In today’s blog, we're delving into how to design your dream home, especially a single-family house design. As an architect with 20 years of experience, I have designed countless homes, from single-family houses to high-rise mixed-use buildings. If you want to build your dream home one day, stick around until the end, and let's make your dream home a reality!
For this blog, we’ll be using our previous project as an example to help you visualize the topic. Before starting your project, there are a couple of things you need to sort out. We have divided these into 5 steps.
Step 1: Preparation & Engagement with an Architect or Designer
Source: https://maps.vancouver.ca/zoning/
First off, check the zoning of your property and what kind of buildings you're allowed to put up there. This information is crucial as it determines what you’ll be able to build on your property. Commonly, you can check the city’s GIS map to determine this information.
Next, you'll need to get a site survey. A licensed surveyor will map out all features on your property. It's crucial to know any development restrictions beforehand. Once we have the site survey results, we can better understand what we're working with. I've encountered properties with rights of way or underground city-owned utility lines. You can't build over those areas, but you can use them for parking or driveways.
Step 2: Preliminary Design
It would be great if you already have some ideas in mind, saved up some reference, style preferences, and also the spaces you want in your home. The architect will visualize your ideas and ensure that this idea respects the local building code and zoning laws. Before we go further, let me break down some technical terms to help you get the hang of house design:
Setbacks
This is the minimum distance your building needs to be from the property line, according to your city’s zoning laws.
Lot Coverage
This is the maximum part of your lot that you can build on, usually shown as a percentage. But remember, you'll need to adjust for setbacks which might reduce the buildable area.
Average Grade
It’s calculated from the average height of the four corners of where your building will sit. We use the lower of the existing or proposed grades as the average.
Building Height
Measured from the average grade, this is how tall your building can be, which can vary based on local rules and the type of project.
Density (also called FSR - Floor Space Ratio, or FAR - Floor Area Ratio)
This measures how much building area you can have relative to the size of your lot.
Step 3: Design Development
Now that all information has been gathered, it’s time to start planning the spaces in your home. Usually, it begins with a block study to carefully allocate the size of each level, while also keeping in mind the maximum area restriction from the bylaw. Once the layout is finalized, we proceed to the exterior of the building.
Step 4: Coordination with Consultants and Preparation of Construction Documents
After finalizing the design, we will issue the drawings to other consultants, such as a structural engineer and an energy advisor. It all depends on the size of the project if additional professionals are required such as landscape architects, civil engineers, etc.
Two examples of consultants are a structural engineer and energy consultants:
Structural Engineer
They will design the framing of your house to ensure the stability of the building's strength and ensure that the architect's design is realized.
Energy Consultants
An energy compliance report is one of the documents required when submitting a building permit. This is to determine if your house adheres to the energy performance standard depending on the area you are in. The energy consultant will calculate the energy efficiency of the building based on the current specifications.
The consultants will then provide all the documents needed and pass them on to the architect, who will compile and check them all if any changes are required. If all changes have been addressed, all the documents and reports will now be passed to the city and are now awaiting approval.
Step 5: Construction
Finally, once all the comments are satisfied and the Building Permit is approved, construction may commence. However, we will not delve into the construction process in this video, as it will need its own detailed discussion. If you are interested in learning more about the construction process, leave a comment below. I will probably make a video with some builders that I work with.
Introducing the Residential How-To Guide
We have also prepared our own Residential How-To Guide to give potential homeowners a run-through of the steps you need to undertake in the building permit process for your home in BC, Canada. This is largely based on current zoning bylaws but may change depending on the upcoming zoning changes this year. To get a copy of this e-book, simply send an email to my staff at april@jjarch.ca.
That’s it for today. If you're interested in building your own house or multiplexes and have questions or need clarification, feel free to contact us. We're offering a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Stay tuned for updates on our blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, & LinkedIn. Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, and we’ll see you in the next one!