How to arrange a usable attic so as not to turn an advantage into a disadvantage
House designs with an attic are enjoying unflagging popularity. No wonder, since thanks to an additional floor you can gain more living space with a smaller building area, without losing valuable square meters of the plot - even more valuable the smaller its area. However, the attic space is not a value in itself - it only benefits when properly managed.
Designs of single-story houses with an attic are often chosen due to their numerous advantages: they have a larger usable area in relation to the building area, so a house with a more extensive utility program for a larger family can be fit on a relatively small plot, this type of development fits well into the suburban landscape (it is near the city that plots are most often chosen for the construction of single-family houses), the functional program easily determines the division into zones - day (on the ground floor) and night (in the attic), such houses can be built in stages (finish the ground floor first, and then needs or available funds, adapt the attic for housing purposes). In order to take full advantage of the advantages of such a project and at the same time avoid making mistakes that will take away the charm of living in a single-story house with an attic, investors should remember a few important rules.
Technical aspects of using the attic
The night zone rooms are located in the attic. These are bedrooms, children's rooms, bathroom (or bathrooms), dressing room. Due to their location, attic rooms require solutions that will ensure comfort of use. One of the important issues is proper lighting. You should not give up on the attic windows planned in the project, it is also worth paying attention to their parameters: whether they guarantee proper thermal and acoustic insulation, whether they can be equipped with accessories (e.g. roller blinds, invaluable in summer and during hot weather). The roof covering is also important - heavy types of roof coverings, such as ceramic tiles, will muffle outside sounds (e.g. rain) better than sheet metal roofing. However, the covering itself, without proper thermal insulation, will not ensure appropriate conditions for using the attic rooms: preventing them from overheating in summer or excessive cooling in winter.
You should also remember about appropriate acoustic insulation of the attic - this applies equally to the partition walls that define the boundaries of the rooms, as well as the ceiling separating the ground floor from the upper floor.
Attic development
Investors adapt house designs to their needs, which is understandable. This is done as part of the project adaptation and permitted changes. There are requests to design an additional bedroom or separate a dressing room. Some investors add balconies to which they can leave the bedroom, others give them up - there is no rule, it all depends on the investors' preferences - says architect Elżbieta Wysocka from the MTM STYL Design Office. Sometimes, however, investors' attempts to "improve" the project exceed the limits of functionality (and therefore comfort of living) and profitability.
It is worth considering the choice of a project with an attic, if such a decision will later result in actions aimed at erasing its specific character and the conditions it creates. The offer of this type of houses is so wide that instead of introducing significant changes that are expensive at the adaptation and implementation stage, you can look for a project that better meets specific criteria. If you have difficulty finding a suitable proposal, it is worth talking to an advisor - a designer from an architectural office or an expert from a specialized company - adds Hanna Maćkowiak, Advisor Domowy.pl.
The most common change made by investors is to raise the knee wall to gain more space for use under the attic slopes. It is worth remembering that raising the knee wall changes the proportions of the building, does not always provide the expected profit in the form of space that can be used sensibly, by raising them higher, it changes the location of the windows in the attic, which makes them impossible to use conveniently and affects the way the attic is illuminated.
This procedure, most often ill-considered and hastily performed on the construction site, greatly spoils the proportions of the building. When choosing a house design, it is worth paying attention to the height of the knee wall proposed by the designer and the usable area of individual attic rooms. Investors often do not realize that the more surfaces there are in the roof, the more inclined planes there are in the attic. With a gable roof, two gable walls are devoid of them, so rooms with such walls can be arranged easier - adds Elżbieta Wysocka from the MTM STYL Design Office.
Rooms in the private zone located in the attic should ensure comfort of use, so it is not worth putting the bed at an angle in the bedroom and installing devices under it in the bathroom - e.g. a washbasin or a toilet bowl. However, you can build in the slopes with wardrobes (preferably custom-designed, like other furniture, with sliding doors, which will save space) or arrange storage spaces in them. The attic enchants with its atmosphere and will not lose it if the practical side of its development is taken into account when arranging it and it is carried out skillfully.
