alex_holmes16

Advice needed on entrance design!

Alex H
3 years ago

Hi everyone, I’m in the final stages of designing my first home and I’m stuck on what could be the most crucial aspect of the house - the entrance. The house I’m building is quite unconventional as it is prefabricated off site in a factory, which means it is built in sections and these sections can only be a maximum of 4.5m wide. To save costs, I'm building two sections - 1 for living and the other for the bedrooms. See images below of building envelope and draft floorplan w/ dimensions:






I began to realise there was a problem with the above entrance when I placed furniture to size in the living area. Due to the 1m wide walkway, the couches were cramped into the space and about 3m away from the TV. Minimum viewing distance for my TV is 3.5m so something had to change otherwise the couch may be in the way of the hallway. I also have a window seat by the front door which somehow needs to work with the entrance.


After weeks of going through alternatives, visiting the site and asking others I'm left with several options which I can't decide on. The factors which I'm taking into account are functionality, facade attractiveness, portico options, security, cost and what potential buyers in the future will like. Please help me decide the best option!


Option 1:

Tweaked original design

+ Roof can act as portico

- Eats up living room space




Option 2:

500mm Protruding Entry

+ 1mx1m internal landing area

- No overhead shelter/portico



Option 3:

Protruding side entry

+ 1mx1.25m internal landing area

+ More intersting facade options

+ Potential for 1m wide shelter from overhanging roof

- Adding 1 square meter $$


Option 4:

Side Entry

+ Cleaner facade

- Larger sliding door only 6 meters away


Alternative options:

  1. Small glass sliding door behind the couch
  2. No formal entry, enter through sliding door into the kitchen

+ Won't eat up internal space like hinge doors do

+ Potentially cheaper

- Unconventional


Please let me know your opinions, and if you have a better idea I want to hear it!


Cheers, Alex :)

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