Planning - since three weeks ago Tom our architect has been apparently trying to set up a meeting with the planning authority but at the moment we have not heard anything. What I can assume is that we're down on the list? Or the office like all government offices around the country are just waiting to hear how deep the spending cuts are going to directly effect them. Until we have an idea of what the planners and conservation officers think of our design we both feel there is no need to continue to pour over the detail. They may love it or probably want to change something or worse case senario say start again. I would like to think the latter is not going to happen as that one of the reasons why we went down the route of employing an architect. I know from previous work that I can become extremely frustrated with red tape and what I consider over the top proceedures. This way we have a professional to act as a link man / mediator..... oh I really hope this idea works and doesn't just cause more frustration!
While this happens many friends have asked when are we planning on starting. The simple answer is when we do! From the start of this whole project we were both adiment that a sure way to increase ones stress levels and to make the experience less positive was to set yourself targets from such long distance. Yes I have an idea of what the build may take but envitably something will delay us at some stage. Personally we would rather take two years planning and six months building. If we know what we want from the start of the actual build and do not change these plans then we have a better chance of making it a positive experience. Why do I keep on referring to this phrase positive experience? It surely has to be a crucial part to house that we intend to live in for very long time that from the start we have good memories of how it's development and eventual completion? If there is resentment in any major way I would imagine it can take many years to stop this bitterness. There seems to be many forms of possible traps you can land yourself in: -
1) Financial - not keeping to your budget. Being unrealistic from the start of the project maybe not leaving any type of contingency fund or suddenly changing your ideas half way through the project. Either way it's our intention not to be financially crippled by this project. I just don't see the point!
2) Builders - being late, poorly managed, bad communication to the client, trying to charge more for the work or building the house which is not up to the clients required standard. The last point for me is really crucial as I know that if we want to achieve a very high level of air tightness. I'm not an expert (I'll keep saying this) so we will be relying on the experts to make this happen which comes down to trust.
3) Architect - bad communication, rubbish design, high unexpected fees.... but at the moment this all seems ok.
4) Planners and the powers that be.
5) Your wife / husband - it's been at times interesting or sometimes frustrating working together. Both of us creative people and I'm certainly a big picture person. So being in the right frame of mind to discuss detail or even another idea different from my own can be hard.
After months of going back and forth this is the sort of house we have come up with. 200 m2 with the left hand element being a 1 1/2 storey sitting room with the mezzanine. This may or may not be an oak frame part but it's just a question of whether we can afford such a thing. The balcony adds a certain interest to the facade. The problem with using a computer added software it that it always looks so stark which is completely the opposite to what we want. Lots of people (especially in grand designs) mention contemporary, sleek, modern. We would probably use words like gentle, balanced and inviting.
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