Off the shelf Planning and Construction drawings:

ircoha

At the recent self build I came across

http://www.homebuilder.ie/

further research delivered

http://www.houseplans.ie/index.html and http://www.hometobe.ie/ and http://irish-house-plans.com/

They all deal with pre-prepared drawings, some for houses and garages others just houses: some just do planning drawings, others planning and construction drawings.

Would welcome any other additions to/comments on this type of resource.

Slan go foill;)

smashey

Good links Ircoha.

godtabh

ircoha wrote:

At the recent self build I came across

http://www.homebuilder.ie/

further research delivered

http://www.houseplans.ie/index.html and http://www.hometobe.ie/ and http://irish-house-plans.com/

They all deal with pre-prepared drawings, some for houses and garages others just houses: some just do planning drawings, others planning and construction drawings.

Would welcome any other additions to/comments on this type of resource.

Slan go foill;)

One thing I would say is when dealing with specifications and contracts is that you review them before you pay for them and get them amended as you see fit based on provisional advice.

Poor specifications and contracts can end up costing you a fortune.

Mellor

id never recommend them as a finished product, but they might be a great starting place for somebody who isn't sure where to start.

warrfla

I'd have to say some of the designs on those sites are Atrocious, and the main reason why driving around the Irish Countryside is so aesthetically displeasing.

You simply cannot take a house from a book and place it on a site, without first considering the site i.e. site orientation, site topography, surrounding buildings and context.

As long as these books and websites are in production Ireland will always be a haven for Bungalow Bliss.

We should be moving with the times and designing homes for the future not homes that were being constructed exactly the same 40 years ago, how many of these homes can easily incorporate eco friendly design features? I would say not many.

Sorry about the ant but these type of Books and Websites really get ge annoyed!!

Warren

smashey

warrfla wrote:

I'd have to say some of the designs on those sites are Atrocious, and the main reason why driving around the Irish Countryside is so aesthetically displeasing.

You simply cannot take a house from a book and place it on a site, without first considering the site i.e. site orientation, site topography, surrounding buildings and context.

As long as these books and websites are in production Ireland will always be a haven for Bungalow Bliss.

We should be moving with the times and designing homes for the future not homes that were being constructed exactly the same 40 years ago, how many of these homes can easily incorporate eco friendly design features? I would say not many.

Sorry about the ant but these type of Books and Websites really get ge annoyed!!

Warren

Thanks for that. I think the general consensus here is that they are for getting ideas only and ultimately current regulations would be adhered to.

Regarding moving with the times with house design, could you explain to me how this ties in with Donegal Co. Council's latest design guide where they are looking for a more traditional approach to house design? By your reckoning, this wouldn't be in keeping with modern requirements.

secman

I purchased one of these plans from a book, after making some interior and exterior alterations, at no cost. To date we have only received positive comments from people in the area. In particular as to how well it sits on the site and blends in well.

I have to admit that I wasn't mad about the look of the house on paper. However the interior was exactly what we wished for on our wish list, with a few changes.
But my other half who has a much keener eye for design assured me that it would be fine. It turned out much better than fine, couldn't have been better.

Plans cost €479 and including a copy on auto cad, great value.

Yours

Secman

godtabh

secman wrote:

I purchased one of these plans from a book, after making some interior and exterior alterations, at no cost. To date we have only received positive comments from people in the area. In particular as to how well it sits on the site and blends in well.

I have to admit that I wasn't mad about the look of the house on paper. However the interior was exactly what we wished for on our wish list, with a few changes.
But my other half who has a much keener eye for design assured me that it would be fine. It turned out much better than fine, couldn't have been better.

Plans cost €479 and including a copy on auto cad, great value.

Yours

Secman

What did your engineer/builder think of them when you went to build them?

secman

Never had any issue with the drawings, builder, Chippies etc just got on with the job and the engineer signing off, just did his visits at the key stages as per our prior arranged agreement, which cost €1,250 plus vat. He should be in a position to sign off very shortly now.

Also we were able to use the copy on disk to do up Elect & Mech drawings, which proved very usefull.


Secman

bbam

Hi..
I have to agree with smashey's comments about the councils not moving with the times... On the Co. Cavan planning information the type of house they find "acceptable in principal" is quite conservative and when speaking to folks in the planning office this follows through... No large south facing windows or deep overhanging eves here !!
We were going with a more traditional 1.5 story farm house look anyway... Anything else would be too much struggle/time..
Slan..
bam

treviesweets

warrfla wrote: »

I'd have to say some of the designs on those sites are Atrocious, and the main reason why driving around the Irish Countryside is so aesthetically displeasing.

You simply cannot take a house from a book and place it on a site, without first considering the site i.e. site orientation, site topography, surrounding buildings and context.

As long as these books and websites are in production Ireland will always be a haven for Bungalow Bliss.

We should be moving with the times and designing homes for the future not homes that were being constructed exactly the same 40 years ago, how many of these homes can easily incorporate eco friendly design features? I would say not many.

Sorry about the ant but these type of Books and Websites really get ge annoyed!!

Warren

I agree completely, you can't just take a random design and plonk it on a site. Hire an architect or at least a designer that has an appreciation of orientation and shelter. You'll save the extra cash on your energy use and end up with a far more aesthetically pleasing home.
As for using them for ideas, I'd much rather see some photographs of the sort of spaces you like rather than a set of plans. The building should be developed exactly from your requirements, not from altering a random set of plans.

Slig

Warrfla, this argument has been done over and over. There are of course 2 sides but I completely agree with you on this one. The county development plans "design Guidelines" fail because the traditional farmhouse or cottage modle does not fit with peoples house design requirements today.

The narrow profile of traditional forms will not accomidate large en-suite bedrooms, large kitchen dining rooms and multiple large living rooms. The best result you can hope for are traditional features on a big house (boy racer mentality:D).

Where the traditional cottages had 3 rooms leading from each other allowing for a narrow side elevation and combined with a small area and a low roof pitch allowed for very little intrucion into the landscape with the ridgeline rarely breaking the horizon even on the most exposed sites. The modern bungalow now has to include min 3 bedrooms(min 1 en-suite), large kitchen, utility, several bathrooms and living room. Unless they are 2 rooms wide with a corridor in the middle the building will be extremely long and narrow. Now even with a low pitched roof the proportion of roof to wall is huge. Adding narrow windows and concrete barges does nothing to mask the size.

What the planners hope to achieve is what they have in warmer european countries like spain and portugal, the use of white limewash and red clay tiles can make any house look traditional over there, no matter how modern, big or sprawling it is.

The vast majority of houses built in a rural setting are built by farmers offspring that really dont care about a "fancy" house and just build a block because they have a site. The bungalow Bliss fiasco is still continuing today. This and this style house still make up the vast majority of Irelands rural housing stock for the forseeable future.

The development plans should be promoting modern contemporary design. It should promote elevation design on the part of the architect not the client. It is too familiar to get a brief from a client where they have already designed the building. In this case you might aswell buy your plans from a book.