Open plan layouts bring many benefits, but there are a number of practical considerations to be made to ensure a successful scheme.
We have all embraced the new style of open plan living and somewhat left the idea of having many separate rooms in a house behind. Where this new style is being embraced so much, it’s easy to get open plan living wrong due to bad planning or confirming how space will work on a day to day basis.
Design
It’s useful to design the space while imagining the walls in place. This ensures circulation space is properly considered and allows each space to have its own sense of importance. You’ll need to think about both the areas where things are – the dining table, sofa, storage pieces and so on – and spaces that you will use to move through the room.
Don’t forget to leave space for things such as drawers, standing lights, chairs and tables. It may be of help to cut up some paper and treat that as though its furniture (just a thought!).
Planning An Open Plan Room
- Think about your view: what do you want to see from the sofa? Perhaps you want to have the dining table overlooking the garden. Decide early in your planning which area gets the window position.
- Allow sufficient circulation space through the room. How will you move from area to area without tripping or being blocked?
- Consider how far you want to walk from the kitchen space to the dining table. Walking any distance with hot food isn’t going to be convenient.
- Think about noise. Is the television going to be struggling to be heard above the clatter of pans in the kitchen area?
- Think about replicating a series of rooms rather than working with one giant room – an open-plan space won’t work if everything is against the walls.
To get some design tips, we have albums dedicated to different rooms and styles on our Houzz profile, check it out!
jemsmith1
10:44 23 Dec 20
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Francesca Malone
19:02 28 Oct 20
We have used Detailed Planning to help design and obtain planning for our single story extension converting our one... bedroom flat to a two bed. We have found them to be extremely helpful, communicating the process and how things work throughout. We were particularly happy with their ability to negotiate our extension depth with the planning office, resulting in 3.5 metres instead of the permitted 3m, which was crucial for our space to work. We look forward to working with them for the rest of the project.read more
Sharon Marsh
15:51 21 Oct 20
We used Detailed planning for a loft conversion and side extension. Very helpful guidance with respect to what would be... allowed by the Planning department. Very efficient service. Would highly recommendread more
Christian Constantinides
19:07 10 Oct 20
I used Detailed Planning for a new build home in the London Borough of Enfield. They managed initial feasibility and... concept design, the planning application process, building regulation drawings and support throughout the build. All in all the entire service was fantastic and I would certainly use Detailed Planning for future projects.read more
Claire M
12:52 15 Jun 20
I hired Detailed Planning for the design of my loft extension along with the corresponding planning permission... application. Absolutely brilliant service.They know exactly what they're doing. They were open to my design changes whilst keeping a sharp eye on local council requirements. I'm so pleased - planning permission was granted sooner than expected with no changes. Thanks so much!read more
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08:35 28 May 20
Excellent team and superb service. They are best a there job and they provide guidance, support, work and plan... according to your requirement. And do not hesitate in making changes until you are satisfied. Truly recommend themread more
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15:00 20 May 20
Paul and his team were absolutely excellent to work with. I couldn't recommend them more. So professional, quick and... always ready with advice. Really enjoyed the experienceread more
Mel D
21:03 13 May 20
Paul & Emily are fantastic, they have done everything from start to finish for our planning permission and technical... drawings and the quality of their work is very high (I guess it is in the name - detailed!)They have been patient with all our design changes, provided lots of advice, walked us through the process of who to engage with, when etc. and were always responsive and helpful when we have questions both via email and phone. This is our first major project and we are doing a loft conversion and remodelling the entire house so to have this support has been invaluable and well worth the money.We actually found them on trust a trader and obtained a few other quotes, DP was the most reasonable price wise, had the right qualifications, good reviews and a big plus was their well evidenced portfolio of work & experience in the area. It was a no brainier and they really have delivered beyond our expectations, most things have also been done via emails and zoom calls so the flexibility was there which really worked for us, would recommend them to anyone!read more
Gopinath V
16:14 24 Jan 20
Detailed Planning were recommended to me by a friend.Right from their initial visit and all the way through to the... finished plans, they were very good and we could not have asked for better service.Paul and Emily were always very good in their work they answered every query we had and solved every issue that we encountered during the planningThey work extremely well with their recommended engineer, surveyor and building control company to deliver a very good package.Thank you Paul, Emily for your excellent work, We can't wait for our extension to be completed.read more
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11:48 09 Jan 20
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19:51 23 Dec 19
Nothing a problem for the team at Detailed Planning, helpful, always at the end of phone, attentive and reliable and a... fast efficient service. Would definitely recommend and use again.read more
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11:09 18 Dec 19
The service provided by Detailed Planning was exceptional, with fast response times and excellent communication... throughout the project. We would definitely recommend Detailed Planning and look forward to working with Paul and the team again in the future.read more
Vinay Rughani
18:55 20 Jun 19
Detailed Planning were recommended to me by a friend. We found their prices very reasonable so instructed them to draw... up plans for our extension.Right from their initial visit and all the way through to the finished plans we could not have asked for better service.Paul and Emily were always very easy to get hold of, which I'm told is not the case for all architects. They answered every query we had and solved every issue that we encountered during the planning and party wall agreements with minimal fuss and in good time. They even sorted our build over agreement for our manhole to be moved.They work extremely well with their recommended engineer, surveyor and building control company to deliver a very good package.Thank you Paul, Emily and everyone at Detailed Planning. We can't wait for our extension to be completed.read more
