Planning a HOUSE

Cue (NZERS), Issue 18, 28 February 1945, Page 13

Planning a HOUSE

HE achievement of the ideal J- house, wartime or post-war model, is exercising the minds of many governments, architects, builders, and the people who have to live in them. No doubt, there are large numbers of soldiers of many nationalities thinking of the house they are going to, build, buy, or rent when the war is over. To assist readers who wish to design their ideal home, hints on house-plan-ning arc given in* this article, together with a plan of a compact, simplydesigned house. After reading this issue* of CUE; members of 2" NZEF are invited to submit plans of their conception of what the post-war house should; be like. These plans will be submitted to a judging committee comprising an architect, a builder, a woman, and a layman, and what is considered the most suitable plan for a post-war house within the reach of the average ex-serviceman will be published in a future issue of CUE.

No hard and fast rules can be laid down in planning a house, but there are many aspects that should be carefully considered before the house begins to take shape on paper. First of all, every care , should' be taken in selecting a section, and, when a building site lying well to the sun, easy of access, and well-drained is chosen, the Ulan should be drawn to suit.

* * * * . By good luck as well as by good judgment, you have managed to choose 1 section facing north and lying well ■hn th* 3 sun - Paper and pencil are at an a and you are ready to sort out all vpn 1 ( ? as you have had over the past vnn S in banning a house. Just before A"■ P ut pencil to paper remember that ’ person who is going to spend the

most time in the home is the housewife and imagine that she will be jogging your elbow if you place the dining room at the opposite end of the house to the kitchen.

Write down first. of all the main requirements—number of rooms, size of rooms, ideas for the living room, dining room or recess, whether you will entertain much, and whether you will be able to prevent all those distant relatives spending their / holidays with you. ' . / • Think of the is'un and how it can brighten the living room. Generally, living rooms should have sun from 11 a.m. till sunset in winter, and must always have plenty of natural light. Through traffic should be avoided if, possible ►in the living room, and the fireplace should be kept away from all doors. Do. not forget built-in furniture -when you plan your rooms. The age of the dining room in the small house has more or less passed, and the dining recess or alcove has come into favour instead. A dining recess off the living room makes it possible to open up a large area 'for entertaining, and it takes up much les's space than a dining room. Its position in the plan will naturally be ,governed by the places allotted to the kitchen and living room. Bed rooms should be away from the rest of the . rooms, if possible, so that noise of entertaining will not disturb those resting. The east side, getting the morning sun. is usually considered the best side for bed rooms. Plenty of light and ventilation are essential. Built-in wardrobes are an asset. The kitchen has now become one of the most important rooms of the house. - Apart from the fact .that the

hnusewife spends a lot of her time in •I a good kitchen enhances the selling tfllne of a' house. There are varying Ininions as to orientation, but either morning or afternoon sun should shine into the room, preferably the former. Trv to reduce the doors to a minimum and to avoid cross-traffic.

Halls and passage-ways are often wide space which has to be paid for. so that they should be reduced to an absolute minimum. Do not always think of a ’’front door” as being in the front of the house; a side entrance may be more convenient.

For the sake of plumbing, the bathroom should be as near as possible to the kitchen. Try to avoid having the lavatory in the bath-room. A separate room is preferable. Under the existing by-laws both rooms have to be on an outside wall. r

Garages are best attached to the house so that the car is easily reached in wet weather. In this case the common wall between garage and house must be, by law. of .fire-proof material, concrete or brick. If separate, the garage in some districts is not allowed to-be built on the street and always if placed on the boundary must have a fire-proof wall. The consent of the owner next door must be obtained before such a garage may be erected.

So much for the main features of the house. You are now ready to- start drawing. The usual scale adopted for house plans in New Zealand is that one-eighth of an inch on the’ plan represents one foot on the actual job, First of all tabulate the rooms and their sizes. Living rooms should! be approximately 16ft by 14ft or 18ft by 14ft In the State houses the average living room is 17ft bv 12ft. Bed rooms should be 14ft by 12ft or 12ft by 10ft according to the furniture required; built-in. wardrobes being a saving in space. Bed rooms in 'State houses range from 12ft by lift to 13ft by 12ft for main bed rooms, and 12ft by Oft or lift by 10ft for secondary bed rooms. - ’ " ■■

Dining recesses need to be about 10 teet square. In State houses they X 1? from 12ft bv Bft Gin to 9ft by w'h The size of the kitchen will vary of 2£ le numb cr of doors and the types 1 nttings required. The sink bench

is usually Ift lOin wide and 6ft long-, arid* an electric range may be estimated at being two feet square. Having decided on the number and approximate sizes of the rooms try thumb-nail sketches, placing the rooms in relative positions, and correctly orientated (that, is correct according to the sun). Try as many different arrangements as you can, and then build up the best to a scale of 16ft to lin. Some rooms will probably have to lie altered in shape. Bear in mind that walls should not be too broken, and the roof should be as simple as possible. When satisfied with this (preliminary plan build it up to a. scale of oneeighth in. to a ft. At this scale remember that partitions, walls, etc., arc 4in. wide, passages not less than 3ft 6in, internal doors 6ft Sin x 2ft Sin, and external doors 6ft lOin x 2ft lOin. Living * room fireplaces are usually about 4ft 6ins wide. . There arc two schools of thought with regard to windows. one maintaining that the glass should be in even sizes. Ift 6in, lit Sin, etc —and the other that the sash should be in even sizes. However, on plan allow 2ft for a saish. .Most small houses are estimated for cost at so much per square foot, and in 1939 this was approximately 20/-. Now-a-days, due to shortages of labour and materials, this cost is much higher. This should be borne in mind when the -plan is being drawn, for wasted space means wasted money.