Re: common house design | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Lynn Nadeau (welcomeolympus.net) | |
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 17:10:01 -0600 (MDT) |
RoseWind Cohousing, Port Townsend Washington, has 24 households, and a common house of 2800 sq ft, on level ground, one story. Picture three 30x30 ft squares, arranged in an L shape, and that's about the floor plan. One "wing" of the L, about 30x30, is our great room, being a combination dining and living room. Lots of view and natural light from windows on north and south, propane "fireplace" at the west end, with sectional sofa and a couple of rocking chairs, as well as stereo, magazines and a coffee table. The main part of the room has dining tables and chairs. When we want a large group meeting, the tables are moved to the edges of the room, and the chairs go in a big circle. For smaller meetings, such as discussion circles, we gather around the hearth, on the sofas, supplemented by some chairs. Double doors open out to a south patio, in the "inside" of the L. The kitchen adjoins the dining room, to the east, with serving counters between the kitchen and dining room. No sound isolation, and it hasn't been a problem. A small pantry has a stacked washer-dryer for towels, rags, napkins, etc; an open mop closet for brooms, mops, buckets (with a low faucet and floor pan for filling and emptying buckets.) A door from the pantry goes out to where the trash, compost, recycling, and worm bin are located on a small porch. The other "wing" of the L has a rec room, about 30x15, presently used for pingpong and video watching; a kid room 15x15 which includes a sink, lots of open storage shelves, a loveseat, and a door to the south patio. Also in that "wing" are two ADA lavatories. The teens are apt to be found at the pingpong table. The center between the two wings is where the entry is, and there is a fair-sized foyer, where we have our postal mailboxes, our cubby boxes for storing personal stuff, coat racks, benches to sit on while changing into slippers. From this entry foyer, one can go left to the bathrooms and rec room, say hi to the kitchen people through a pass-through window, or proceed past the kid room to the great room, passing through a bulletin board hall, with 4 good-quality bulletin boards which are usually full. There is a good sized storage closet which can be accessed from the dining room, to fetch stacked chairs, folded tables, easels for meetings, or from the hallway, for the ladder or the hose for the built in vacuum system. Dining/living, kitchen/pantry, kids, rec, entry hall, bathrooms. At this point, there are so many common houses built, that "programming" one shouldn't be too challenging. Every site is different, in terms of where your light and view and social connections with the outdoors are, but the basic formula is pretty standard. If you can afford it, you can consider guest space, office stuff, outdoor storage for landscape and kid-play stuff. Hiring a cohousing architect like Mary Kraus is a great investment, if you can afford it. But it's not an absolute necessity: we used Mary and a few other professionals on a consultant basis, and did the great majority of the design work ourselves. Look at other common houses, if there are some in your area. Invest in a simple "3D Home Architect" software program for about $40. Figure out how to slice up foamcore board into 3D models held together with straight pins. Remember that every corner, every change in roof line, costs more: simple is more economical. Social connections are enhanced by people being able to see who is where, doing what: windows in interior doors, even in interior walls. Keep in mind the larger picture: energy efficiency, durability, ease of maintenance, acoustics, flexibility (if we someday had no kids, the kid room could easily be a craft room). Look for ways to get everyone's hand in somehow. Even if you don't do the work yourselves, find places to put your artwork, your handprints, donated stuff. Give yourself enough slack in the budget to include some quality upgrades. Better to cut back on the whole thing, and have it be beautiful and attractive, than have it be big and beige. It WILL cost more than you plan for: remember a generous contingency line. And if ecological upgrades are a value you want to act upon, give yourself a line item for such upgrades, so that at least some of them get included, as they almost always cost more. (thanks to Chris Scott Hanson for that wise insight). Good luck! Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State with one fascinating house coming up for resale: a 2-story geodesic dome with radiant floor, and beautiful bright interior design-- an artist's delight, with great gardens too. RECREATION RECREATION | south LAV1 KIDS | LAV2 KIDS | patio ENTRY ____ ___________ FOYER HALL GREAT ROOM | | COATS | ________ ___ | PANTRY| KITCHEN| | KITCHEN | _______ KITCHEN ________________| TRASH north lawn _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l
- Common House Design, (continued)
- Common House Design JPCOACH, November 28 1995
- RE: Common House Design Mark Frauenglass, November 28 1995
- Re: Common House Design Mmariner, November 29 1995
- Re: Common House Design Fred H Olson WB0YQM, December 2 1995
- Re: common house design Lynn Nadeau, May 22 2002
-
Common House Design Mac & Sandy Thomson, May 24 2002
- Re: Common House Design Sharon Villines, May 25 2002
- Re: Common House Design Chris King, May 25 2002
- Re: Common House Design Mac & Sandy Thomson, May 29 2002
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