6 Things to Concern before Building a New Universal Design House

2. Needs.

There are 3 types of needs: individual need, style and conceptual house.
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– Individual need. Gather the information of each member’s needs, including their preference and hobbies. You can discuss, ask, or observe their behavior to get the complete information. For example, if your son likes sports and music, you may have a space outside for him to play sports and a soundproofing room to cut the noise while he’s playing an instrument.

If your daughter likes pets, you may need a space for your pets to run and play. If your parents like planting and are religious, you may need a garden for them to plant and a praying room. If you like watching movies, you can have a soundproofing home theater. If your wife likes reading, you can design a peaceful library or office for her.

– Stylistic needs. Stylistic need is the overview of a universal design  house. There are many styles of houses these days. For examples, a minimal modern house with interesting details, luxury classic house, innovative building soltuion , traditional Thai-style house , natural-style house that embraces you with nature, cozy contemporary house, and colonial house influenced from western art.

You can look for the styles you prefer from magazines, architecture books, and internet or while you’re traveling. You may discuss in family the exterior look, interior design, building products, atmosphere, space and others to find the best solution of your universal design house.

– Conceptual house. We concern about natural resources and environment more and more these days. Due to tropical weather in Thailand, as well as urbanization that causes limited space and air pollution, and natural diseases, various house concepts have been emerging these days, such as eco-house, healthy house, house for elders, 3-generation house, natural-disease-resistant house, and tiny house. You should list out and conclude the concept before the construction is processed. And look for eco-friendly building solutions.

3. Budget 

Having a budget in mind allows you to make an easier decision of how the construction, space and materials used should be. Budget helps you get the right universal design house without ruining your wallet.

Apart from construction expenses, your budget should cover interior decoration, furniture, drywall installation, fire protection system, exterior drywall system, drywall system for decoration, decorative wall panels, and other construction around the house and garden.

4. Picking the date of completion 

makes it easy for you to make a plan, manage your time and get ready for each process, such as land reclamation which may take a while, information gathering, when should you get the house plan, authorization process, finding a contractor, as well as earning money for each payment round.

5. House storey 

The number of the storey depends on the size of land, house, and number of family member. However, there might be a legal limitation on land use, for certain areas, on types and size of building, as well as empty space. For example, as stated in ministerial regulation no.35 (1992), any type of building is prohibited in certain areas in Hua Hin District, Prachaup Khiri Khan, except one-storey single building with height less than 6 meters.

The total space of the building is restricted to 78 square meters. Each building must have at least 4 meters away from one another and at least 2 meters away from land of others. The space around the building is at least 75 percent of total area, and must be at least 20 meters away from the beach, or at least 12 meters away from Khao Tao reservoir. Therefore, check on the law for the height of your building.