Full Circle (Part IV)

This post follows on from Thinking It Through (Part 1), Second Thoughts (a.k.a. Part II) and Good To Go (Part III) that follow the design of a small house at the corner of my sister’s property. Perhaps “Take 4” is a more apt title. This iteration wasn’t prompted by any change in the conditions but in my changing awareness of some conditions that were always there. The main prompt was the previous proposal protruding too far in front of the existing house’s outdoor area that would no longer feel as large even if its easterly aspect means there would be negligible effect upon daylighting received. In other words, what I thought was the inevitable result of some logical decisions was wrong. Correct decisions shouldn’t lead to misgivings, however vague.

There were also more practical issues and the one with the greatest likelihood of increasing construction cost and duration was the north wall and specifically, how close to the northern boundary it would be. Building along the fenceline would require rebuilding the existing mass brick 80cm-high retaining wall as a tanked retaining wall or replacing it with a sheet pile one. The neighbours’ side of the fenceline is 80cm higher so whichever option was chosen would require temporary childproof fencing as there’s a swimming pool on the other side. Neighbours tend to get angsty by default when somebody wants to call in a surveyor to determine exactly where the fenceline is. A party wall agreement would also be necessary. North boundary problems don’t stop there as the other side is 80cm higher and, in the above plan, a drain slightly off the north-east corner of the kitchen suggests that the amount of water permeating south can’t be ignored.

A second problem was the sewer line, the positino of which is assumed to be about 50cm from the east fenceline that any new building should keep maybe one metre away from. Getting wastewater from the bathroom to that sewer line is one reason for the increased setback of the north wall. The other reason was to have that small window that north wall of the kitchen was that setback of the kitchen’s north wall because any window on the north wall would look into the side of a shed on the higher level.

The garden wall on the south side of the bedroom is a separate problem. At best, it will need to be reconstructed once the conversion is completed.

The lower 80cm of the north wall of the garage is currently a retaining wall and the higher part is (presumably) on the boundary and serves as a fence. The upper part is structurally unsound and will need to be replaced with a fence as simply reducing its height may destabilize it. )This led to three conclusions.

• Reduce the southwards extension of the conversion by extending westwards into what is currently dead space.
• Keep as far away from the north boundary in order to simplify construction, reduce the construction time, and avoid neighbour anxiety. This will almost certainly mean a bedroom of reduced width, possibly 2.7m max.
• Relocate the bathroom to the east side where connecting would be easier and the connection shorter and more direct.

Next is my first thought for these new conditions. I didn’t take it any further than what you see for the following reasons.

Take #4

• The lantern roof is still there but, in the previous iteration, the part of the living room that wasn’t beneath it was also a nice space in itself. Here not so much, but I did try to recreate the entrance and kitchen as an alcove opening off the higher space. I also liked the windows and door facing south as this will always be the best aspect in terms of view.

• But I wasn’t happy with the unused area between the building and the fence on the east.
• Putting the bathroom on this side places the greatest distance between it and the bedroom. Putting it on the side of the bedroom complicates drainage. However, I can now think of an alternative configuration that, though not as simple, could work.

Take #5

But let’s work this through first. The next change was to get rid of the lantern roof and replace it with a raked roof with a row of high clerestory windows facing south. (Australia, remember?) It’s a shed. The windows and doors at each end should make the approx. 30m² main room feel less enclosed. Probably for the same reason, I removed the wall separating the bedroom and a wardrobe now servers as a room divider. The furniture is now able to be arranged more freely (even if the kitchen sink can’t stray to far from its drainage and water supply). The space would be ideal as a studio for an artist. It won’t be horrible.

With surrounding conditions wanting the building to be longer rather than more compact, it’s topologically impossible to have every activity space equally close to all the other ones. Davtime activities are grouped but the bed remains distant from everything else. The kitchen is for daytime use and it’s not important for it to be close to the bed. The bathroom is a different matter though as it could be used at any time. With the elderly, there is always the danger of falling. Motion sensors can take care of the lights but the distance to the bathroom would be better if it were shorter. The bathroom needs to be more central.

Take #6

This is how it looks now. I think I’ll put the wardrobe on the same wall as the bed to make the bathroom corridor that much shorter. At the same time, I’m not sure which wall the bed should best go on. Each have their advantages and disadvantages. The reason for this is that, although he should always be using his walker, my father tends to navigate a room from one piece of furniture to another. This is why the distance between any two pieces of furniture is always two (Dad) paces or less. I like that the sofa and television are in the “nook” off of the main space. There needs to be a side table.

One radical solution would be to rotate the bathroom vertically and enter the bedroom through it, but this would probably prove too strange. I actually did do that once but it was for the brief of a university project. A secondary route was through the kitchen. I don’t see anything wrong with that, but it is a bit unconventional.

I don’t know how many iterations there can be. Having a central bathroom space divides the large space in two and this more or less freezes the arrangement of furniture. Some imaginary painter using it at as a studio may still prefer a separate space for sleeping. However, it is not the space that needs to be central but only the door to it.

Take #6

I think the only thing left to try is to have the bathroom outside the main space space as in Take #4 but with a door opening off it. The wall partitioning off the sleeping space could be removed in the future and divided only by the wardrobe (as in Take #5). The positions of the living space and kitchen could be (and probably should be) so that visitors can be seen. This becomes important now because the most distant and pleasant view is to the south and much of that is now blocked by the bathroom. It’s just a matter of outlook as illumination isn’t a problem. It’d be nice to make that entrance wall longer though. Maybe the positions of the two tables swapped?

Take #6.2

There’s always something. If the bathrooom is going to have only one door, then it ought to be nearest the bedroom if not from the bedroom because night-time visits are more risky. All doors are risky and the entrance door particularly so because a person is usually carrying something in their hands, usually keys. Carrying anything else while opening a door means no free hand to steady oneself and so, on each side of the front door are tables. The sequence goes 1) put whatever you’re carrying down, 2) take out your keeps and open the door, 3) pick up whatever you put on the table outside, take it inside and put it on the inside table, 4) close the door. Those tables and all other tables should have rounded edges. Even in slow motion, moving from A to B is still fraught with risk but still preferable to not moving.

The remainder can be left to time and circumstance. It would be good to design more flexibility into the layout, perhaps by moving the kitchen closer to the wall where the bathroom door is, and reverting the bathroom door to its former position but that means the sleeping space has to be at the other end of the long room and that wasn’t a good idea. The best thing to do for now is to make the kitchen as short as possible so the positions of the sleeping area and the living area can swap in the same way as the positions of the dining and activity tables can. Hmm. Making the kitchen into a separate room next to the bathroom would mean entering directly into the kitchen and having no utilities complications in what would now be one large space to be used however.

Take #7

It is now the perfect studio, gallery, mah-jongg parlor …

The downside now is the same as when this rethink began in that the building once again protrudes into the outdoor space of the existing house. The best solution for the time being is somewhere towards the end of this post.

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