We design architecture for all: inclusive, barrier free and participatory
squirrel pie
Cottage Pie
Guest Blogger Ian McMillan writes: Working on projects where the Net/ Gross efficiency of the floorplates and the extent of circulation versus usable space is paramount, And having a ramp through the house, I was somewhat reluctant to crunch out the figures. Our current house is very tight with space, but we’ve optimised it to 50% living accommodation, smaller bedrooms and a quirky ‘open plan’ bathroom – and all in 72m2, which is below the 78m2 standard UK house size for a 3 bed house. The new proposal, although 140m2, sounds absurdly huge but it’s just the size of a standard Danish family house. Which is still well below the States and Australia. So where is all this extra 62m2?
The figures below show that we’ve still kept the bedrooms at a standard size (but have carved the space away above them and introduced rooflights to make them feel brighter and more spacious), and like our current house we’ve tried to optimise the space for the living accommodation. But rather than one single space, it’s fragmented into different levels which come off the various levels of the ramp.
Squirrel Cottage Areas m2 UK Cottage Areas m2
| Sleeping (x3) | 33.5 | Sleeping (x3) | 31.0 | |
| Living Space | 21.4 | Living Space | 14.0 | |
| Kitchen/ Eating | 22 | Kitchen/ Eating | 12.5 | |
| Circulation | 41.3 | Circulation | 8 | |
| Therapy | 7 | Therapy | 0 | |
| Ancillary | 4 | Ancillary | 1.2 | |
| Wetroom | 5 | Wetroom | 4 | |
Average Pie
The ramp itself is the biggest space user being 41.3m3 and accounting for 31% of the building, as opposed to the typical house where the stair and any corridors would account for 11%. This is a big spatial investment, however as the ramp is integrated into the house (as opposed to being a ‘bolt on’), it will spatially become part of the living accommodation. Saying that, It will be interesting to see how we physically use this sloped surface aside from its primary purpose of circulation!
Rem slope
- rem slope 2
squirrel pie
Cottage Pie
Guest Blogger Ian McMillan writes: Working on projects where the Net/ Gross efficiency of the floorplates and the extent of circulation versus usable space is paramount, And having a ramp through the house, I was somewhat reluctant to crunch out the figures. Our current house is very tight with space, but we’ve optimised it to 50% living accommodation, smaller bedrooms and a quirky ‘open plan’ bathroom – and all in 72m2, which is below the 78m2 standard UK house size for a 3 bed house. The new proposal, although 140m2, sounds absurdly huge but it’s just the size of a standard Danish family house. Which is still well below the States and Australia. So where is all this extra 62m2?
The figures below show that we’ve still kept the bedrooms at a standard size (but have carved the space away above them and introduced rooflights to make them feel brighter and more spacious), and like our current house we’ve tried to optimise the space for the living accommodation. But rather than one single space, it’s fragmented into different levels which come off the various levels of the ramp.
Squirrel Cottage Areas m2 UK Cottage Areas m2
| Sleeping (x3) | 33.5 | Sleeping (x3) | 31.0 | |
| Living Space | 21.4 | Living Space | 14.0 | |
| Kitchen/ Eating | 22 | Kitchen/ Eating | 12.5 | |
| Circulation | 41.3 | Circulation | 8 | |
| Therapy | 7 | Therapy | 0 | |
| Ancillary | 4 | Ancillary | 1.2 | |
| Wetroom | 5 | Wetroom | 4 | |
Average Pie
The ramp itself is the biggest space user being 41.3m3 and accounting for 31% of the building, as opposed to the typical house where the stair and any corridors would account for 11%. This is a big spatial investment, however as the ramp is integrated into the house (as opposed to being a ‘bolt on’), it will spatially become part of the living accommodation. Saying that, It will be interesting to see how we physically use this sloped surface aside from its primary purpose of circulation!
Rem slope
- rem slope 2
