Upside down house

crashpilot

Anyone living in an inverted house have any pros or cons toward the design?

We're in pre planning stages and have a stubby hill to the side of our site. Putting the living area on first floor would clear the hill and take advantage of views on the other side.

Current design is quite open plan so structurally it would make more sense to me to have less load on first floor, so that's a plus as well. Engineer agrees but his house is upside down so he's marginally biased.

Initially I had designed a 3 storey + loft; small footprint with lots of glass. But was subsequently told I would be swiftly getting me marching orders from the planning office!

If anyone has any insights please share!

o1s1n

Sounds like a great idea. Should have less light in your bedrooms in the evenings too due to the hill so nicer sleeping conditions.

Be interested in hearing how you're planning to manage foot traffic to bring it upstairs by default.

Do you have a front door planned with a staircase immediately going up to the first floor (no access to the ground floor)?

My main concern would be not having such a scenario and folks wandering into what they assume to be a ground floor living room and ending up in a bedroom.

Calahonda52

Any time I have seen that done its hollow core FF

crashpilot

Engineer says typically you drive in and approach house at the upper level from the back, so enter living area/kitchen on first floor and downstairs then to sleeping area.

Ours in backwards so we'll be approaching from lower level. After some head-scratching I came up with a 'half porch'. So basically half a set of steps up to front door, and enter into porch/landing. Then two more half sets of stairs, one leading to upper and one to lower level.

Must look into hollow core. Thanks!

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122629057#Comment_122629057

Unless they are going to bed before sunset/twilight, it's not going to make much different going to sleep. But it will probably impact sunrise in the morning.

Why would folks we wandering around your downstairs? You answer the door, and direct them upstairs. From then they know it's upside down.

I've always like the concept. Although it works best on heavily slopping sites where there can be an extrance on two levels

Biker1

Make sure you have a bedroom and disabled bathroom on the same level as the living areas. Future proofing for the elderly.

setanta1984

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122629583#Comment_122629583

That is how my house is - built on a slope with living areas upstairs - from the road the house looks like a bungalow, with a regular entrance - to the side is a steep enough driveway and steps to access the garden and downstairs access door.
Love it this way - its so handy being able to access both levels for things like moving large items, furniture etc without having to use the internal stairs.
The bedrooms being downstairs are always cooler than the upstairs - a godsend if you struggle to sleep during summer heat.
Another consideration is sleeping downstairs when there is activity upstairs - I was worried about this with kids being woken up, but no trouble so far. On the rare occasion I'm in bed with people active upstairs I can definitely hear it - hard to quantify how much worse than a normal upstairs sleeping arrangement, depends on the house I suppose.

Can't really think of many negatives - minor one is there being more hall space downstairs than upstairs in our case, again I suppose depends on design and staircase placement. Being far from the garden with kids (having to go downstairs) can be a bit annoying, but we are lucky to have a decent size balcony so still have some outside space easily accessible from living area.

External access for both levels is a must imo.

phormium

Fine if you have access direct to kitchen without going upstairs, I think it would drive me mad lugging all grocery shopping up a stairs! Living room would be lovely upstairs especially if any view, my only reservation would be kitchen but if there is an entrance at the higher level to it then no problem.

iniscealtra

if you want to appreciate a view. It is the kitchen that should face the view. It’s Where you eat, prepare food and live. A room you watch telly in in the evening does not need a view in my opinion.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122629583#Comment_122629583

The sun sets here in July at 10pm and is up at 5am, it would definitely make a difference during the summer months.

Directing people upstairs from a ground floor entrance point is very weird IMO unless your house is naturally designed to flow upstairs.

Dial Hard

My next door neighbour in my previous place (mixed development) had a three story townhouse - entrance and one bedroom & bathroom on the ground floor, kitchen & living on the 1st floor and more bedrooms on the second. They loved it initially but said the novelty wore off very quickly; they had a pain in their face dragging the shopping upstairs every week, way more wear & tear on the stairs than normal (they tried both carpet and wood flooring over the years, everything needed replacing/restoration every two years or so) and most of all, it was hugely inconvenient having to traipse in and up the stairs every time someone wanted a drink topped up/more ice/something from the fridge when they were sitting in their back garden during the summer or having a barbeque or whatever.

Might be a different story on a very sloping site where you can access both levels externally, but other than that, I'd think long and hard about it.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122630206#Comment_122630206

Not sure about you but my bedtime hasnt been 10pm since I was a kid. Might be a consideration for people who sleep early.

I was saying sunrise would be a bigger impact. But realistically good block out would be far more significant. I’d be flipping for other reasons than sunlight.

It’s pretty normal in duplex apartments, elevated houses, townhouses, etc. to have steps up to the icing area. Just needs to be designed well.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122629498#Comment_122629498

Part M access.
Part M accessible toilet.

That are the only pit falls but you can use an en-suite to meet the regulation. It will be bigger than normal though.

Dermot Bannon done it on a house in North Dublin on Room to Improve a few years back if you wanted to search it out.

crashpilot

Bedrooms will have french doors as opposed to windows on ground floor.

Site is an old quarry so has a myriad of levels; from flat to slightly sloped to severely sloped. I'd rather build freestanding and not incorporate any of the slopes into the aspect. Mainly because they lean in the opposite direction of a traditional split level and the main access road is already established.

I recently watched a Dermot Bannon episode where he renovated a commercial unit in Dun Laoghaire, with living area on first floor through to mezzanine through to balcony. Great flowing feel to it and even though I despise the gimp of him it was very well done 😄

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122630412#Comment_122630412

Part M toilet shouldn't be an issue. Typically the main bathroom is upstairs and a smaller part m guest bathroom is on the entry level. The smaller bathroom is typically a compromise.

In an inverted house, the main bathroom is on the entry level. This is probably going to be preferred from a accessibility point of view. But the fact that the living area is on first floor is going to be less suitable for accessibility. Another reason why a split level is optimal for inverted layouts.

bannerman2005

We have an upside down house completed in 2016. Built on the side of a hill with a natural change in elevation with nice views so the house design was suited to the site we were working with. Driving into the site brings you to the upper floor where we have an open plan area. Bedrooms are downstairs also with main bathroom, plant room for heating system etc. Only 1 section of the house is actually 2 stories so build cost was a bit trickier.

Pros: The bedrooms downstairs are definitely cooler in summer compared to upstairs. In winter the solar gain really assists in the heating of the open plan section if there is even the smallest amount of sunlight so orientation is key.

Cons: We put too many windows in the open plan section. The solar gain is savage in the really sunny weather. The kitchen area last night was hitting 28 degrees and we ended up having to leave the front door and side door open to cool the place.

If you have any questions DM me and I'll be happy chat

Calahonda52

Not necessarily too many windows but insufficient detail to external shading and the g value of the glass