The real estate market, which came through the pandemic almost intact, is still showing no signs of calming down. In the cityscape, you can see new houses, including private houses constantly appearing. Although the so-called ,,turnkey” solution has become more and more popular in private houses, most people still want to design and build the home of their dreams according to their own needs and wishes, and all this has to fit exactly to the chosen plot. But where to start, once a suitable location for the home has been found and it would be needed to draw up a project?
Design criteria / detailed plan
It should be started with an analysis of the property. Is there a valid detailed plan or would it be necessary to apply for design criteria? They both have the same purpose – they set out what and how we can plan for the property, what is the purpose of land use, layout and size of buildings, architectural, construction and design conditions, etc. All these aspects are the basis for the architect when designing.
Detailed plans can be found in the register of plans of the respective municipality, or in other words, from Google. If the registered immovable does not have a detailed plan, the process is a bit more time consuming and it is necessary to apply for design criteria. Although it can vary from municipality to municipality, it is not complicated. In most cases, it is sufficient to submit an application through the Building Register (www.ehr.ee) and it is necessary to pay a state fee of € 25.
Terms of reference / mood board
Now that you know how and what can be built, it is useful to map your wishes and needs. When building a home, there are definitely some criteria that could be present in the home. We recommend making a list of them: e.g. the number of bedrooms, the desire for the living room to open onto the terrace or, if there is a desire to work remotely, a home office would be needed. In addition, we recommend creating a mood board. It is quite common that a person has created a visualization of the home of their dreams, and mood board is a tool that helps to better visualize as well as explain their ideas. It can also be a family activity, where you stick the details of your dream home or just pictures of houses and interiors that have previously caught your eye on one piece of paper. Nowadays, it is possible to do all this digitally by uploading images to a folder or taking screenshots. These are very good starting points for the architect, and so the architect is able to give feedback at the first meeting in what form and how it is reasonable to fulfil those wishes.
It is important to find a sympathetic architect whose task is to bring your wishes in line with the design criteria. In addition, the architect’s task is to create a spatial whole: the building must be functional, technically, economically, and aesthetically working, and create harmony with the surrounding environment.
The architect starts the work from the analysis, and after examining the design criteria, he or she goes into a little more detail with the analysis: examines the position of the immovable in relation to the points of the compass, e.g. where it would be wise to place the living room and where the bedroom, how it is possible to connect the building with different communications, what the surrounding environment looks like, how the movement on the property could take place, etc. Then the architect begins with the design.