Plan Attack® Terrible Much Better: Toronto High Rise
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- čas přidán 16. 04. 2022
- Developers are maximizing the density in new high rise building all over the world. The resulting units are often filled with design problems. Watch and learn how the layout mistakes in this soon-to-be-built 566 sq ft/ 52 sq m unit could be improved simply by rearranging all the pieces. At the end of the episode, you get to choose which of two layout options is better.
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Hey Matthew, love your videos!
I am actually on a development team in the GTA and work with a lot of smaller multi-res unit layouts. I think your layout is so close to hitting the mark for what a developer would accept, but there are a few key considerations that might change the way would ultimately be laid out:
1. Totally agree with the entrance and washroom location in option 1.
2. Option 1 essentially takes a 565sf unit from 1B+D to a studio, which is far less marketable. I think most developers would agree a 1B unit would be acceptable with this narrow, deep, mid-rise condition. Also, I really appreciate you acknowledging restrictions on trying to make these units affordable through minimizing sizes as much as possible.
3. OBC requires 40% of a bedroom's window-adjacent wall to allow light into a legal bedroom. The existing layout accomplishes this with glass sliders. I would recommend locating the bedroom directly adjacent to the kitchen with a fixed glass wall for privacy to meet this requirement. I would also recommend moving the closet back toward the bottom of the unit and enlarging it to a walk-in with the laundry closet accessible from the hallway just above the fan coil unit. Would also recommend accessing the bedroom from the hallway for privacy, while keeping the windowed wall fixed for window-treatments.
4. Kitchen will have to be vertically oriented to provide 40% light allowance in the OBC bedroom, but the additional depth from shifting the laundry to above the fan coil and relocating the washroom will increase the living space.
Would love to hear your thoughts!
In the UK it is a legal requirement to have a window, so any way around this layout makes this a studio really. It's also not a home, this is somewhere you would live temporarily whilst studying, on holiday maybe, that developers feel they can mortgage these thin slithers as desirable homes is ridiculous. I understand land cost, but they need to build creatively with more frontage and light.
@@AaronTheHumanist ok well this unit is in Toronto, not the the United Kingdom, and therefore subject to Ontario’s Building Code. If you aren’t familiar with the zoning policies or building codes, I understand your confusion. On sites like this that are deep with narrow frontage where you are forced to build deep to build as much as possible for overall project feasibility, you can’t add another 2m in width to the unit without increasing the unit size by 50% and thus the price by nearly as much (ie. in a city struggling with a housing affordability crisis you are taking a $700k unit and turning it into a $1.05M 1B unit which isn’t nearly as affordable and thus marketable. Also will add that at this level of affordability, this is in fact a home and many people would be grateful to start out owning a unit of this size in a market as competitive as Toronto’s.
Hey Mason! This is great that you are commenting with your experience working in the Toronto market. I am a firm believer that there is the ability to improve these types of units. It is unrealistic to just criticize them without offering up ideas or solutions because the economics of the housing market means that there will be more and more of this type of unit going forward and we have to come up with some ideas to improve liveability as much as possible. That being said, I do think the marketing department,ents have too much power in some cases and in this unit, have presented an unrealistic set up!
For your point 2 - I struggle with calling the enlarged entry space a den....this is where I would need to arm wrestle the developer.
For your point 3 - this is good to know about the Ontario Building Code - I am going to try and sketch out your suggestions for the lighting requirements.I like your idea of moving the closet back.
For your point 4 - Ugh....this pains me! I was even commenting about adding higher windows above the kitchen but you will have to tell me if clerestory works with the OBC.
I love that there would be a compromise somewhere between my plan and the original to satisfy the OBC and developer requirements.
I think I need to try and sketch that out....
@@maseirl It's really interesting to compare the requirements between cities. On my Instagram page, I get a lot of outrage when I post North American designs because they are not to Code in various parts of the world. Particularly the interior bedrooms and the mechanically ventilated bathrooms cause lots of angered reactions!
@@PlanAttack Hey Matthew, thanks for your reply!
Agreed there were definitely some major shortcuts taken with this layout to squeeze in the most rooms possible, as most reasonable markets would agree a habitable living space is more important than an oversized den. I would 100% get rid of the den because we can't expect these long, hallway-ish layouts to be as efficient as wide/shallow demising. In terms of the kitchen orientation, there's a chance we could do an L-shaped kitchen run to prevent, but a lot of developers prefer to use one standard vignette. Celestory windows would likely work for a very-tall ceiling height (14'+) as the kitchen run will require a bulkhead and the wall directly facing the window must be 40% window area. Not 100% sure how hard loft conversions get away with this sometimes!
I would love to see a sketch as well. I might DM you later if I have the time to put something together.
I wouldn’t want to work or study in a small windowless space so I would say option 1 is better. I might even find space for a standing desk next to the couch, opposite the dining table.
I'd love to see a floor plan with a desk area in the main living space....now you have me thinking about this.
@@PlanAttack I like the idea of having a desk away from the living space but I would just end up working from the dining table to have the natural light and view.
Dang I love these videos of yours. Most of the work I do are with developers and getting them to overhaul their layouts can be a challenge. So I like both options, but I am leaning a bit towards the second one. I've been trying to sneak in dedicated desk space whenever I can ever since covid started, and I think you did that quite well.
I think developers are open to options....particularly if you can demonstrate some alternative designs that use the same components. The pandemic has changed my outlook on home offices too...I would definitely need one and I've gotten softer on my criticisms of windowless office areas. Maybe I am losing my mind? Haha....
Love your videos.. I learn so much, it's very entertaining and it's nice to find someone who geeks out over floorplans like I do lol.. Great work, keep it up!
Haha...I like being thought of as a geek. That just made my whole day - thank you!
I love your videos and your puzzle pieces idea... your creation are really practical and thanks for sharing it....
I like Option 1 best, but I’d turn the opening for stacked washer/dryer into the closet inside the bedroom. I can’t imagine guests needing access to the w/d so keep it close to the clothes. I’d also put a pocket door on the bathroom. To eliminate door swing. I’d add a large artwork (plant or nature theme) and sconce lighting inside front door. This could be a cute little condo!.
I love your ideas! I think you have made the plans better.
It was great correction for small plan area. 👌👌👌 I like it.
I have two problems with your solution. The first problem, why shouldn't the sofa be on the opposite left side and the door from the terrace moved to the right side and the TV to the right side, so that there would be an unobstructed passage to the terrace and better passing communication, you wouldn't go diagonally, bother people and you wouldn't went around the furniture, and could you watch TV from the dining room? Another problem, I agree about the position of the bathroom, but I'm not sure how realistic it is, since now the sanitary vertical is not on that side and it would take a lot of investment and decoration to change it, and maybe it would be almost impossible since, as I see, it's a multi-story building?
I had to go back and rewatch the episode to understand your comments because I filmed it so long ago! I agree with you. The sofa would work on the opposite side. Great suggestion Alex.
If the bathroom goes down, far from the ventilation vertical hole, how will it ventilate?
I like both options specially option 1, and even though the old layout is way down than these, it had a daylight source to the bedroom! Which I think is crucial for any bedroom. I lived in a unit that looked very much like option 1 and it wasn't comfortable.
I wonder if there is a way to get some light into the bedroom in option 1? I was wondering what the ceiling height was in this unit and it it was possible to have some clerestory windows above the kitchen....
To get lighting into the bedroom you could put a high level lightwell/window. It's still less than ideal n I would doubt it would be satisfactory. I agree its very difficult to change the mentality of developers whose sole interest appears to be numbers.
Option 1😍🤩😍
I like option 2. I’ve seen a similar layout where the den and bedroom were side by side. What the designer did was used a sliding door that was large enough to close off one of the rooms.
How do you solve the plumber evacuation issues ? You can't easily move toilet in an existing appartment...
Great question Elio - this building isn't built yet so I am making these changes prior to construction and can move the plumbing as needed.
@@PlanAttack thx for the answer ;)
I'm obsessed with your content. Do you by any chance think you could post more often? I just know we'd like that a lot.
A couple of questions: first, why didn't you still need that space behind the kitchen that you complained about pushing it into the original living room space, and two, how expensive it is to shift all of the bathroom/laundry plumbing to the back of that building? I always enjoy your videos and ideas, but sometimes it looks like it'll cost a LOT to implement them.
Hey, i know you've said this a hundred times but i couldn't find it, could you please tell me your ipad model and the software you're working on? Thank you
Both one and two is better then the original
Option 1 is the better one. It's really a "studio with walls", because (at least in the US) fire laws require an egress window, so the bedroom can't be entirely closed off.
You are correct - the amount of wall enclosure around a sleeping area without a window is limited by code in Canada too. It is basically a studio apartment that is marketed as a one bedroom - hence my use of the erm "cheater" bedroom.
Сер, какой планшет и какую программу используетесь?
Morpholio
I like option 2 because of the work space.
Do you need a home office for your own work? I know I do....
@@PlanAttack Honestly I was thinking about space to get away from your partner 🙄
The question is will the builder go along with this?
Why would the builder oppose this layout?
Exactly how I would have arranged it given the circumstances. Although it met the space standard ie 50sqm I think it woukd fail on lighting as it wouldn't meet code levels in the UK. Developments shouldn't be about quality not numbers.
I'd like to learn more about the lighting codes in the UK....can you give me a quick synopsis?
@@PlanAttack thanks for reply. There is no established 'right to light' but the government recently introduced lighting requirements in 'habitable rooms'...the idea being that they must have adequate (again an undefined word), to be able to function properly. It implies that bedroom's for example must a have a window and that the outlook from that window be sufficient. It is independent from the lighting requirements as set out in the building regulations, which are independent from town/urban planning functions...although there is some train of thought the two standards should be combined.
Looking at your layout closely I think I like it better than Mason’s
1
One suggestion, let's say a plan and make it better, lose the word terrible.
Disrespectful to original architect.
I would argue that the original architect should've spent more time to make a better space for people to live in - and the the word terrible is an appropriate criticism.