-
Upstairs reconfiguration vs extension (1.5 storey longhouse)
Hi, I’d really appreciate some honest advice as I feel like I’ve hit a wall with our layout.
We’re a family of 2 adults and 4 children, all with additional needs, so how the space flows and feels day-to-day is really important. We need layouts that are calm, predictable, low-demand and not overly tight or awkward.
The house is a 1.5 storey Scottish longhouse, so the upstairs is within the roof space rather than a full second storey.
We’re trying to achieve:
- 4 good-sized bedrooms upstairs
- 1 family bathroom that isn’t tiny, and can accommodate both a bath and a separate wet room-style shower (this is essential for mobility reasons)
- A functional master bedroom (not L-shaped or compromised), as this space always needs to accommodate multiple children and must remain calm, usable and not restricted
Current constraints:
- Upstairs is approx 91m² within the roof space
- The main bathroom is on one side of the house, while the en-suite is positioned more centrally towards the rear (so plumbing isn’t all in one place)
- Landing is long and narrow (~1.46m wide)
- Sloped ceilings / head height constraints (typical of 1.5 storey layout)
- We’ve tried multiple layouts, but anything that improves the bathroom tends to eat into the master bedroom
Ideas we’ve explored:
- Moving the bathroom into the master bedroom
→ Concerned about long soil pipe runs (4m+) and whether this is good practice - Moving the bathroom into the existing en-suite area
→ This leaves a small, awkward L-shaped bedroom - Converting Bedroom 4 into a larger bathroom
→ This works spatially, but reduces us to 3 bedrooms upstairs
We’re also open to rethinking the downstairs layout (plans attached), including potentially creating a bedroom downstairs if that leads to a better overall solution.
Due to financial constraints, we can’t afford an extension at this stage, which is why we’re trying to understand whether a reconfiguration within the existing footprint is realistically achievable, or whether an extension is ultimately the only way to properly resolve the layout.
Key questions:
– Is it realistically possible to achieve 4 good bedrooms + a practical family bathroom upstairs within this type of 1.5 storey layout, or are we forcing something the house won’t support?– Is there a smarter way to reconfigure this (including downstairs) that we’re missing?
– Or is an extension ultimately the only clean solution to solving this?
We’re trying to decide whether to:
- keep reworking the layout
- accept a compromise
- or change direction entirely
Any honest advice from a design or build perspective would be really appreciated.
-
0 Replies
Sorry, there were no replies found.
Log in to reply.