Are all Australian houses open plan?

[dianaos]

Thats it then,i'm reporting you to the sexist police!!:biggrin:

 

 

Seriously tho,while working away in Germany as a bricklayer a swedish fellah showed me the specs on their ready made homes,think there was about 8 inch of jablite type insulation between the panels,was impressed tbh,even tho its just another system that does away with brickwork,and therefore my living,would never choose bricklaying as a career these days,its getting played out now:no:

 

 

lol...touché ...I take it back...and replace instead...men stuck in the kitchen...where every good Aussie male should be. :biglaugh:

[dianaos]

I'm probably too much of an engineer and would rather both focused a bit more on the nuts, bolts, pipes and wires than eye candy whether it be internal or external

 

and I'm an architect...so it goes without saying that we would never agree! :biglaugh:

 

I simply want good design that provides good living for all those on an average income rather than the few on a high income. If that means volume house builders where the detail isn't quite there and the quality is not as good as the bespoke design, then I will accept that. What I would not accept is short cuts that mean building regs are not met...so there we agree. :biggrin:

[LKC]

I think that open plan is okay to an extent, but it is nice to be able to shut things away. We have the best of both here. Open plan kitchen, dining and one living room, then a separate room that used to be their 'posh' dining and sitting room, but which we use as a day living room/play room with all the kids books, toys etc. we also have a bedroom downstairs that I used to use as an office before I had to move to a bigger room upstairs. We are lucky in that we have lots of storage, so even though it is open plan, things are kept tidy in the cupboards. I would think that if we didn't have good storage the open plan may be more difficult to live in.

 

Just a quick kind of on topic question for anyone that can help, our house is brick, but I believe that it is a single skin of bricks and then the internal stud work with plasterboard over the top to form the internal walls, which I think is pretty normal building practice over here. I assume the electricity cables etc run in this cavity. Can you insulate between the brick and the plasterboard, or is it too difficult? In the uk we had insulation put in between the two layers of bricks, but I assume that it can't be done between brick and plasterboard. It gets so cold in the house in the winter, but I'm not sure what our options are re insulation.

[dianaos]

I think that open plan is okay to an extent, but it is nice to be able to shut things away. We have the best of both here. Open plan kitchen, dining and one living room, then a separate room that used to be their 'posh' dining and sitting room, but which we use as a day living room/play room with all the kids books, toys etc. we also have a bedroom downstairs that I used to use as an office before I had to move to a bigger room upstairs. We are lucky in that we have lots of storage, so even though it is open plan, things are kept tidy in the cupboards. I would think that if we didn't have good storage the open plan may be more difficult to live in.

 

Just a quick kind of on topic question for anyone that can help, our house is brick, but I believe that it is a single skin of bricks and then the internal stud work with plasterboard over the top to form the internal walls, which I think is pretty normal building practice over here. I assume the electricity cables etc run in this cavity. Can you insulate between the brick and the plasterboard, or is it too difficult? In the uk we had insulation put in between the two layers of bricks, but I assume that it can't be done between brick and plasterboard. It gets so cold in the house in the winter, but I'm not sure what our options are re insulation.

 

The type of construction you are describing is called "brick veneer". This is because the structure that holds the building up is the timber frame. The brick work is simply non structural cladding. In most cases insulation can be inserted into the cavity behind the plasterboard. This is done most commonly, not by removing the plasterboard, but by lifting a few roof tiles or corrugated sheets and inserting a hose down into the cavity. The insulation is then blown into the cavity. The best thing to do is to get a specialist out to have a look at your house and give you a quote. Historically Australian houses had no insulation or central heating and very little air-con. They opened windows in summer or had "breeze ways" and then heated homes with slow combustion wood heating. Winters were seen as being too short to warrant central heating (and i grew up in Tassie!)

[northshorepom]

and I'm an architect...so it goes without saying that we would never agree! :biglaugh:

 

 

But of course! Got an industry in joke for you below

:cute:

JackvArchitect.pdf

JackvArchitect.pdf

[LKC]

The type of construction you are describing is called "brick veneer". This is because the structure that holds the building up is the timber frame. The brick work is simply non structural cladding. In most cases insulation can be inserted into the cavity behind the plasterboard. This is done most commonly, not by removing the plasterboard, but by lifting a few roof tiles or corrugated sheets and inserting a hose down into the cavity. The insulation is then blown into the cavity. The best thing to do is to get a specialist out to have a look at your house and give you a quote. Historically Australian houses had no insulation or central heating and very little air-con. They opened windows in summer or had "breeze ways" and then heated homes with slow combustion wood heating. Winters were seen as being too short to warrant central heating (and i grew up in Tassie!)

 

Thank you, I just didn't know if it was possible. It is a lovely house in the summer, we are built down a hill, if that makes sense, and we have a wide verandah so it is lovely and shady and cool. However, the winter is very cold, and the wood heater that we have only really heats the open plan part. I think that maybe we are just soft, having become accustomed to central heating!

[northshorepom]

I think that open plan is okay to an extent, but it is nice to be able to shut things away. We have the best of both here. Open plan kitchen, dining and one living room, then a separate room that used to be their 'posh' dining and sitting room, but which we use as a day living room/play room with all the kids books, toys etc. we also have a bedroom downstairs that I used to use as an office before I had to move to a bigger room upstairs. We are lucky in that we have lots of storage, so even though it is open plan, things are kept tidy in the cupboards. I would think that if we didn't have good storage the open plan may be more difficult to live in.

I agree with that, and tbh I see a lot of it here - an open plan "family room" ideally opening up on to the back yard, but with other separate rooms that can be closed off. Having a separate playroom that all the kids' stuff is kept in makes a massive difference. Also agree on storage being the key to making openplan a living proposition rather than just a mess. I have to say most Aussie houses I've seen have been pretty good for storage, plenty of it whilst keeping it accessible. If storage is an accessible space (like built in robes or large built in cupboards) then you use it to keep stuff you are actually using but want to tidy away. Too many British houses rely on the loft space to give overflow storage and it just becomes a dumping ground.

 

Just a quick kind of on topic question for anyone that can help, our house is brick, but I believe that it is a single skin of bricks and then the internal stud work with plasterboard over the top to form the internal walls, which I think is pretty normal building practice over here. I assume the electricity cables etc run in this cavity. Can you insulate between the brick and the plasterboard, or is it too difficult? In the uk we had insulation put in between the two layers of bricks, but I assume that it can't be done between brick and plasterboard. It gets so cold in the house in the winter, but I'm not sure what our options are re insulation.

Diana has already answered on the assumption that it's brick veneer - as said, the brick is just a decorative covering that keep the rain off the frame, same as if it were weatherboard or anything else (fibro anyone? ;-)). Blowing insulation into cavities if it is a timber framed house is a pretty cheap and not very disruptive process, I would encourage you to get someone out to give you a quote, it will make a huge difference

 

The other possibility - although it is unlikely - is that the house has a single skin structural brick wall, with battens attached directly to the brick inside and plasterboard over. I have never seen this in Australia and would be surprised if it is the case. Let's hope not, because the options for insulating single skin brick walls are pretty sparse, insulated render systems for the outside of the wall can be done but it costs a lot. It (insulated render) is commonly used on refurb schemes where walls need to be made to perform better, there's a lot of council housing that was done 1930s-1960s that's single skin brick or concrete block for example

[dianaos]

But of course! Got an industry in joke for you below

:cute:

 

Lol...that just proves it...never trust an engineer he will always oversize whatever beam or column you want to be slender just for pure fun to get a rise out of all architects...:no: