Floor plans: bit of a sneak peak

We’ve been sketching and drawing and measuring and planning since the beginning of November, and I feel this whole process is so exciting that I simply must share some of it with you, right now. There are definitely still a few corners where I need to make some changes, but I do like it a lot already. So, without further ado:

Side information: the scale is 1:75, meaning that 1 cm equals 75 cm (well, on the A4 sheet with the original drawing, anyway), and North is to the RIGHT. And the first floor only covers most of the actual living area.

As usual, the scans are far from perfect (I promise I’ll redraw the end result in black ink). And I didn’t label anything this time, either, so again you may hazard a guess where everything is supposed to be (ground floor only):

• dining table
• kitchen corner
• larder
• storage space
• woodshed
• garage
• children’s space
• office
• entry room
• bath
• loo

What you may have noticed as well are the stairs. Think of the ground floor as on three different levels: Street level extends to the first level (and the whole garage), after that it’s ground level which is about 1 m lower, and then another 60-80 cm dug into the ground for the bathroom, play area and larder.

How this came about

Remembering my old plans, you’ll find that I sort of evolved from round structures to a rather looooooongish one. This is partly due to the plot, which is rather oblong with 17 to 50 metres and thus already stretches east–west anyway (the street is to the east). Of course this lines up well with a passive solar design. The shape does remind me of those fabulous earthships. Apart from that, there’s an interesting pattern from A Pattern Language called “long thin house” which says that if there is little space available, it’ll feel like a lot more if you stretch it out as thinly as possible, either vertically or horizontally. I like that thought. And finally, I’ve decided to plan this house for 4-5 adults and 4-6 kids as permanent inhabitants, and knowing us, there’ll be plenty of visitors as well. That simply rules out a roundhouse by its sheer shize.

Expect some change

I’ll definitely experiment with swapping the kitchen and dining table, that makes more sense to me. I also want to combine the stove with the stairs and put a small spiral staircase in the office leading to the side room on the first floor. The long southern stretch of windows could do with some bulging bay windows, I think, and I will totally try to make it all another little bit smaller (this is approx. 9 to 14 metres for the ground floor including the garage).

But guess what: No matter how far it is still to go, in my head I’m living there already. And it is SO wonderful!