Building on a sloping site?

murphy2

Our site is not your usuall flat site, its sloping from front to back and rather than just filling up the site and building a regular house as has been done nearby, we would like to incorporate the sloping site into our design with possibly a cottage/bungallow to the front and two storey to the back!!

However this is where we are worried, by looking on the net, its hard to find an architect with designs/examples of a similar nature and we dont want to commit to one and not get the result we want.

Any ideas/recomendations would be appreciated.

BryanF

murphy2 wrote: »

Our site is not your usuall flat site, its sloping from front to back and rather than just filling up the site and building a regular house as has been done nearby, we would like to incorporate the sloping site into our design with possibly a cottage/bungallow to the front and two storey to the back!!

However this is where we are worried, by looking on the net, its hard to find an architect with designs/examples of a similar nature and we dont want to commit to one and not get the result we want.

Any ideas/recommendations would be appreciated.

where you are in the country would help and what orientation the direction of slope is?
Instead of expecting an architect to have already designed your dream home - why not find examples of what you like/ expect.
At this stage while looking for an arch you should be making out your requirements list and your wish list + photos/images of everything and anything that inspires you. By doing this any decent arch will have a clear idea and brief, making your vision and his design straight forward to achieve.

Spiral Notebook

OP's post reminded me of this house I came across,maby a starting point for some ideas. Slopes from the front of the site to the rear, nice single story at the front and 2 storey at the rear.

http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=458430

janmc

murphy2 wrote: »

However this is where we are worried, by looking on the net, its hard to find an architect with designs/examples of a similar nature and we dont want to commit to one and not get the result we want.

Most architects would love the chance to do something interesting with a sloping site. I'd say find someone whose work you liked or was recommended and ask for a consultation. Architects are all doing free consultations these days anyway, and that way you can get an idea of whether you think that they're on the same wavelength as you, as well as sussing out costs/fees. Just because they haven't done a house on a sloping site before, doesn't mean they can't - it just means that they haven't had the opportunity.

PS For the sake of your future heating and electricity bills, also check out their interest in green design - the orientation of the site is vital as someone mentioned above. Good luck!

Slig

murphy2 wrote: »

Our site is not your usuall flat site, its sloping from front to back and rather than just filling up the site and building a regular house as has been done nearby, we would like to incorporate the sloping site into our design with possibly a cottage/bungallow to the front and two storey to the back!!

However this is where we are worried, by looking on the net, its hard to find an architect with designs/examples of a similar nature and we dont want to commit to one and not get the result we want.

Any ideas/recomendations would be appreciated.

Any split level house will need to incorporate some form of tanking which can be somewhat expensive and risky and as such many people shy away from this in favour of just filling up the slope and building a conventional house.

If you are building the house for yourself and not to sell on then I personally believe that spending time designing a house that you are going to be happy with in the long term as opposed to skimping on major things to save a few quid on the initial build that you will eventually regret is the best approach.

A split level house on the appropriate site is going to interresting and somewhat unique and is the approach that is usually preffered in most LAs rural house design guidelines. As mentioned above check out a few different architects to see what they have to offer

VoteFoley

I am in the process of extending my cottage (on a sloped site) with a split level extension. I can PM you the name of the Architect i used if you want??? He was 100% and we had no trouble with planning permission... I'm delighted with how it is turning out... I'm based in Meath. If you wanted to take a look either let me know.

Gallant_JJ

Consult an architect, your never going to find exactly what your looking for. There is more to your site than just the slope, aspect, orientation, views. Talk to an architect, get your free consultation, let him give you some ideas, if you like how he is thinking, great. If not, you can work through it, or alternatively find another.