Q. Hi Kieran
We are just about to start designing our forever home with an architect. My question for you is, in your experience, what design pitfalls should we try to avoid?
Thank you
Roaise, Meath
A. Hi Rosie
Thank you for this great question. It’s a question I have been wanting to answer for ages. I have learned so much about house design and what can go wrong from speaking to people at the earliest stages, usually before they have even appointed an architect and there are definitely many things that need to go right for a successful project so let me share what I have learnt.
My company, KMC Homes, is what’s called a design and build company. The principal difference between engaging with a design & build company and an architect is that a design and build company has to deliver your project, including the build, for an agreed budget. This is a huge responsibility and it is one of the hardest parts of my job. New clients come to us with the vision of how life will change when they begin living in their new home and it is up to us to make sure they achieve this. What could go wrong? Let’s look at what can happen.
When I speak to clients for the first time, generally they have no design work done so it is a blank canvas. What never happens however, is that they have excess budget to execute on their new home vision. When we look at new sales enquiries we always need to look at what I call the three legs of the stool. Design, budget and planning. Assuming we are happy that they have a good chance of getting planning permission it’s down to; what are they looking to build in terms of size, and what is their budget? In answer to your question, this is the biggest issue, the design aspirations and budget don’t match so i have to look at how we can do more with less. I need to keep the essence of what they are trying to achieve but to deliver it on budget.
A very interesting element here is square footage. A sales lead rang me yesterday to say they were currently living in a 2750 ft2 4 bedroom house in Dublin and they were looking to build a new (bigger) 4 bedroom home in Cork of 3000 ft2 and in fact they had a reasonable budget for a 4 bedroom house but not one that big. Now for me the area range of a 4 bedroom house is roughly between 2000 and 2400 ft2 so I was very surprised to hear of an ambition of 3000ft2. So, as I usually do in these circumstances, I had to dig a little further.
I asked them if they knew when the house was built and who designed it. They said the house was probably 20 years old and they didn’t know who designed it but that the design, though it had its charm, it was a little unusual in places. At this stage I told them of my experience of what a reasonable range was for a 4 bedroom house and that I felt their house was well outside that range. This was when they began to open up about the design of this house. Most of the rooms were huge and, due to the elongated design, there were really long corridors and halls. They did in fact agree that their new home could be smaller if it was designed well.
Why did I ask these questions? What I have learned is that in the past, many one-off houses were not designed by architects. These houses were designed in a time when bigger was better and the design quality suffered. I find today that experienced and talented architects are much more space efficient. They can do much more with less. Gone are the days of the ‘box bedroom’ and the huge long dark hallways. All bedrooms are double bedrooms and all rooms are properly appointed in terms of space, light and functionality.
So, its important to do your research and reset your expectations in terms of house size. I wouldn’t necessarily use your current house as a guide for square footage but you could certainly measure rooms you feel that work particularly well and advise your architect of these target sizes. When it comes to designing a home on budget, it’s all about keeping all the levels right for all the key cost drivers and the biggest driver is size.
Now that you have the size about right you can look at the type of house you are looking to build, remembering that the more elaborate the house design the more it will cost to build. Generally architects will add features to a house design so, once you are comfortable that the architect understands you and your brief I would give them some artistic licence in this regard as long as they keep they maintain a reasonably efficient main house shape whilst adding flourishes around this. Now you are developing a house design that is efficient in terms of size and general form. If you are still under pressure from a budget point of view you can pair back a little on some of the trimmings rather than having to go back to the drawing board completely. If you miraculously find that you are under budget, you can add that carport you had at the end of your wishlist.
Kieran McCarthy is a building engineer and director of KMC Homes bespoke A-Rated new home builder, serving Cork and Limerick. He is also co-presenter of the RTÉ property show Cheap Irish Homes. Check out KMC Homes’ brand new website kmchomes.ie
Follow Kieran on instagram @kierankmc for more home building information, tips and Q&A advice.
You can also follow Kieran on the Built Around You Youtube channel and @kierankmc on TikTok
