How to design a functional and beautiful two-story house!

Asha Bogenfuerst Asha Bogenfuerst
CASA HA-UAY, LIZZIE VALENCIA arquitectura & diseño LIZZIE VALENCIA arquitectura & diseño Modern balcony, veranda & terrace
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Today we will share with you some experiences that can help you you decide how to build your house. For example, if you already have the land but it is not as big as you wanted, what can you do to have a nice garden? How to achieve a larger yard? The decision is in your hands. 

So let's assume you've already decided that your house will be two floors, here are some tips. First look for the architecture professional of your choice, talk to him and show him the conditions you want for the house, as well as the sketches made. In this way, they will be more familiar with your future home. So pay attention to these 7 valuable tips so you can talk properly with the chosen professional.

1. Defining spaces

The family should first decide how many rooms they need in the house starting with the bedrooms. Save the main or matrimonial, then one for each child depending on the ages and sex. Also consider how many bathrooms will be needed. 

When they are defined, analyze these options: 

1. Formally separated living and dining room 

2. Dining room integrated into the living room or integrated into the kitchen. 

3. Breakfast area in the kitchen and separate formal dining room. 

4. Living room for TV or a single room that will be received and be familiar. 

5. A study to work from home or for children. This last room, if it is only for the boys to do the tasks can be integrated in the bedroom with a desk area 

6. Washing and ironing area 

7. Service yard for garbage disposal 

8. An auxiliary bathroom on the ground floor.

With these premises and through clarifying the needs of the family you can define the area of construction. Usually if you take the net area of each room to the total you can add 10% or so, thinking of walls and corridors of circulation.

2. Organise the environments

Top floor: Bedrooms, bathrooms, living area and TV if you decide to have it apart from the living room, balconies and corridor of circulation. 

Low level: The hall at the entrance of the house (entrance hall), the living room, dining room, kitchen, terrace, auxiliary bathroom and service area (which can have a service bathroom if you wish) The living room if instead of Have it on the top floor you place it on the ground floor, apart or not from the room. 

The relationships between the rooms are obvious but sometimes every family has their preferences. But we suggest these: 

The kitchen should be directly related to the service yard and of course with the dining room. The dining room will be connected to the living room and this with the hall. The hall, although it does not have to be very large, should function as a center of distribution of the horizontal and vertical circulation of the house in addition to acting as a prelude to the rest of it. This is where decoration also plays a very important role.  

We already have the rooms you may need, apart from thinking about the terrace and areas that will belong to the garden or outside.

3. Establish the relationship vertically and horizontally

The relationship between spaces is important, you must establish what are the preferences of the family since if they prefer to maintain the intimacy of each other, it is better to establish horizontal and vertical relationships that allow it. For example, being able to move from the bedrooms upstairs to the kitchen and service area without passing through other rooms, but rather by accessing the stairs from a space in the hall. This relationship between private rooms, such as bedrooms, and service areas are important. This can be solved by keeping open areas for the staircase and social areas like the living room and terrace. 

Everything depends on each family as we have commented. But generally the vertical connection in the house must be defined from the beginning to establish a good design plan.

4. Do not forget the exterior

We already have what rooms may need. As it is already said the house is practically armed, the connections between the rooms maintain the privacy of the family and give each member of your family the area you need to establish your space needs. All this work is usually shared among all, also defining the ceiling that puts the budget. It is important to control the areas of each room so that they do not waste square meters of construction and with them lots of money. 

The exterior should be thought of from the beginning, even if it's just a terrace beyond the room. If everything goes well with the budget, you may want to consider a roof or a pergola, or you can integrate it at another stage and just start off with a good floor, outdoor furniture, lighting and flower pots. These areas that allow us to enjoy the garden are important as an extension of the house and are even more important when you give it a use, such as a barbecue for Sundays.

5. Plan the windows of the facade

The windows in the facade not only serve for the entrance of light but for the ventilation of the rooms. They must be planned following the sanitary regulations on the matter which is the percentage of opening of them on the area that they are ventilating.

Upstairs windows should usually match the windows on the ground floor. The important thing is for the facade is to be ordered so if the windows on the ground floor are not of the same size, you should make sure that they maintain a certain alignment and proportion between them. The same can be said about the entrance, it should be defined as clearly distinguishable within the facade, whether with different volumes, ceilings or any design motif that the architect poses. Remembering that there is NO main façade. All facades should be studied as a well-designed ensemble. The facade that gives on the back patio of the house is as important as that of the entrance. 

6. Set up a reasonable structure

With the connections between the well-defined rooms, the layout of the bedrooms and bathrooms on the top floor, you must think about the structure that this plan will have. The location of the bathrooms help decide the possible design of the upper floor, and it is preferable to place them from wall to wall so that sanitary facilities can be made more economical and with better functioning. These installations must not match the beams between the columns.

 To think of a structural approach, establishing an acceptable module can be 4x3 meters or 4x4 meters in order to define the columns at the intersections of walls.  We already see this  in the ground floor where these columns will be. 

7. Locate areas according to the exterior

The exterior and your house have a very important relationship. The exterior depends on the vehicular and pedestrian entrance and the service of access so the pathway is an important subject to define. 

Last but not least, establish the relationships of your living room and dining room with your free space for the patio or garden. Now you only have to visit the architect and confirm the ultimate house of your dreams. 

We hope you've gathered some useful information about architecture here. For more ideas on architecture, have a look at How to design neomodern architecture. 

What do you like most about the architectural tips mentioned here? Please share with us in the comments section below. 

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