Here it is....Feedback please.

Hi all SSers,

As I said in another thread, I have now received the initial concept plans for our retirement nest on Kangaroo Island. (Google LOT 51 Lovers Ln
BROWNLOW KI SA 5223.)

The views are predominantly to the north east thus the glass in that area.

There are a few areas with which we are not happy right now. Before discussing these, we would like to get some feedback from you guys.

We will be living upstairs and the unit downstairs will be used for visitors and some holiday rentals from time to time.

Your thoughts please. I am happy to answer any questions.

This is the initial brief we gave the architect:-


Just some thoughts on what we are thinking for the house on KI.

As you will note, the block is fully wooded and we want to retain as much of that as we can. With this in mind, we also want to take advantage of the views and therefore we need to go up (Council says 6.5 M but will go with 7M) and build a house on stilts. Unfortunately the views are to the east and north east which creates a challenge as far as cooling etc is concerned. I think we could overcome most of the problems by having wide verandahs all round which we want anyway.

We want the house to be as green as possible and to this end we will be installing grid connect solar power which needs to be installed on a (true) north facing roof at 30 degrees. We would prefer not to have to install frameworks to attain the angle. The roof also need to act as catchments for the water tanks and we will be installing a grey water treatment system. We would like to not have to install aircon and try to get away with insulation and fans in summer and a slow combustion wood heater in winter. Also we will be using the Zego system (http://www.zego.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=13&Itemid=131 ) Please have a look.



We would like the house to be wheelchair friendly and therefore a ramp??? from the outside to the verandah and adequate internal spacing. (This is where we will live and hopefully grow old and more doddery than now.)

To the structure:

Downstairs: (We will most likely use this area as accommodation for B&B guests.)

Two double sized bedrooms large enough to fit a queen bed, couple of easy chairs and TV. Towel rails, chest of drawers and built in robes.

A bathroom with shower and bath. (Maybe small en suites would be more suitable.)

Shared self contained kitchen for making coffee and toast etc.

We will be using these for visitors and bed and breakfast type accommodation.

A large laundry with a chute from upstairs. Cupboard and bench for folding linen, trough, washing machine and dryer. Enough room to do ironing.

A large linen press outside the laundry. (Slatted doors.)


Upstairs:

A large master suite to accommodate two beds, Ensuite with shower (1000 x 2000), bath with spa jets, combination extractor heater, full size vanity with drawers and cupboard space. Separate toilet with extractor fan.

A craft room for "She who must be obeyed" with workbench/desk and shelving. (Min 3600 x 3600)

A study for "He who does the obeying"

Good size dedicated theatre room.

Powder room with basin and toilet for visitors.

Large country style kitchen, very large walk in pantry for bulk food storage and a chest freezer, open plan living/eating/TV/area opening onto the wide verandahs. This area should be considered as the primary area to take advantage of the views. (Use lots of glass here.)

Lots of storage space including linen press.

This is what he came up with.


Plan.jpg

Plan1.jpg



Your considered opinions and suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Cheers.

Chris.
 
Last edited:
I have personally found that long areas of deck don't get used much and are a waste of space and money. Saying that, a good deck needs to be at least 3-4m wide and 5-6m long for a nice comfortable family size table setting.
Where are your cooling summer breezes coming from?
 
Very good. Love the verandahs around the front and sides.

Should the need to meet with nature arise during a movie, you might want to add a 2nd door from the theatre room on the WC side so you won't cross through the study and disturb someone?

The downstairs showers will need a specially made base without a lip to accommodate a wheelchair bound person; get a shower chair like the hospitals and nursing homes use.
 
I also love the decks. I don't think it matters if they don't get used that much - you get enjoyment from knowing that you *could* go out on the deck. ;) And they look great.

I share BayView's concern re positioning of powder room. Everything else - except the theatre - to the right of the staircase on that level is what I'd consider "private space", and everything to the left "public space". You want your visitors to be able to go to the powder room without either actually intruding, or feeling that they're intruding, on your "private space". Unfortunately a preliminary think about it couldn't come up with any brilliant ideas for achieving that, but it's a worthwhile goal, in my opinion.

Very exciting project, Chris, can't wait to see how it unfolds! Many of the principles and building techniques that you're using are consistent with our own "dream home" plans.
 
Where's the verandah all the way around the house?

Where's the ramp?

I just a quick look but doesn't look like htey have delivered the brief.


Regards
Sheryn
 
Does the house directly face the views? If so, I would scrap the side verandahs and make the front verandah wider. I find a shorter, "squarer" verandah more useable than a longer skinny one. Maybe one side verandah to views, but wider.

Is it intended that guests come upstairs at all? Apart from friends and rellies, that is? If not, all OK. If you intend B&B visitors to use the theatre then maybe a "back door" from the theatre to the toilet area? We have stayed in B&Bs and are more comfortable with clearly defined visitor areas. In your case there really is no need for the B&B guests to go upstairs at all.
Marg
 
I have personally found that long areas of deck don't get used much and are a waste of space and money. Saying that, a good deck needs to be at least 3-4m wide and 5-6m long for a nice comfortable family size table setting.
Where are your cooling summer breezes coming from?

Yo Rockstar,

We live outside and the verandahs are an important part of our living space. The area in front of the study is large enough for our outdoor setting. Nth east to nth west.

BayView

Should the need to meet with nature arise during a movie, you might want to add a 2nd door from the theatre room on the WC side so you won't cross through the study and disturb someone?

The downstairs showers will need a specially made base without a lip to accommodate a wheelchair bound person; get a shower chair like the hospitals and nursing homes use.
Great idea about the door. Will definitely fix that one. Thank you.

As for wheelchair stuff, we will be looking at all that when we do the detail.

ozperp
I also love the decks. I don't think it matters if they don't get used that much - you get enjoyment from knowing that you *could* go out on the deck. And they look great.

I share BayView's concern re positioning of powder room. Everything else - except the theatre - to the right of the staircase on that level is what I'd consider "private space", and everything to the left "public space". You want your visitors to be able to go to the powder room without either actually intruding, or feeling that they're intruding, on your "private space". Unfortunately a preliminary think about it couldn't come up with any brilliant ideas for achieving that, but it's a worthwhile goal, in my opinion.

Very exciting project, Chris, can't wait to see how it unfolds! Many of the principles and building techniques that you're using are consistent with our own "dream home" plans.

Thanks Ozperp,

The upstairs area will be our private domain and the only others that will venture their will be friends and family and none of them consider that we are entitlled to privacy so not a biggie.

It is exciting because all of the other projects we have done were with the head. This one is not and we will not be rushing it. I will keep the info coming.

Sheryn

Where's the verandah all the way around the house?

Where's the ramp?

My mistake, I should have mentioned that we have opted for the stairs and when required we will install a chair lift. As for the verandah, we decided that we do not need them on the weather side of the house.

More changes will be made. The ensuite is too small and we do not need (want) walk in robes. We will cut the robes in half lenghtwise and create a full height wardrobe with lots of storage which, in turn, will give us a bigger ensuite.

We are not happy with the kitchen either and need to revisit the kitchen/pantry area.

We are considering whether we need the lounge downstairs, another bedroom may be of more value.

marg4000

Does the house directly face the views? If so, I would scrap the side verandahs and make the front verandah wider. I find a shorter, "squarer" verandah more useable than a longer skinny one. Maybe one side verandah to views, but wider.

In order for us to have the house face North, our view are to the east and north east. We need the cover for temperature control as that area will be predominently glass to take in the views.

Is it intended that guests come upstairs at all? Apart from friends and rellies, that is? If not, all OK. If you intend B&B visitors to use the theatre then maybe a "back door" from the theatre to the toilet area? We have stayed in B&Bs and are more comfortable with clearly defined visitor areas. In your case there really is no need for the B&B guests to go upstairs at all

No, only mouldy mates and rellies.

Thank you all for the thoughts thus far. Please don't stop.

Cheers.

Chris.
 
I also love the decks. I don't think it matters if they don't get used that much - you get enjoyment from knowing that you *could* go out on the deck. ;) And they look great.

That's ok OP if you can afford to have it "just in case I need it one day. I would be more inclined to have it as internal space which will get more use - but that's just my experience from owning a PPOR with some unused deck space and wishing I had used it for internal space. It doesn't really matter if budget is not an important factor. Then you can have both. :)
 
That's ok OP if you can afford to have it "just in case I need it one day. I would be more inclined to have it as internal space which will get more use - but that's just my experience from owning a PPOR with some unused deck space and wishing I had used it for internal space. It doesn't really matter if budget is not an important factor. Then you can have both. :)
Point taken, but as this is Chris' retirement home and he's been a property investor for some time, I was assuming we were talking "zero compromise". ;)

And I'm coming from the opposite perspective to yourself... I have a PPOR that's 6 BR and about 400 m2+, but has zero indoor/outdoor space :eek: (crazy in QLD)!

I've considered sacrificing the walls of the bedroom nearest the pool on a corner, to turn it into an al fresco dining area. :D
 
If you intent to attract paying B&B guests then I think ensuite bathrooms are essential. No one likes queueing up to use the facilities. One of the attractions of B&B accommodation is luxury and privacy, and long baths would not be appropriate in a bathroom shared with strangers.

Another option may be to rent it out as a fully self-contained 2 bedroom holiday apartment, then the shared bathroom would not be an issue.

It depends which market you intend to target.
Marg
 
Marg,

Thank you for the response.

We are leaning toward the fully self contained option and with that in mind, we will probably turn the separate lounge into another bedroom as it will be more attractive for the family market.

We have also been busy witht changing around the upstairs areas and included some of the ideas from this forum. I am a big bloke (190cm, 110Kg) and I hate puny little showers and baths and the way the ensuite was set up there just was no room to move. Marcia absolutely hates these new fangled half width vanities so that had to go too.

We are simple people and not need individual walk in dumping areas and since we happily lived out of built in robes (which actually give more usable space) all our lives we have again opted for these.

We also think that the second vanity in the ensuite area can be much better used as storage space.

The attachment shows the changes. (Bottom right corner shows the original concept.)

We have now shifted our attention to the kitchen and stairwell.

Please keep the ideas coming they are very helpful and we do appreciate your input.:):)

Cheers.

Chris.
 

Attachments

  • Ensuite .pdf
    70.5 KB · Views: 130
Back
Top