Hi all
im in the process of building a new house. the livingroom,kitchen, and dinning room are all open plan with a stone chimmey breaking up the living room and dinning room, the kitchen runs straight into the dinning room and i was wondering would it be a good idea to put 2 steps down into the dinning room from the kitchen to break the kitchen and dinning room up?
just looking to see what other people think?
When I was learning my trade, we didn't have the building regulations to fall back on and there are many wild and wonderful award winning designs built today that seem to give the current regulations on a passing glance.
However there are several practical implications and decisions to be made.
Effect:
The split level house was once very much a thing to be desired, reflecting as it did the wonderful villas and lodges built into mountains and hills that people saw/visited/stayed in on their holidays.
The dramatic entrance to a storey and a half height room that a short flight gives can be quite amazing and the designed change in level was beloved of so may Bond Film set designers.
There are several ways to accommodate the change in level
- the full width three or more steps
- the more restained side access
- the defined central stair
As with all dramatic effects there are risks and downsides.
Cost:
If the site is relatively "flat", any stepping in the floor plan requires special conditions at foundations -whether strip or piled - and in the floor, whether suspended or laid on good ground. If the step is gratuitous, i.e. "made" on flat ground, then each step off the flat costs proportionally more money, since the foundation will remain at the below-frost-heave level and the rising walls will be higher all around and within the raised section.
There is more justification for stepping where you are on an inclined site especially where rock is encountered, where stepping the house may be a cost reduction measure, to avoid propping and leaving uninviting undercrofts. Some offices, such as ODOS on their Wicklow house site, have used the overhang/undercroft to positive, dramatic effect, but of course, stepping then becomes less justified on cost alone.
Compliance:
In these days where catering for disabilities is becoming a fine art and a mandatory DAC is required for all but domestic houses i.e. it cannot be ignored by wilful designers, the introduction of a change in level - even in a provate house - needs to be carefully considered in terms.
The relation of the level entrance threshold, the main accommodation level and the toilet accommodation arguable should be closely linked.
Thus, any stairs approach to the bedroom level should be near the said entrance an toilet in case an accident or age and informity would reduce mobility to such a degree that the owner might be prevented from using a stairs and need to instal la stairs lift. This is common sense standard building stuff.
Hazard:
The introduction of a further change in level within the main reception storey has to be considered from a health and safety point of view. Some designers refuse to have their work look gaudy by defining steps in a high visibility edging, but its not only people with limited vision who will miss steps that blend in to their floor planes too well.
I have visited several houses on inspections for potential purchasers and unless I had been actively looking at, as opposed to passive seeing the building I could have had an accident. So having steps in your house could affect the safety of you, your family and visitors - and may have an effect onyour insirance cover.
This opens the way for consideration of a ramped floor or perimeter ramp.
Design:
All that having been said, there are huge benefits to a change in level.
I looked at a sketch design for a site a while ago and considered two stories front and rear with a half storey split, with each storey open to the other at the stairs level - made for an intriguing circulation pattern, four different levels, but only two stories at the front and two at the back.
As the back was higher, the front "roof" could be used as a balcony.
Consider for example whether you might want to use a room as a home cinema and whther a flight of steps could be used to enhance this function. I am reminded of the clever work done in the Light House Theatre in Smithfield where the whole strategy was based around function and floor planes.
Conclusion:
I always smile when I see a well done change in level as opposed to yet another one of these beetling overhangs we have to endure from the modern masters. As you cna see above, linked with an amenity space or a specialist function, it can be justified in terms of either WOW factor, or adding complexity to what can be an all-too-familiar brief, the home.
FWIW
ONQ
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All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.