More on floorplans

We had an architect round because we are thinking it would make sense to have proper plans drawn up to make working with the various different artisans easier. Plus we hope that 'professionals' would be able to spot flaws in our ideas that we lack the experience to see and make sure we don't have pipes needing to cross across windows or stairs you can't get up because there is  beam in the middle or whatever

In preperation for their visit we started chatting again about the layout of the house. We listed the concerns we have abou the existing plan/idea.

• We are not getting the most out of the amazing view as only kitchen has window of any size and even that is not enormous
• It is hard to find a good layout for the living room given the number of windows/doors and the stairs. The fire is a focal point, but there is also the window (view) and the TV needs to go somewhere too
• The bedroom above the kitchen is HUGE with no well defined use (we don't really need 2 spare bedrooms and certainly not one this big). We can find uses for it, like yoga or a pool table, but is there some layout which would make better use of this space for us
• Not sure if the bed above the stairs will be practical (kind of doesn't matter as is just an interesting idea not key part of design)
• Will the kitchen be comfortable to sit in as well as eat in as it is nice to sit there while dinner is being prepared so one of you is not sent off to do the cooking in isolation
• Will there be enough light in the house
• Will it be cool enough upstairs in the summer

From this we came up with another idea for the layout. The difference is that the living room is in the room above the kitchen with the stairs here joining to two. We thought we could put some big veluxes in the room upstairs and it would be nice and light and a pleasant room with the vaulted ceiling too. This plan does still leave us with a big space for a bedroom (downstairs now) we don't 100% need. But it also makes the layout of the living room simpler to envisage.

We then talked to the architect and were able to raise the specific concerns we have with our ideas. They suggested that we could extend the dormer windows upstairs (in quite a cunning way without changing the top of the window) as well as the window in the kitchen giving good light and views to both the kitchen and living room in this 2nd layout. They felt the cost would not be enormous but we would need to get some quotes before we believe that! Perhaps their idea of enormous and ours are different.

The wall would be removed totally between the blue lines
The roof on the dormer would be extended down until it met the roof following the red lines
The approx level of the floor upstairs is the green line
The pink lines show where there would be window downstairs and up

Downstairs this would give a window like this (can't go bigger because of the beams)

Upstairs the window would be like this (in red) the roof angle is shown in yellow. Not sure if it would be better not to extend the dormer roof all the way down to the roof or not (structurally and asthetically). Possibly we could have a little balcony outside this window which would shade the big window downstairs when the sun is high in the sky in summer.

In the room upstairs we would still probably want a velux in the back of the roof for light.
The room would be 6m x 6m approx with some space taken by stairs up from the kitchen.
The A frames would be visible (but not the other beams as they will be covered by insulation) and the ceiling high across most the room (the very edges it is too low to stand)

I like the idea of a spiral staircase between the living room and kitchen but do accept Doug's arguement that they are not practical for getting things upstairs with. But who CARES about practicality when it would LOOK nice.

The idea of having the living room upstairs and these windows is very interesting and would make a couple of very nice rooms. However cost is rather key to whether it is doable.

Downstairs

Upstairs