A rather large project: My house

if ild have a house in the countryside ild go all classic and get a kitchen/breakfast to the east and dining room to the west to maximize the sun hours

Good question... front of the house is south facing.

Architect here.
Rodolfo is right - especially with the front being south facing. Connect front to back to allow as much sunlight through as possible - probably the east side as kitchen/breakfast as suggested.

Also keeping the connection straight through the hallway to the back and beyond will allow some more natural light in there and potentially a view through when you come in the front door.
Extension 1 could make a good boot room, being a farm, and the toilet could work there if accessed from it.

If you went open plan with the living rooms you reduce flexibility, although it could be a great space. Personally I'm a big fan of a 'snug' but its debatable.

Brilliant thanks for the suggestions.

I think we are swinging round to extension 1 being a combined boot room/utility and toilet, so would then keep access from the hallway, not sure whether to put door into extension 2 or keep as separate rooms.

I prefer not to go fully open plan, one of the main reasons being that I work from home and will take a few years to convert a barn to an office, so will be camping away in one of the reception rooms.

Something like this?

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How about now?

working

Looks like a nice project
I've been a site manager specialising in refurbishment as structural works for the past 30 years
With this type of project m2 costings etc mean nothing
you are undoubtedly looking at major works to walls floors and roof
Living in it whilst carrying out the build with a family is a non starter
get yourself a sensible architect and a good engineer making your budget clear from day 1
find 3 local trusted / recommended builders who specialise in historic and conservation work and get a few quotes splitting into 2 1 for the structural element / 2 the fit out
they can give you a reasonable costing from basic spec and drawings
allow a contingency as with any refurbishment job until you start opening up you never know what gems are lurking

Hey,
Thanks for the tips.
We have a good structural engineer, and meeting an architect next week, what would the architects role be if we aren't changing floor plans etc?

Just waiting on structural report which is due this week then will be getting builders in to quote on the structural element as a first step.

It really comes down to what you want to pay him for
but in a nutshell the working dwgs in particular detailing
remember drawing time costs
important elements would be
layouts
elevations
roof detailing
wall construction / insulation
tanking
Producing the specification
submitting the planning applications
remember the basic construction details don't vary much from build to build
get the basics from him to get you thro planning / enough basic detailing for the works to be priced by the builder
Plumbing heating electrical all can be agreed with your builder using the plans produced agree with him what you want and let them produce working drawings the engineer will produce the structural detailing needed from the architects details Inc drainage layouts also calcs for building control
if you want any advice / info drop me a pm and I'll mail over my number

Cheers, that's really useful, trying to avoid blurring the lines between architect and project manager.

Meeting a couple of architects in the next couple of weeks so will see how they see things working.

Sam, depends on how you take the architect on and the scope of works you agree in the appointment.
Before meeting anyone I recommend having a little look at both the RIBA website, and also the JCT website regarding employing architects for domestic projects. They should discuss this with you anyway but its always good to have a bit of knowledge. Most likely they'll suggest the RIBA Agreement 2010. They should also be able to guide you in terms of tendering which is always useful especially when your its your entire family home

Thanks, will have a look at both of those tomorrow, always like to be as informed as possible!

No problem, if you can't access them let me know. I have both I can send out

I can't see the point of 3 separate "living spaces" (including the dining room). I'd knock down the wall between the kitchen and living room and have that as one open and fantastic space. I think you'd do most of your "living" there.

Then you could have a more formal living room on the other side (or a very informal snug type thing as someone else mentioned/playroom for kids). The other room could be your study/library.

Hey, I'm coming round to that idea, annoyingly the side walls are structural so need to work that out too

Though its good that you are exploring what you want, if you do use an architect they will also have a lot of advice. Also being right there with you talking about what you want rather than over the internet means they will get a much better insight.

Just in respect to your wall issue it's not actually too difficult to remove part of an internal load bearing wall though its obviously an additional cost, you can put in a steel to span an opening. You would want a structural engineer to do the calcs and check whats feasible. An Architect would consider this side of things in terms of your budget, additional time as well as how appropriate it would be in respect to what you want.

TL;DR
Get an Architect and properly discuss what you want to achieve.

Cheers, I think we will definitely be using an architect, just a question of how much we get them to do.

Have found a structural engineer who we really like, so that should help with things like moving walls. Ideally we would love to open up the back of the house, but I suspect removing the lower story of a 500mm stone wall will be quite a engineering undertaking!

So things are slowly moving on with this...

I do have a question for people though, which is to do with the relative merits of a full architect vs. a design agency. We are essentially not looking to change the layout of the house, bar maybe shift a wall by a couple of feet, and will only be adding a simple box extension (max allowed under PD). So my question is, is the added expense of an architect worth it over a design agency when essentially I just need someone to draw plans and deal with planning and building regs. We are working with a structural engineer already who will work with whatever architects\design agency we go with, so guess that has to be taken into consideration.

Assuming the difference is just that the Architect is ARB (and maybe RIBA)? whilst the design agency isn't?
Are you making sure you use a proper form of appointment?
Maybe being biased, but I'd often look to use the architect if possible due to the added security offered through the ARB. The architect may also have a better knowledge of what's required in running a job, PPI, etc

Not sure, haven't got down to the shortlisting of either yet to be honest, I suspect I am just being worried by meeting a very high end architect last week, who was talking lots about changing layouts, going out and getting inspiration from other areas, employing a quantity surveyor etc. when all we are really looking for is someone to help us get the house into a liveable condition and maybe put on a 3m extension on and convert the attic, and given that would we be better getting a cheaper agency to do so?

We are meeting another architect in a couple of weeks, so hopefully she may be more up our street!

I may PM you if that is OK?

Sure thing. If the scope of work is smaller now it may even be an idea to gulp look to do it all through a building firm who can design these elements themselves.

Keep the kitchen and dining room on the same side of the house, and the living room space to the other. It makes sense to avoid going through lots of doors, if you can somehow change the wall, maybe even a wall cavity for passing plates through.

Yes, I suspect what we will do, is put the kitchen where we want it and leave the three other rooms as flexible living for the short term and see how we actually use the spaces, and then maybe knock through one side of the house if it feels like that is how we are using the house...

just watched a grand designs that sort of reminded me of this: sorry it's based off a cow shed.

http://www.watchseries.li/link/thevideo.me/5193800