Best design considerations when sketching up townhouse development?

hiya,

Just wondering if anyone has some cracking considerations for inclusion into layouts and maximising space constraints for townhouses.
I'm looking at a potential 4 townhouse development and want To maximise space / design.

I guess my town planner / drafty should be all over it, but would be good if mr novice here had a little foresight and input to bring to the table...

 

Assuming you've seen your designers previous work and he/she or you are up with the latest this shouldn't be hard.

Consolidated living areas and good connections between inside and outside with good levels of light & ventilation (windows to two sides of rooms if possible) are my focus areas. Also try to not go under a 3 metre dimension in any bedroom.

Town planners really wouldn't be much help in terms of layout design though they see a lot of plans they will have seen some good ideas.

 

Light, sound, ventilation.

 

Your best bet is to trawl real estate websites and council DAs for floor plans. You will get plenty of ideas from this as to what works. The main benefit is that it will give you the insight you need when reviewing the plans prepared by your building designer or architect.

From my experience having a custom-built PPOR I also recommend writing a design brief. The one I wrote for my PPOR was 10-15 pages from memory . I am an engineer so like to get detailed . Have a think about facade designs you like. Perhaps include some sample photos in the brief.

Also carefully think about the end-product and who you are trying to market the property to ( whether that be a owner-occupier or a tenant/investor ). Factor those considerations into the design brief.

For the area you are interested in, go to Email alerts of planning applications near you | PlanningAlerts and setup and alert for DAs. You will be able to easily lookup recent DAs for townhouses to get plenty of ideas.

Some points:

• Try to ensure all rooms have a window, including bathrooms. Not always achievable.
• Badly designed stairs can eat into floor space ( consider storage under as well, can also be a place for a powder room in a compact design )
• Avoiding funny-shaped bedrooms. Ideally each should be sized to take a queen bed ( not always necessary though )
• Get cupboard space included in the laundry design ( or go for a New York style laundry where the appliances are in a cupboard )
• Try to have direct access from garage into the house ( best to have a solid-core door with deadlock for security )
• Consider stainless mesh security doors ( they look better if you are trying to achieve a mid to high-level spec )
• Ensure all bedrooms have built-ins and that these and the linen press are adequate size. People love storage space. Particularly in the kitchen.
• Some aspects of the facade/elevation designs can help to reduce costs and/or build time ( e.g. Cladding instead of brick )
• Straight external walls reduce cost but increasingly council/estate design guidelines require some articulation in external walls

If a low construction cost is a key consideration, make this clear in the brief. This is most important where end values of the product will be under $400k ( less wriggle room to achieve an acceptable margin ).

 

The draft NSW Medium Density Design Guide is a useful resource
Department of Planning and Environment - Medium Density Housing

As are the Victorian guidelines for apartments
http://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__da...4/9582/Better-Apartments-Design-Standards.pdf

• Trawl off the plan apartment floor plans - every m2 on those are really optimised! Garages and bedrooms are generally the same size between houses and apartments but borrow design elements such as under staircase powder rooms, euro laundry and bathroom layouts.
• Look through the UDIA awards to see medium density / affordable housing developments that have been praised by the industry.
• If you're site shares a common driveway, engage a traffic engineer to advise the building envelope early.
• Benchmark, benchmark, benchmark! Are other designers / developers achieving 3/2/1 on less GFA?

 

before choosing architect/draftsman and town planner - best to do due diligence as to what they can do or can't. See what they did n the past and check the council website on approvals in the area.

I have seen architects tell me i can do 2 bedrooms townhouses X 3 and some saying 6 townhouses X 3 on one block. It depends how good they are and how much they are willing to push for the max in the zone.

Some architects are also bias if they feel if you are inexperienced, they want to just push what they know will work and not have any objections to reduce the workload timelines. Seen it happen on exact blocks.

 

Whilst you are at it, do some inspections of developments in the area where you are intending to develop. You can work out likes and dislikes but also try and get agent opinions of what buyers and renters like and don't like in terms of design. Will also help you to establish the real estate contacts you need when it comes to getting value and rental estimates in the feasibility stage.

 

make sure master bedroom/ensuite is on ground so you open your market to baby boomers. Nothing to do with space but important

Maximising space, I leave this to someone who I know does this well
I got 8 apartment DA, reverse living Melb, most got only 6, difference from making profits to zip. Network with great architects/draftees

 

I have seen townhouses sell for over 2mill plus in Newcastle where the master bedroom and ensuite is on the top so do your own dd on this. Depends on where your building...

 

link, seriously find this surprising

 

I guess also it depends on the suburb/area and what is in demand

 

Yes no problem s i will send tommorow. Why would you find this a problem perth is not the eastern states?

 

I do develop in Melb as well.

This is my own experience in my market, price point.

No offence, however I Would not expect too many on PC building/selling at 2M?.

 

It depends on the zone and what the town planner and architect is able to push
If u can have one architect who says u can do this 3 bed 3 bath x 5 as oppose to one I can do only 2 bed 2 bath x 3. The 5 would obviously win

 

right I think I am confusing maximising space as opposed to what is in demand, totally different beasts.

 

I've got a site in your stomping ground, walking distance to croydon train station

 

The other thing to consider is parking.

If your place is very close to the CBD and the residents are likely to be young folk who rely heavily on public transport that is very close by, it's very different to a place that may have three single people, all with their own vehicles. Having the ability to get at least 2 vehicles (per townhouse) with off-street parking may help make it more marketable.