Planning rfi ridge height limit of 7.5 meters

Spitfire99

Hi all,

I am hoping for some advice or information on the planners restriction of a maximum ridge height of 7.5 meters.

The planning permission application submitted was for a 2 storey house with an origional ridge height of 9.1 meters high. The site is in the country in what would be described as undulating. My site is in the corner of a field and would be a high part of the field. We would be the only house on this cul de sac. It's approx 600 meters from the 'main road', which in itself is bearley wide enough for a single car. Our nearest neighbors are at the head of this cul de sac. There are a couple of bungalows and some 2 stories, although admittedly these would be on lower ground.

The fi letter states 'having regard to the elevated nature of the subject site within the surrounding landscape and potential visual impact....' reduce the overall height to a maximum of 7.5 meters. The origional plan was for ceiling heights of the ground floor and 1st floor of 2.4 meters. The attic space also had allowance for conversion in the future of 2.2 meters. The floor on the first floor is hollow core precast concrete and we had allowed 500mm from ceiling to floor level. The roof has a 35 deg angle. Icf construction with insulated metal cladding for roof. 2 gable ends with standard plain A frame roof shape.

My question is with a restriction of 7.5 meters is a 2 storey still achievable. Or if it's not what would be a minimum height that would be achievable. Also would it be an option to lower the design to as close to the 7.5 meters as possible and lower the house and it's surrounding area into the ground to make up the difference.

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated at this point. We would like to avoide a storey and a half design if possible.

Lumen

Depends on the geometry of the building, but I'd imagine you'll need to forget about a convertible attic.

I have a 2-storey with an 8m ridge height and 23 degree roof pitch. Depth of building is about 11.3m across the gable end. Obvs with a less deep building or shallower roof pitch that height could come down a bit.

What does the architect say?

Spitfire99

We haven't had the discussion with him yet. The depth of the house across the gable is just under 10 meters. Losing the attic isn't a major concern.

What would be the usual spacing for the ceiling/floor on the ground floor using hollow core slabs. I had planned a mvhr system and they tend to have 75mm ducts so I would think 100mm void and hollow core 150mm and then a concrete screed upstairs...? No underfloor heating upstairs.

muffler

You will definitely have to reduce the overall height of the house. The planners want a 1.60m reduction so perhaps that can be achieved by a combination of dropping the roof pitch and lowering the ground level. Ultimately such a proposal would have to be acceptable to the planners. You will most likely not have enough height in the attic for a future conversion that would comply with building regs but it's possible to achieve an attic height of 2 plus metres which would be great for storage.

As always it's best to check with your architect.