your plans are just one (impossible) version. The "big deal" here is that you seem to be unaware of those steps, and also that you'
re unaware of them. Be wise.
Chad Miller
Jul 15, 24 3:01 pm
You are an amateur when it comes to architecture and design. There is nothing wrong with that.
The issue many of us have is you're asking us to provide you with a free design critique of you 'work'. If you really read the responses here you'd see that this is normally a professional service that we charge for.
The advice that natemat and wood guy have provided is really all you can expect for free. I would simply take your 'work' to your architect and ask them to provide you will a fee to design your project.
joniale
Jul 15, 24 3:12 pm
That is what I expected. I expected nothing more. No one should feel compelled to comment. Thank you for your professional answers.
Non Sequitur
Jul 15, 24 3:17 pm
Good luck with your hostel design.
Chad Miller
Jul 15, 24 3:19 pm
joniale wrote:
"That is what I expected. I expected nothing more. No one should feel compelled to comment. Thank you for your professional answers "
Respectfully, your comments here say that you are expecting free design input for your 'work'.
Non Sequitur
Jul 15, 24 3:32 pm
Bingo Chad. This wanker expected free services. They were never going to go to “their architect” anyways. This is just another cheapskate who thinks they can get ahead by hustling and faking it. Good thing their “design” is so bad it won’t ever see the light of day, at least it won’t in any developed country.
joniale
Jul 15, 24 3:40 pm
unbelievable. what kind of disrespectful answer is this?
Chad Miller
Jul 15, 24 3:47 pm
joniale - this site often gets requests by anonymous users who want us to 'look over' their designs for free. They are often trying to get out of having to pay for architectural fees. When they are called out for doing this they become 'offended' that we were so 'rude' to them.
I'm not saying this is you.
You did come here expecting free design services. That is disrespectful.
Answer me this: What do you do work?
Non Sequitur
Jul 15, 24 3:54 pm
Joniale, why do you think you deserve respect?
joniale
Jul 15, 24 4:18 pm
Chad please, my comments were not disrespectful. My post was to get advice on my floor plan and yes, because I thought it was ok in this forum. I think from your comment that was wrong. I do not know how to undo it. I have to say it is strange to get this kind of answers and some "uncivilised" answers from professionals. How can you say that asking a question is disrespectful? I work in software and I do not know why this is important to you. But I would like to stop this and just ask anyone who feels disrespected to accept my apology and forget my post.
Non Sequitur
Jul 15, 24 4:36 pm
I think 75% of the people who come here for free services are software people.
Chad Miller
Jul 15, 24 5:47 pm
joniale - how would you feel if an inexperienced programmer from another company asked you to review their program that they're being paid to work on. Now imagine they expect you to do it for free.
How would that make you feel?
proto
Jul 15, 24 4:46 pm
@ joniale, we're not all a**holes, but we do see a lot of posts where we have people ask fairly naive design questions not realizing how complex the question actually is. A forum just isn't a good medium to properly give any effective or reliable design advice. Perhaps it works among architects with a precise & limited question. But big whole design questions just beg a whole lot of other questions and answers that we can't really address in any satisfactory way.
joniale
Jul 17, 24 2:24 am
Thank you for speaking out about the uncivilised comments of some of the participants and I understand your point about my post. I was wrong to post it here. Thank you for your comment.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:28 am
I came up with some comments. Keep in mind that coming up with comments on something like this could take about as long as it could take me to draw a couple of nice plans.
- Doors to bedrooms and other rooms generally swing in. Imagine occupying the spaces, for example let’s say I’m walking past a bedroom door at the moment someone exits the bedroom. You don’t want a door flying out at you as you walk by.
- Multifamily buildings are subject to laws around accessibility. I won’t go deep into that, but you need space to get around the beds and make the beds. Imagine using these rooms. How do you make the beds when there is no room to get around the bed? Where would you put lamps and lamp tables?
- We can only read what you have here. Several rooms are labeled as COURT. How are we to know what you intend here? Same with several of the blocks. Is there a pool? Some balconies?
- What type of construction is this? If it’s wood, you’ll be planning for load bearing walls and spans compatible with wood framing.
- When you place a lounge chair on a balcony, imagine what it is like to sit there. Imagine what it is like to walk around the furniture. Your spaces should be oriented and sized to take advantage of views as well as block noise and unsightly views.
- When you walk into a toilet room, you don’t want to walk directly into the toilet. Imagine the space you need to walk into a room, flip on a light switch, and close the door behind you. You want to flow.
That’s enough for now, I can’t type and look at the plans at the same time on my phone so going from memory.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:47 am
Ok, I pulled up the plan on my desktop so I can see it while typing.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:47 am
Ok, I pulled up the plan on my desktop so I can see it while typing.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:50 am
- Bedrooms have doors for privacy and noise. Bedroom occupants shouldn’t have to walk through other bedrooms. Rooms should support the comfort and well-being of the occupants. You have plenty of space to do so.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:51 am
- Floor 3 appears to have capacity to sleep 16 but only 1 shower.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:53 am
- tiny sinks in tiny alcoves are really uncomfortable to use. Imaging brushing you teeth or brushing you hair but your elbows whack the walls.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:58 am
- Be mindful of clearances at appliances too. Stackable washer/dryer units need room in front of them and around them in order to be useful and comfortable. A tall stackable washer in front of a window makes the window rather useless. Can you get to the window to open it? Wash it? How do you clean all the tiny slices of floor space you left around it? Do you want to look up from the outside and see a washer/dryer through the window? You might say you don’t mind but plans are opportunities to get things right, not to waste your time and effort on things no one wants. Imagine doing that in a restaurant. The guest wants a steak but you serve them a hot dog, claiming it gets the job done.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:58 am
- Be mindful of clearances at appliances too. Stackable washer/dryer units need room in front of them and around them in order to be useful and comfortable. A tall stackable washer in front of a window makes the window rather useless. Can you get to the window to open it? Wash it? How do you clean all the tiny slices of floor space you left around it? Do you want to look up from the outside and see a washer/dryer through the window? You might say you don’t mind but plans are opportunities to get things right, not to waste your time and effort on things no one wants. Imagine doing that in a restaurant. The guest wants a steak but you serve them a hot dog, claiming it gets the job done.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 9:59 am
- As a dancer, I love all the dance floors.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 10:00 am
- If an apartment sleeps 16, it should also have place for 16 to dine and lounge.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 10:03 am
- Kitchen islands are nice. Angled corner cabinets are not. Corners in cabinets are not very useful and if you look at some hood kitchen layouts, you can see that you design kitchens without corner cabinets at all. The kitchens are small given the number of beds.
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 17, 24 10:04 am
- Some bedrooms have closets and some don’t. Is there thought behind this?
Wilma Buttfit
Jul 19, 24 8:03 am
I don’t think joniale wanted feedback on their plans. I think they wanted praise on their software ability.
Hello experts,
I am doing my own project and I have created the following floor plans.
I am a noob so I would like to know if you can find better ways to divide the rooms.
My intention was to build different apartments in one building so that they could be divided in the future by just building a wall.
I am open to any new suggestions please see the pictures.
It is a 3 floor building.
Hire a professional.
Of course I will, but I just want some general impressions. If this is totally wrong and present some ideas so that we have a starting point.
It's totally wrong.
hire a professional. Good useful advice costs money.
You are asking for a major surgery thinking it's a manicure-pedicure. Are you doing this because you can bootleg another unit later?
It’s against the law to practice architecture without a license where I live. Where are you?
If you're not selling services passing yourself off as an architect, or actually building something of size, most places it's not a problem. I really don't think this person is currently or will ultimately break any laws.
We don’t know any of that. And planning a project does fall under the definition of practicing architecture.
Only if they are selling this service to someone else, or if they try to permit/build it without a licensed professional. You can draw a plan for any building you want and post it on the internet for people’s opinions. There is nothing illegal with that. The assumption about wh at they will do is a bit different. I’m mostly skeptical they are capable enough with what they are doing to get anywhere with doing it illegally hahahaha
I dislike how this forum typically jumps right to “hire a professional” … because it's almost always the right advice, yet people just misconstrue the terseness as gatekeeping or something haha.
This looks like the floor plan to a building that would be listed on AirBnB as “sleeps up to 58” … The layout is wild. It almost looks like a computer is autogenerating these spaces through some sort of half-baked AI that just really likes bedrooms.
Just looking at the third image – you have 8 beds, 3 baths, and 2 kitchens? And it’s maybe a 2000sqft floor plate? Dang. You’re missing some spaces, and you’re trying way to hard to reduce circulation. And it's wildly uncomfortable and atypical. The proportions of the spaces are inconsistent, the layouts are dreadful, and while residential code is not my specialty, I’m doubtful much of this would be legal in a lot of places.
If you actually plan on doing anything with this, I would seriously suggest you hire an architect, someone who does residential design that you like. Start out with your goals for the space, and then let them do the work to figure out how to achieve that. Work with them, but let them be the architect... It will be much easier than asking them to untangle this knot.
I don’t like that either but professionals can get in trouble offering advice online. I thought of making some comments, this is too close to that type of comments but then you run the risk of the original poster and all the subsequent readers thinking that tweaking a plan is all it takes.
I agree, natematt, and I had tried a few ways of wording a friendlier answer, including the fact that it's an unusual layout and we don't know the program. But I ended up just cutting to the chase.
I'm still on vacation so I kept mine short and sweet with minimal snark. No promisses for similar posts next week.
It’s not a criticism of the forum, it’s a criticism of the way outsiders take it.
Wilma Buttfit wrote:
"I don’t like that either but professionals can get in trouble offering advice online. I thought of making some comments, this is too close to that type of comments but then you run the risk of the original poster and all the subsequent readers thinking that tweaking a plan is all it takes. "
This interests me.
Would you be able to point to any legal decisions where architects were found liable for advice given online?
Really? I fail to see how advice given on a forum can be taken as liability and have legal consequences if something goes wrong. Everyone should be free to have an opinion and if someone follows it, it is their responsibility. If that were the case, YouTube would be full of lawsuits.
You fail to see because you're not a professional. Our services include following the law.
joniale - Just an FYI. Architects have been held liable for sketches they did on bar napkins for people who weren't clients.
natematt thanks for your honest comment. That helped!
I cant think of any cases off the top of my head, no. I think we are smarter than to offer that kind of advice. I have a good story that is sorta related. I recently lost a proposal for a very small retail project. The client hired another architect. A few days later she emails me and tells me she is marking up the plans for the architect and wants to know what the code minimum requirements are for the plans so she can tell the architect what to do.
eeep.
We're not telling you to hire a professional because we want your money (you type of clients are the absolute worst) nor because we are mean, but because architecture is very difficult to get right.
People live in buildings and have opinions about them so they think they can design one. That is as wrong as thinking because you live in a body you can play god.
This is what I sent a potential client a few months ago who asked what programs they could use to get a head start on the design. I thought it would probably turn them off, but they ended up appreciating my honesty and have hired me to design their forever-home.
There are a few programs available but I don't have experience with any of them, only Autocad and Sketchup, the professional programs I use that have steep learning curves. (A free version of Sketchup is available and it's easy to learn the basics of using it, but nothing is automated so it's not for novice home design.) I have heard that 3D Home Architect is reasonably good for novices. Honestly I think graph paper is as good as anything if you want to start playing around with ideas.
There is a lot that goes into designing a home and schematic design--the basic concept--is where it all starts. You are free to play around with ideas if you want and I will consider them, but I have found repeatedly that it's an exercise in futility for both parties. I have spent thousands of hours over my career developing design concepts so I am fast and I take all of the relevant factors into account. I don't get too emotionally attached to any of the designs because I have done so many of them, and having seen many of them through to the finished home I know what will result in a home you love vs. one that simply provides the necessities.
If you have not designed a home before, 100% of your lifetime effort will be invested in the design you come up with. You may not think you will become attached but I guarantee that you will; every one of my past clients who have tried their hand at design have. Then it becomes a debate of whose plan is better and you'll be biased toward yours.
One of my current projects actually went this way. One of the owners tried her hand at designing an addition/renovation. She didn't like any of the three concepts I showed her and instead of letting me take her feedback for another round of design, the typical approach, she wanted to go with hers. I warned her that she was going to spend a lot of money to get only slightly more space, laid out awkwardly. She insisted so we went forward with her design. After two years of attempting to make it work, tens of thousands of dollars in design fees, starting the permitting process and with the builder ready to start, she decided that she was going to be spending a lot of money (over $1M) to get only slightly more space, laid out awkwardly, so she cancelled the project.
Another project, currently about halfway through construction, my clients designed using predesigned plans from a website. They cut the plans apart and reassembled them to get what they wanted, as they wanted to save money on design fees and thought they would enjoy the creative aspect. I could not convince them that custom design would result in a space better tailored for their life and unusual site. They will now have a 4,200 sq.ft. home for just the two of them, including a living room larger than my house, because they couldn't figure out how to avoid it. I could have easily designed a home for their needs in 3,000 sq.ft., so by saving maybe $10K on design, they are now spending hundreds of thousands more than they needed to on construction and will have a gigantic living room that they didn't want.
I see your point. Maybe it is not good to bring such a detailed plan. I would probably be very attached to my plan right now. I did not know how else to explain what I wanted. Thank you for your experience and comment.
It may be great! I don't know enough about that type of building to comment on it. But how good were you the first time you cooked food, or painted art, or swam?
I do not know why this is such a big deal. This is a sketch to share with my architect, I used a trial version of a software. I am not an architect, I am just a client who wants to start a project with some ideas. I need to transfer these ideas somehow. I thought this would be a good place to start. I am not a professional and it is crazy to think I could do this without a professional.
I really appreciate natematt's comment. This is what I was expecting, an honest opinion from a professional before I proceed. I would like to have some reasoning rather than it being completely wrong or me not knowing where to start.
As I said, my intention was to build something with many rooms, something between a house and a hotel. I also like the terraces very much.
I think I will go straight to my architect and see what he can do with it.
Thanks for your comments and time.
How much are you expecting to pay your "architect" for this work? BTW, what you're showing is pretty bad, even for an amateur.
I am not an amateur. I am a client who want to share his ideas. I think I have already said this. It is the architect who has to make the estimate. This is a big project. Please, if you have some comments about what exactly is bad, then please could you share your thoughts, that was the idea of my post.
It will be most helpful for your architect if you have a clear idea of the program, i.e. how the building should be used. Articulating that idea in plan is a bad idea because there's a million steps between the program and the plan that you don't know how to do. All your desires could be satisfied by dozens of different plans. Your plans are just one (impossible) version. The "big deal" here is that you seem to be unaware of those steps, and also that you' re unaware of them. Be wise.
You are an amateur when it comes to architecture and design. There is nothing wrong with that.
The issue many of us have is you're asking us to provide you with a free design critique of you 'work'. If you really read the responses here you'd see that this is normally a professional service that we charge for.
The advice that natemat and wood guy have provided is really all you can expect for free. I would simply take your 'work' to your architect and ask them to provide you will a fee to design your project.
That is what I expected. I expected nothing more. No one should feel compelled to comment. Thank you for your professional answers.
Good luck with your hostel design.
joniale wrote:
"That is what I expected. I expected nothing more. No one should feel compelled to comment. Thank you for your professional answers "
Respectfully, your comments here say that you are expecting free design input for your 'work'.
Bingo Chad. This wanker expected free services. They were never going to go to “their architect” anyways. This is just another cheapskate who thinks they can get ahead by hustling and faking it. Good thing their “design” is so bad it won’t ever see the light of day, at least it won’t in any developed country.
unbelievable. what kind of disrespectful answer is this?
joniale - this site often gets requests by anonymous users who want us to 'look over' their designs for free. They are often trying to get out of having to pay for architectural fees. When they are called out for doing this they become 'offended' that we were so 'rude' to them.
I'm not saying this is you.
You did come here expecting free design services. That is disrespectful.
Answer me this: What do you do work?
Joniale, why do you think you deserve respect?
Chad please, my comments were not disrespectful. My post was to get advice on my floor plan and yes, because I thought it was ok in this forum. I think from your comment that was wrong. I do not know how to undo it. I have to say it is strange to get this kind of answers and some "uncivilised" answers from professionals. How can you say that asking a question is disrespectful? I work in software and I do not know why this is important to you. But I would like to stop this and just ask anyone who feels disrespected to accept my apology and forget my post.
I think 75% of the people who come here for free services are software people.
joniale - how would you feel if an inexperienced programmer from another company asked you to review their program that they're being paid to work on. Now imagine they expect you to do it for free.
How would that make you feel?
@ joniale, we're not all a**holes, but we do see a lot of posts where we have people ask fairly naive design questions not realizing how complex the question actually is. A forum just isn't a good medium to properly give any effective or reliable design advice. Perhaps it works among architects with a precise & limited question. But big whole design questions just beg a whole lot of other questions and answers that we can't really address in any satisfactory way.
Thank you for speaking out about the uncivilised comments of some of the participants and I understand your point about my post. I was wrong to post it here. Thank you for your comment.
I came up with some comments. Keep in mind that coming up with comments on something like this could take about as long as it could take me to draw a couple of nice plans.
- Doors to bedrooms and other rooms generally swing in. Imagine occupying the spaces, for example let’s say I’m walking past a bedroom door at the moment someone exits the bedroom. You don’t want a door flying out at you as you walk by.
- Multifamily buildings are subject to laws around accessibility. I won’t go deep into that, but you need space to get around the beds and make the beds. Imagine using these rooms. How do you make the beds when there is no room to get around the bed? Where would you put lamps and lamp tables?
- We can only read what you have here. Several rooms are labeled as COURT. How are we to know what you intend here? Same with several of the blocks. Is there a pool? Some balconies?
- What type of construction is this? If it’s wood, you’ll be planning for load bearing walls and spans compatible with wood framing.
- When you place a lounge chair on a balcony, imagine what it is like to sit there. Imagine what it is like to walk around the furniture. Your spaces should be oriented and sized to take advantage of views as well as block noise and unsightly views.
- When you walk into a toilet room, you don’t want to walk directly into the toilet. Imagine the space you need to walk into a room, flip on a light switch, and close the door behind you. You want to flow.
That’s enough for now, I can’t type and look at the plans at the same time on my phone so going from memory.
Ok, I pulled up the plan on my desktop so I can see it while typing.
Ok, I pulled up the plan on my desktop so I can see it while typing.
- Bedrooms have doors for privacy and noise. Bedroom occupants shouldn’t have to walk through other bedrooms. Rooms should support the comfort and well-being of the occupants. You have plenty of space to do so.
- Floor 3 appears to have capacity to sleep 16 but only 1 shower.
- tiny sinks in tiny alcoves are really uncomfortable to use. Imaging brushing you teeth or brushing you hair but your elbows whack the walls.
- Be mindful of clearances at appliances too. Stackable washer/dryer units need room in front of them and around them in order to be useful and comfortable. A tall stackable washer in front of a window makes the window rather useless. Can you get to the window to open it? Wash it? How do you clean all the tiny slices of floor space you left around it? Do you want to look up from the outside and see a washer/dryer through the window? You might say you don’t mind but plans are opportunities to get things right, not to waste your time and effort on things no one wants. Imagine doing that in a restaurant. The guest wants a steak but you serve them a hot dog, claiming it gets the job done.
- Be mindful of clearances at appliances too. Stackable washer/dryer units need room in front of them and around them in order to be useful and comfortable. A tall stackable washer in front of a window makes the window rather useless. Can you get to the window to open it? Wash it? How do you clean all the tiny slices of floor space you left around it? Do you want to look up from the outside and see a washer/dryer through the window? You might say you don’t mind but plans are opportunities to get things right, not to waste your time and effort on things no one wants. Imagine doing that in a restaurant. The guest wants a steak but you serve them a hot dog, claiming it gets the job done.
- As a dancer, I love all the dance floors.
- If an apartment sleeps 16, it should also have place for 16 to dine and lounge.
- Kitchen islands are nice. Angled corner cabinets are not. Corners in cabinets are not very useful and if you look at some hood kitchen layouts, you can see that you design kitchens without corner cabinets at all. The kitchens are small given the number of beds.
- Some bedrooms have closets and some don’t. Is there thought behind this?
I don’t think joniale wanted feedback on their plans. I think they wanted praise on their software ability.