Dream House Culminating Assignment

My Goal

My goal for this house was to make a dream home with a lot space of 6000 square feet. This
was a lot of space but I also have a lot I want to do with it. This house was made to incorporate all of
my wants when I am older. My goal was to make a house that will sustain a relatively big family. I want
a house where I can easily get from place to place and that has lots of places of entertainment when
people come over. I want the house to have lots of things to do when you are home, so that you will
never have “nothing to do.” Therefore this is what I took into consideration while making my design.

What Rooms go where?

During the design part of building a home a lot of consideration is taken in where to put a
room, everything is placed there for a reason. Many factors come into play such as sound, smell, and
location of the room. For example, all of my bedrooms are placed towards the left side of the house all
in the same general area. This allows the gathering of the family to be easier since they are close by. The
only room that is further from the rest is the master bedroom, this is to give the parents extra privacy
and allow the kids a little bit of freedom. This was an example of a location factor. The rooms are also
the farthest point away from where all the noise is usually. I had placed the kids' playroom to be
far-right as well as the gym and kitchen since they are the most common places sounds may occur on
the daily, and people prefer to have quietness within their rooms. This was an example of a sound
factor.

The placement of my entertainment rooms allows the parents and the children to have 2
separate areas to play during events. There are many times during parties or dinners where you want to
relax and this will allow people to be able to celebrate separately if they want to. Connected with the
kids' room, there is the main living room. This is where both kids and adults would hang out and
where kids can watch their children play while they too are socializing and having fun. There are glass
doors placed in more public areas in the house so that parents can easily look and take care of their
children.

Lastly, the placement of the utility rooms such as the bathroom, laundry room, and storage
rooms. The bathrooms in my home are placed where there would usually be some gatherings such as
the adult gathering area, around most rooms, and near the gym since people will need to shower after
the gym. The laundry room is placed next to the gym and mudroom since there is a common area for
dirty clothes that need to be washed. The kitchen is placed closer to the back of the house for easy
transportation of food to the backyard and dining room. This also is a middle point in between all the
rooms so there is a relatively easy pathway to get to the kitchen for everyone. There is also a snack
room/kitchen in the living room in case someone just wanted a snack and didn't want to walk to the
main kitchen. For my storage, I have lots of closets connected to each room and at the side entrance of
the house where you can easily drop things off. I also have a storage room close to the side entrance of
the house, that is in the kitchen (a pantry) to allow people to easily store up food.

The placement of where things go is an important part of design work and so I made these
design choices to allow more flow throughout the house. With the use of hallways, there will be little
traffic and the pathway at the side of the home allows easy access to the backyard and storage room
from outside the house. With some rooms with open concepts like the kitchens and the dining rooms
it allows you to use up more of the space that is given to you. Therefore, I put a lot of consideration
into the design and functionality of the house to make the home fit most of my personal needs.

What Eco Designs I made

The material being used within a home is important. Everything used has an effect on the
environment and people should build homes with that in mind. Building this house I ensured to use
eco-friendly materials and decision making that will allow my house to be more environmentally
friendly. By using windows and glass doors, by using natural resources and materials, and by using
more efficient appliances, I can have less of a footprint on the environment.

Building this house I have thicker walls around the exterior of my house to have a strong
resistance to the wind and rain that may wear and tear at the house in the long run. This will also help
keep the wind and coldness out and the warmth of the house within. With lots of greenery around the
home, I can have a garden and allow space for the water to run off.

With lots of windows, I can allow the most usage of the sunlight during the day. With lots of
windows around my entire home, it allows lots of light to prevent the needed usage of energy to turn
on the lights. I also have glass doors to allow the lights to travel further throughout the house not just
in the room with the windows. Even though we have windows, this does not mean that there is no
need for lights. This is just to minimize the amount of energy needed to make the house bright. When I
need to use a lightbulb, I want to use the most efficient ones. I will use light-emitting diodes light bulbs
(LEDs) since they are way more efficient than incandescent light bulbs and have a longer lifespan. Also
with up-to-date appliances becoming more and more efficient, I tried to get the most recent appliances
that were on the market at that time.
 Throughout my house, I have hardwood floors and tiles that are relatively eco friendly for the
environment since they have a minimal amount of processing that they need to go through to be
produced. Very little amounts of chemicals and fumes would be released into the environment in the
making of the flooring that I had chosen to use for my floors. They also add a nice natural look to each
room that adds to the design choices that I wanted to make the home more eco friendly.

The Flow / Feel of the House

Every home has a certain feel/ flow to it that makes the home more comfortable and efficient.
By using open concepts in the kitchen, hallways to easily move around, and lots of entrances to rooms I
made my home have a nicer flow. Also with the location of things and the purpose of rooms give my
house a better feel too. Everyone has a different idea of how they want your house to feel and flow since
there are different living styles, however, my home is optimized for a large family with kids that enjoy
some alone time.

To make my house have a good flow I thought about what people would be doing during
certain times of the day. In the mornings most people will want to go to the bathroom to freshen up
and get ready for the day. Within my house, I have at least 1 bathroom close to every two rooms so that
there is very little movement needed in the mornings. Especially in the master bedroom where the
parents would normally sleep there is a personal bathroom so that others will not wake up if they need
to get up early to go to work or make dinner. After freshening up some people will want to eat and
others will want to do some daily physical activities. For both types of people, there are options along
the way or near the kitchen. You can go to the gym where you can run on the treadmill or lift some
weights to get the body working as the day starts. Going outside is also an option, being able to breathe
the fresh air is important to some people and so having that option for the mornings is nice. You can go
and do some stretches or meditate to start your day. After you are done with your daily physical
activities people tend to get hungry. The kitchen is near where you can whip yourself up a meal.

In the afternoon people are usually doing their things, some people will probably be at work or
school and the home is mostly empty. However, as people begin to go home there are design features
that help with the flow of this too. Such as if someone has a dirty job, they can enter through the side
door where they can drop off their dirty clothes and shoes to be washed before they enter the main
parts of the home. For the person driving there is a door within the garage so that they can enter the
home from the garage without having to walk around to enter. The person who also drives is usually
also the person who will bring home the groceries. To make it easier to bring in the groceries there is a
cart within the garage where you can load all of the food and then push it on the paved sidewalk to the
side door which is the closest door close to the kitchen and pantry. For everyone else, they can enter
through the front door where they will put their stuff away in the front closet and go do whatever they
want within the house from there.

When it is later in the evening people tend to be home. For teens, they will tend to be in their
rooms so not much is to be worried about. For little children, they will be in their play area which is
across from the living room where mom and dad can relax while their children are playing. However, at
the same time still, watch them make sure they are going to be safe. For more companies such as a party,
the parents also have a gathering place closer to the pool. This is to give the kids and parents some
separation to have fun without many worries. There is also lots of space outside for gatherings if people
do not want to stay inside anymore, and rather go play in the pool or on the grass. Either way, the
house is built to allow things to flow smoothly no matter the time of day.

The house has a lot of square footage so I tried to use up most of the space as efficiently as
possible. However, since the area is so big there is not much need for too many open rooms since the
rooms are already big themselves. Therefore, in my design, I chose to allow more privacy for the people
living within the home. In areas like the snack kitchen, the dining room, and the main kitchen I have
more of an open concept feel since these are gathering areas where you should be able to easily go to
without having to go through so much trouble. To make the house more comfortable I have painted
walls and different colour flooring, to add life to the home. With paintings on the wall and lots of light
in you should generally feel happy when you are within the house. I wanted the home to feel like a
place where you had a little bit of everything, with a gym, a pool, a massive kitchen, lots of rooms, and
areas to play. It's like you are living in a resort but at home. There is a lot of thought and consideration
that goes into the flow and feel of the house that makes a house show that it is a home.

Procedure Notes / Conclusion

I have already explained why I put certain rooms where I have them now. There were some
changes I had to make to my design during the process such as scaling. During my bubble drawing I
did not draw things to the exact scale at first and so when it came to the designing part, I had to make
some dimension changes to make the room fit better. This was done especially with the garage. I
underestimated how large a car was and how big a garage is compared to the size of a house. I built the
house room by room starting with the entryway and worked my way down. This made sizing harder
for me and I believe if I were to do this again I would change it and build the layout of the home
differently. During the making of my layout I took inspiration from how my home looks now and
homes I have made in Sims and other types of building games when I was younger. This is a dream
home all ages of myself would have enjoyed.

I have learnt a lot in the making of my dream house. I have learnt of the amount of planning
beforehand that is required to build a home such as making a bubble drawing and running though case
scenarios to make sure that it is effective. I have also learnt that in building a house you need to consider
more than just how the house looks. Yes, the looks of the home and the flow of the home is an
important part of the house however, the eco views of the house need to also be taken into
consideration. Is the house using a good amount of energy or can it be improved? What types of
martials are you using in your home and is it good for the environment? How efficient are your
accessories and appliances? All of these need to be considered before fully making your home. I also
learnt that “flow” is important, you do not want to be walking through another person’s room to get
to a desired destination. You should be able to get there without much hassle. Even if my house was
only 1 story tall I have gained respect for the people who do this on the daily for they would have to
take into account so many things before they are able to even start building. Overall the design process
of building a home is time consuming however, when you are able to see what you spent your time into
building it can be quite satisfying.
Design Criteria

- Dimensions: 100' x 60' (6,000 sq ft of land), of which the house can take up a
maximum of 75% (4,500 sq ft max home).
- Back yard
- Front yard (Garden)
- Parking (Garage)
- Wallway
- Patio
- Entry Foyer (With closet)
- 2 bathroom (min)
- 2 bedroom (min)
- Kitchen
- Dining room
- Living room
- Utility area (laundry room)
- Closets
- Furniture and accessories
- Entertainment areas
Bubble Layout

Overhead 2D
Overhead 3D

Left Side View Without Walls

Front View with walls

Front View without walls

Right side View with walls

Back View with walls