House Plans

Curious Geroge

Hello to all.. At the moment I'm thinking off building a house, have the site etc but would like to get my hands on alot of plans to figure out what I can build. I know that I can look up the plans on the local authority website but I'd like to see a good variety. Is there any websites available where plans are available for free (I have seen the ones that charge) but I'd like to sit down and go through the various features provided by the different styles. Any help appreciated.

sydthebeat

Every rural house SHOULD be designed to suit the clients requirements, the site conditions, and the local authoritys requirements.

getting your hands on plans will not describe to you what you can build.

many websites with plans are not irish based, most are american. these dwellings types will not (should not) be permitted in rural ireland.

my advise would be to get a professional to design the dwelling for you, taking all the above into account.

Quazzie

http://www.houseplangallery.com/index_files/index.php

But take syds advise and only use these as a sample to show an architect ideas for what you want.

No6

Check with your Co Council they may have a design guide ( a sort of we like this set of rules!!) Cork Co Co have a very good one other counties have slightly (much) poorer versions. Hire a good local professional who knows what the local planners will allow, there's no point in getting hung up about a plan from a book or a picture of a house that you like you may not get it, be flexible but most of all hire a professional with a good reputation. Also as above read the Co Development plan, that the rules you need to comply with.

RKQ

I agree with the above points, try to get pics from magizines of elements of buildings that you like ( not houses ).

There a number of books of house plans available. Use them for ideas of scale / sizes and compare with your current accommodation room sizes.

Please do not pick a plan from a book and build it! Its a very false economy!
The house design should grow from the site characteristics, your requirements / brief and consultantion with a local design Professional.

Reputation is everything. Good design costs the same as bad design!

Curious Geroge

Thanks guys, its refereces from other houses (pics) that i'm keen to see. I'm not asking anyone to put the planners out of business..

Cmar-Ireland

sydthebeat wrote: »

Every rural house SHOULD be designed to suit the clients requirements, the site conditions, and the local authoritys requirements.

getting your hands on plans will not describe to you what you can build.

many websites with plans are not Irish based, most are American. these dwellings types will not (should not) be permitted in rural Ireland.

my advise would be to get a professional to design the dwelling for you, taking all the above into account.

Syd,

I'm curious about the part where you say American plans will not (should not) be permitted in rural Ireland.
Why would this be? I've browsed some of the American plan websites, and I found them to be very good and they usually have multiple options to allow you tailor a design to your needs.

sydthebeat

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Syd,

I'm curious about the part where you say American plans will not (should not) be permitted in rural Ireland.
Why would this be? I've browsed some of the American plan websites, and I found them to be very good and they usually have multiple options to allow you tailor a design to your needs.

Basically because american plans (and in this im mostly talking about their treatment of elevations) do not reflect traditional vernacular rural architecture.

Most county councils now have rural degin guides which describe their preferred designs.

for example see

http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/pdf/343708010.pdf

http://www.offaly.ie/NR/rdonlyres/D373BBC1-1445-4928-9464-762BA2B1DC4A/2285/OCCRuralDesignGuide08.pdf

http://www.clarecoco.ie/planning/Docs/Rural_House_Design_Guide_2005.pdf

Cmar-Ireland

Thanks for the links Syd, so me really interesting reading in there.
I hadn't seen those before.

We will hopefully be building in Kilkenny ( on the Waterford border ) in a few years. Do you know if KK have similar planning guides?

sydthebeat

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Thanks for the links Syd, so me really interesting reading in there.
I hadn't seen those before.

We will hopefully be building in Kilkenny ( on the Waterford border ) in a few years. Do you know if KK have similar planning guides?

yes they do, its only been published recently, but is a very good reference.

i havent found it online, but its available from the co co for a fee of €30... well worth it.

Leadership

We cheated and went to Irish house plans dot IE, we changed one of their off the shelf plans quite significantly and it passed planning in Cork with a couple of changes to made.

Its a good cheap service and a nice baseline as many of their designs regularly pass planning in many counties.

Good luck

Slig

Its not just planning that it has to pass. They also have to pass building regulations. Alot of those websites are 80's or 90's houses regurgitated over and over again and therefor may not be up to date with current thinking, trends, building practices or fashion. What is the orientation of the house with regards to the site, will the shape of the house lend itself to extension. what will it cost to build.
By buying plans you may be bypassing the oppertuinity to design your house and will almost certinly miss out on getting your full brief.

Quazzie

I couldn't agree more with Slig. I just went through a few sample plans on the aforementioned irish-house-plans.ie and all the plans lean with regard to solar warming by positioning certain room and windows in the southern part of the house. and this is just one example why building a house off such plans whilst initially beng cheap often turn out to be under-designed. no amount of workmanship or detailing can compensate for bad house design. Every house should be designed with the particular site in mind.

When you drive through the countryside nowadays all you get to see are over elaborate designs that are put there at the clients request with no regard taken for the overall impact on the countryside and with no inherant theme running through. The mish mash of house design seen today is a testament to the control currently being issued by planning authorities. IMHO buying or building from a set of plans in a book or from a website is the biggest mistake anyone can make.

Poor Uncle Tom

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

buying or building from a set of plans in a book or from a website is the biggest mistake anyone can make.

Absolutely, what an amazing chance you have, and to just throw it away like that, would be a crime.

Just imagine it may be another 40 or 50 years before someone gets the chance to put your mistakes right by re-designing your house on your site, you have that chance now. Grab it, with both hands.

Don't look at it as a daunting task, see it as a golden opportunity. Go meet some professionals (Architect's or Architectural Technician's) for advice. And remember, before you take on anyone, feel comfortable with them, know their work, agree fees. & Good Luck, maybe you will be lucky enough to meet one of us:).