Void or No Void

last month

Hello,
Looking for some professional input and thoughts.
I am in the process of choosing a design to build a double storey 45sq house.
We have seen multiple display homes with void / atrium over living or dinning. It looks beautiful. I am worried what would be the long term cons if we get a void in the house.
We are unable to make up our mind.
Any suggestions and advise would help us decide the right floor plan.
Thanks in advance

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Comments (3)

bigreader
last month
For looks have a void. For temperature and noise control don’t.
oklouise
last month
last modified: last month
very hard to manage air conditioning and noise control with a void unless the void is contained within a separate area with minimal connection between upstairs and downstairs living areas...depends on the floor plans
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siriuskey, Yes, the courtyard is open to the sky (no roof over it), I assume this is what you mean by double story. Ref. below photos, I would love to get this look, especially the first and last photo, where you can see family living space from the first floor. I can't achieve this in my plan as it eats a lot of floor space upstairs. The referred plan (photos) has a very big void combining staircase, hallway and dining area. I know it is not easy with cooling and heating when you have such a big void. So, I explored a few ideas (with my limited knowledge on this topic) before achieving the current floorplan. I have also thought about, in my current plan, extending the void on the staircase to the dining area (it is more like L shape) but i wasn't sure if that makes any difference. keen to hear your thoughts.
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Personally , as you presumably have the site area , you'd be better to consider say the living room with a higher stud ( say 3.6 or 4 metres ) , and the rest of the house a more standard height . A 'void' I envisage as 2 levels of rooms around a 'double height' living area . That really runs the risk of looking like a shopping mall or 1980's office block , with walkways and internal balconies , windows to 'spy' downstairs , hell why not have a square planter with leafy potplants and a fountain ? Double height means 4 times the problems , twice the heating and cooling , you need a cherry-picker to dust or change a lightbulb . . . . . . . Then if the kitchen is next to this area , theres additional problems with fumes and possible discoloration etc . Years ago , when I thought I had some money , I bought a place with 2.6metre tall double main doors that opened into a double height foyer -- looked impressive ( the previous owners had a white baby grand there , it was quite large ! ) , but I wasn't sorry to sell it after living there for 3 years .
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It's easy - functional requirements wins, any day of the week - if you need the use the space for a theatre room then there's your answer, but don;t just do a theatre room for the sake of it - there needs to be a reason for any design move. In the whole picture costs unlikely to be dramatically different one way or the other (ie whether a double height space vs a two level / two separate spaces). Voids are not a a "waste of space" if the serve a clear purpose such as bringing welcomed light or ventilation into a space, and they can make an otherwise tight/dark space feel so much better and therefore make it actually livable and appealing to use....so it totally depends on your context and goals for both your overall home and the specific spaces........FWIW whenever we've designed them into spaces clients never regret it, but if the opportunity is available and not taken then likely you'll regret down the track not having done it
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If you take your plans to Beacon, they’ll help you. Check first that they have some fittings you like. I looked at your plans in a previous post. Depending on the light chosen and how much of a feature you want it to be I’d pick a combined size of between 1/3 and 2/3 of the ceiling size, tending towards bigger.
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PRO
Kitchen and Home Sketch Designs
26 days ago
Voids they tell me are very lovely to look at but hopeless at keeping the noise and temperature good on both floors. Better without them or make it only a small one over the entry, having said that the entry is where in the middle of winter if you open the front door the cold air will rush everywhere and negate the heating through the whole house. So not such a good idea. Air locks at the entry are a much better idea: having two doors to open so the heat of the house does not escape. Apart from all of that, to me and for the benefit of the Earth's finite resources you are far better off concentrating on getting the passive solar design of the house right: making sure the living rooms face the north sun and that you have windows positioned for cross breezes to assist in summer cooling. Where are you planning to build? Do you have a site as yet? If so which way does it face? Are you building what you need or are you building an aspirational home that looks wonderful but you will not need all of it. Do not waste your money, the building time, effort and materials on building more that you need that is very wasteful. Cheers Margot PS if you do not know about passive solar design look it up and be educated about it as it can save you lots of money on heating/cooling/ventilation bills for the whole long life of the house.

Void or No Void

Comments (3)

bigreader

oklouise

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