Design ideas for retirement house

[gnu52]

Hello All,
At last I'm giving serious thought to the design of a retirement house, and I am looking for ideas.
The house will be in southern Queensland, (more hot than cold), on a level site, all other options are open.
The drawing I have so far has a few ideas aimed at easy living & maintainence, including low pitch, reducing gutters to a length to supply a drinking water tank only, spoon drains taking roof & surface water to a ponded storage, low eaves & wide verandas ( 5 M) for max shade and living area), B.I. cold room with access doors into the kitchen, garage positioned to allow direct entry to cold room/pantry/ storage /workshop area , grouping of rooms so only occupied areas are cooled/ heatedcold room etc etc.
Choices of material, design etc are all up for grabs, Anything that saves energy, reduces maintainence adds to ease of living is whats required.
I will be interested to see what is suggested. Thanks, Bill

[Tonyz]

check out 'Owner Builder' magazine also www.byohouse.com.au Tonto

[Sturdee]

As you are planning for that time when you become old and frail I would suggest the following:

That each room has an emergency button hard wired to a central alarm in case of emercencies.

That the bath and shower have additional rails installed or at least additional noggings installed to allow them to be built.

That the toilet be made a large enough size to allow a walker or wheelchair to be used.

That doorways and hallways be wide enough for the above.

That lightswitches and GPO's and door handles be at a suitable height for wheelchair use and no bending down to the floor to use GPO's

No stairs or steps but ramps.

Kitchen benches only have drawers not shelves and sink, stove and prep areas have removable cupboards under the bench for later wheelchair access.

None of the above are in my house but I haven't planned on a retirement house. Beside I have a mate who runs one.:D

Peter.

[Dan]

A couple of things I've always thought would be nice to have are an isolation valve for the water supply and a switch board both in an easily accessible place either inside the house or garage. A nice stainless ball valve for the water would save you hunting around on the footpath or in the front garden for the council cock when you wish to turn off the water for any reason. I'm not sure why I like the internal switch board so much but I lived in a unit once that had one (in the laundry) and I've liked the idea ever since (the meters were still outside).

[Dion N]

If you are interested in making your house energy efficient, check with your local library and ask if they can get hold of a copy of "Cool House, Warm House" by Nick Hollo.

Also, see if they have the following Magazines:

Owner Builder
Renew
Grass Roots

Where exactly is your block of land?

[doublejay]

This website (http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/index.htm)has some extremely useful tips for house design.