
Complex or unusual design features not only add time and money onto your build, but may also make your design more difficult to get approved by local planning authorities, making it a longer process.Īs a practice, we push the boundaries of Irish architecture and have great success, but some of our designs have taken quite a fight in planning, which has led to months being added onto the overall project. If you’re working to a deadline or speed is one of your main priorities, it is definitely something your architect needs to know.
#Architect design house upgrade#
If your budget is tight, it is easier to add on solar panels or change a bathroom suite at a later date, than trying to upgrade all the windows and insulation. One piece of advice which we give to all of our clients: try and spend your money on items that are not easily replaced. Making this decision will help your architect specify the best choices of materials and products for your project. For some people aesthetics is important and others want to spend as little as possible on the initial build, whereas some want to minimise the environmental impact and ongoing running costs. Most people don’t have a bottomless pit of money to build their home, so they have to prioritise where they would like to spend their budget.

Even though you may plan to live in the house for many, many years, financially it’s not advisable to spend more money on the whole project, than the house will be worth in the end. It’s also very useful to speak to a local estate agent to see what the final house might be worth. Things like site costs, services, laneways and fees all have to be considered and subtracted from your overall budget, so we can work out exactly how much is left for the build itself. Before approaching an architect, it’s always good to speak to a mortgage/financial advisor to work out approximately how much money you have to spend.

No one wants to talk about money, but unfortunately it’s probably the most important factor when starting your self-build journey. For instance, most people can’t visualise what 3m x 2.5m actually looks like, but measuring your existing living room and knowing that you want your new one to be a little bigger, is a good way to figure out what size you need. We always advise our clients to start off by making a ‘wish list’ of the rooms they’d like in their home and then use spaces in the house they’re in at the minute as a guide to sizes. A lot of clients seem to have a figure of around 2,500 sq ft in their heads when they first approach us, but with open plan living and clever design, you can actually fit a lot of accommodation into less space. Less is more: consider your living spaceĭeciding on a list of rooms you’d like is a great place to start, but trying to work out what size you need, well that’s a little harder. Don’t forget to find out about access to the site, location of nearby utilities and existing ground conditions as these will all have a large impact on the initial site costs and overall budget.Ģ. Positioning your house properly on the site will not only allow the natural light to flood in as much as possible, but will also increase the amount of heat generated via solar gain, reducing your heating bills. Information on the sun’s path, location of any trees on the site and direction of views will help shape the internal layout and general window positions, maximising the enjoyment of your new home.

Understanding a site’s location, orientation and topography are fundamental to the successful design of any home, so gathering as much detail as possible about the site is essential. Your site will have one of the biggest impacts on the design of your home. Show off to your friends in social media the ready house project of your dreams.You’d like a huge dressing room and an open plan living space but there’s plenty more to think about before you instruct an architect, says Gareth Boyd, Director at 2020 Architects. Rent construction machines, excavate foundations, hire workers and pour foundations.ĭesign walls, hire workers and build house walls.Ĭhoose finishing elements, finish the interior and the facade.Īdd innovative elements and paint them in the color of your choice. Design, build, finish, experiment, combining unusual architectural elements and enjoy your dream house.Ĭhoose your dream place on Earth, buy a plot and design the foundations of a dream house.
#Architect design house simulator#
House Designer is a home design and construction simulator that lets you learn all the stages of construction without leaving your home.
