Home Extension and renovation plans Drafting and Design Specialists
Gold Coast - Brisbane - Northern NSW
Choosing to renovate and extend your home is often a choice between staying in a location that suits you and your lifestyle, moving or building a new home. Your existing home may have special character or have a sentimental place in your heart.
To make the most of your investment, we visit you at your home and discuss ideas for your renovation, alteration and/or home extension design requirements listening to your needs and ideas, after all, it's your home and you have had time to reflect on how you live. We can of course offer suggestions based on our experience of what has worked well for others carrying out similar projects.
To effectively plan your home renovation or extension, experience and flair needs to be applied with detailed construction knowledge and fresh design ideas. SKETCH3D Residential Design is a building design and drafting specialist, knowing how to approach each individual home, considering your requirements to get the most of out your proposed alterations, extension or whole house renovation. With every design commision we visit your home, this allows us to get a full understanding of the space, construction and setting. We strive to meet your ideal design outcome.
After the initial design has been approved by you, we will submit the house extension design to a certifier for review and approvals. We will act as your agent, so for the most part all you need to worry about is paying the fees and waiting for the descisions. We work to ensure that the designs that go in for the required applications have had the construction thought out and can be built generally without fundamental modification to the design.
The design process takes into account many aspects based on the client brief.
- Size and appearance of the extension against the existing house.
- Internal functionality of the proposal to best ensure the design flows and can be furnished allowing you the client to get the most enjoyment out of your investment.
- Sun shadow fall resulting from the extension and its impact on surrounding properties where relevant.
- As standard for most projects we offer BIMx interactive 3D walkthroughs and static 3D images.
At the end of the design process we can aid you with the selection of a suitable builder for your extension or renovation project.
Other building works you may consider include garage conversions to utilise the space you already have and an energy efficiency make over to make your home easier to cool and heat. Linked extensions are an option where you want to leave your existing property intact, for example, larger home sites and where the existing house is heritage listed or uneconomical to modifiy on its own.
To give you some ideas for your next home extension plan, renovation design or to simply view the quality of our house plan drafting documentation, please see our example house extension plans,
We would love to call on you to discuss your next project,
Contact us now to arrange a free design quotation. Phone 0406 807833
Typical house extension plans, decks and granny annex designs
Single storey house extensions
Most house extensions tend to be single storey designs, projecting from the rear of the existing house. These type of extensions are used to form additional living rooms and often combined with kitchens creating open plan kitchen, dining , living room extensions.
Other more simple single storey extension designs are side extensions, often designed to form utility rooms, ground floor toilet facilities, garages and sometimes to knock through into the existing house to enlarge an existing room.
Single storey extension plans do sometimes project to the front of the house, these often forming entrance halls, toilet facilities or to enlarge existing front rooms.
Front, side and rear extension plans can be combined to form wrap around extensions. With clever engineering it is possible to remove whole corners of the existing homes to open the house out into the extensions creating vast open plan living spaces.
Two storey house extensions
Plans for two storey house extensions are popular when a client requires an extra bedroom or to simply better proportion the sizes of the existing bedrooms within their house. Often the ground floor part of the extension is used to contain a bigger kitchen or an improved living room.
Double storey extensions can be combined with single storey extensions to gain the best possible use of space without the expense of a full double storey extension.
To support the first floor, an amount of structural engineering is required, this however when properly considered should not be a reason to put the build out of budget
Deck and balcony design
Decks and raised balconies often desired when there is sloping land and or a view or sometimes just as a means to gain additional outdoor livnig space.Generally simple in construction and cost effective, the application process can often be straight forward. Factors that can affect the cost of a deck or balcony include the ground levels, the ground conditions and engineering.
Annex and secondary dwelling design
Commonly known as a 'Granny Annex' these type of house extensions are ideally suited to accommodating extended family or giving independance to a family member who might be struggling phyically for financially while keeping them within the home evironment.
Sometimes after the immediate need for the annex has passed, the additional room is let out to help the home owner meet mortgage payments or just provide an extra income.
An annex while prodominently self contained must share facilities so as to remain as part of the dwelling.
Designing a house extension or renovation
there are several things which need to be considered
1. Are you creating any additional bedrooms?
If so will there be enough parking spaces to meet with the local authority parking standards or the demands of the house hold? Are other services up to the required specification for example sufficient capacity on an existing septic system. How will the occupants live and move through the house.
2. Has the design identified foul drainage?
Access to the existing sewage system is important for connecting new bathrooms, en-suites, kitchens and utility rooms. Although there are mechanical methods to deal with foul waste, gravity systems are the best solution when it comes to low noise and maintenance.
3. Will the design affect the underground services such as electric, gas and phone?
Relocating some services infracture while generally possible, can be expensive and so, unless you really need to move them to achieve the design you want, they are best left alone and the design prepared to accomadate the existing locations. Often the only way to move main services is to get approval by the relevant authority and any modifications carried out by their own approved contractors.
4. Trees that will affect the construction of the extension
In some cases trees are protected, requiring permission to remove them or carry out any significant pruning. Root protection zones and method statements are generally required at planning stage to document how the trees will be protected during construction. The effects of tree roots can affect how deep footings are cast subject to the geotechnical report, building certifier and structural engineersl. Invasive species however should be seriously considered for removal to protect your property from the effects of the root system on the ground and foundations of the building. If you're thinking of having solar panels, you will need to remove any trees that shadow the roof or the solar panels will not perform as expected.
5. Access is an often over looked part of the design.
Building right to the boundary might be your only solution to achieving the space you want, however if this blocks the access, say from the front of the property to the rear and there is no other access routes, consideration should be given to how you would move items such as gardening equipment, bins etc from the rear of the house to the street. It might be that the only route is straight through the house meaning you will need to be prepared for the resulting mess.
Access into an extension of the house internally can often be an after thought if not considered early on in the design. Long hallways and dog leg routes can turn a house into a rabbit warren and make a house feel unconfortable and claustorphobic. Taking disproportionate amounts of space from existing bedrooms to achieve the goal of access might result in the extension being a pointless excercise if your plan was to create more bedrooms.
Think about future alterations and additions for example a swimming pool or a large garden feature, how will machines and equipment get through.
6. Heating and cooling systems of a home are worth considering early in the design.
The fabric of the building needs to be built to a high standard with insulation built into the walls roof and where possible the floor in the first instance, then which ever heating and coolings systems you install, you will get the best possible performance and the most efficient running costs. Fitting insulation after the build can be expensive, difficult or impossible to reasonably achieve.
7. The renovation and extension design can have an impact
The design may affect neighboring properties in serveral ways. Loss of light and outlook needs to be considered. An overbearing design might spoil the comfort of the neighbours and could result in a falling out and neighbourhood conflict. The plans must be drafted to show all elevationsi in detail, 3D views and walk throughs are the best way to see it before its built and be used to inform the neighbours. The best way to keep neigbours on side is to talk to them, show them what you want to do and make sure they don't get any surprises. Ensure that the selected builder is considerate and maybe think about having them over for a few drinks after the build.
When you're ready to start your home extension or renovation design, contact Darren Bell or Gold Coast based draftsman and building design serving the regions in and around the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Northern NSW.
