Nowadays, individual housing construction is widespread. This is due to the fact that city residents want to get away from the bustle of the city, become closer to nature, and have extraordinary, comfortable housing. The construction of low-rise residential buildings became such a salvation for owners of city apartments. They vary in cost, can be economy class or aimed at the elite, but they are always beautiful, have interesting designs and original design solutions.
Example of a three-family house project
History of the issue and types of buildings
For the first time, such buildings began to be erected in the cities of England. Their predecessors were ordinary extensions to the master's house, which were built for children who grew up and got married. In the mid-19th century, practical Englishmen realized that it was much more profitable to immediately build a house designed for several families. The attractive solution became a trend and has continued to this day. In modern housing construction, there are several types of similar houses:
- Townhouse (tracing copy of the English expression “town house”). This is the name of a mini-complex - several cottages united by side walls and a common style. As a rule, each apartment has a vertical layout and has a separate entrance from the street.
- Blocked houses . A method of development in which residential buildings (each for one family) are built in a row and blocked by side walls. Each house has its own entrance.
- Duplex . A special case of a townhouse (it is sometimes called a two-section townhouse); complex of two houses. The duplex has 2-3 floors, a common roof, a vertical layout, one common wall and two separate entrances. The lot size of a duplex is typically larger than that of a townhouse.
Economy class duplexes in a modern style Source realia.ua
- Quadhouse . A house designed for four owners and therefore divided into four sections. The building has one to three floors and all the characteristic features of townhouses.
Inexpensive construction and finishing
When choosing a foundation, you can choose a monolithic strip or slab based on the soil. Basement insulated ceiling can be either wooden or monolithic.
The material of the walls, 380 mm thick, is porous stone or gas silicate block. The roof, also insulated, is covered with metal tiles. The facade of the house is plastered, with a stone base, and plastic windows.
Selected materials guarantee simple , high-quality construction of the house and its long-term operation without any problems.
Pros and cons of low-rise complexes
Townhouses and similar projects are often called apartments on land because they harmoniously combine the amenities of city and country life. The advantages provided by low-rise complexes include the following factors:
- Personal territory . Buying a townhouse automatically means purchasing a plot of land. The owners are free to improve it at their own discretion.
- Saving . You can save money by building a common foundation, walls and ceilings. Payment for utilities for each owner is reduced by 35-40% (compared to a cottage).
- Flexible layout . Construction companies practice an individual approach, so you can not only purchase a standard project, but change it at your discretion.
Hidden possibilities of a small plot Source dom-v-krd.ru
- Proximity to civilization . Life in a townhouse includes the usual amenities of a developed infrastructure - utilities and close transport links.
- Isolation from neighbors . The space around the complex is clearly zoned, which makes life calm and separate. You can interact with your neighbors as you wish, without fear of the inevitable confrontations at the entrance and tiresome conversations.
- Interaction with neighbors . You can agree on a calculation for shared use of the territory and infrastructure (sauna or swimming pool)
- Comfort . It is achieved by combining the benefits of the metropolis (which are difficult to completely abandon) and a free suburban existence. Typical 2-family townhouse projects include utilities, individual garages and separate entrances to the house.
Duplex with a swimming pool Source retrolot.ru
Townhouses also have disadvantages, which include:
- Plot size . The area of land is 2-6 acres. The size of the territory per owner leaves few opportunities for improvement.
- Layout features . Compact, space-saving stairs inside the house are not the best option if the family has a small child or older people. More convenient options can absorb a lot of usable space.
- Insufficient sound insulation . If the developer skimped too much on building materials, noise from neighbors penetrating through adjacent walls can seriously complicate life (and relationships). The solution could be a layer of sound-absorbing material on a common wall. Another way is to design a utility room (pantry or laundry) in an adjacent room.
- Possible conflict with neighbors . When purchasing an apartment in a townhouse, neighbors enter into a relationship of shared ownership of the land. Selecting neighbors is an important stage in purchasing a home, which can make life both cloudless and problematic.
Two-story townhouse with garage Source deutek.ru
See also: Catalog of house projects presented at the “Low-Rise Country” exhibition.
Jenga: houses and ruins
This is a simple and very fun game that can be played at home with two, three or even a large crowd. Usually, special kits are purchased for Jenga, which include 54 wooden blocks and one cardboard guide for leveling the tower. The bars are laid in layers on top of each other, three in a row. Each subsequent layer should lie across the previous one. 54 bars make a tower 18 rows high. If during construction it is slightly skewed, then a special cardboard is useful, with the help of which the shaky structure is leveled, and the miniature of the Leaning Tower of Pisa turns into Jin Mao (the tower is the calling card of Shanghai).
Now you can start playing. Three people walk sequentially in a circle. Everyone's task is to pull one block out of the tower without collapsing it. After completing a successful operation to remove the block, it needs to be placed on the very top to create a new layer, which also consists of three blocks and is laid according to the same algorithm as at the very beginning. As the tension increases as the structure loosens, the three players will gradually become so drawn in that it will be difficult to pull them away from the wooden tower.
You can play, that is, pull out the blocks with only one hand. Holding a wooden structure for another or helping yourself is prohibited. It is allowed to change hands from move to move. The one of the three who destroys the tower loses. You can play tricks on your opponents and deliberately pull out “dangerous” bars, the absence of which will increase the tilt of the fragile structure.
If you don’t have a special set for playing Jenga, you can use regular matches. Who said that they are not a toy for children? If you don't set it on fire, you'll get a great alternative to Jenga in a branded box. Someone needs to take a handful of matches in the palm of their hand, shake them well and throw them on the table. It is desirable that the result be a chaotic heap, vaguely reminiscent of an unfinished house. Three participants must sequentially pull them out one at a time. The one who destroys the abstract match house loses.
Features of the location of the plots
Demand for townhouses and other low-rise complexes is showing slow but steady growth. Sites for the construction of such real estate are selected taking into account the possibility of transport links, close to highways and railway stations. Typically, townhouses form villages with well-established infrastructure. As a rule, such a village is located in an ecologically clean area, near a river, lake or forest. Construction or acquisition of a section in a townhouse in such a village has its advantages, which include:
- Protected area . There is 24-hour security and video surveillance.
- Developed communications . The buildings are supplied with centralized water supply, sewerage, main gas, and electricity.
- Developed infrastructure . It may include a supermarket or shopping and entertainment center, a pharmacy, a children's club and a restaurant and hotel complex, saunas and a swimming pool.
Visualization of a cottage village Source exmonitor.ru
- Additional amenities . They are building sports grounds, a fitness room, a tennis court, and a preschool. A village located near the water may have a beach and a boat launch.
Maintaining infrastructure (including cleaning the area and repairing roads) requires additional expenses. This, however, is compensated by lower utility tariffs (compared to spending in the city or a private country house).
To summarize what has been said
Most architects believe that excessive amenities ultimately lead to inconvenience . As one of the philosophers said, “The great is in the simple.” In this example, we decided to apply both of these statements, getting rid of unnecessary amenities, leaving only the essentials for life, and making the space more ergonomic (maximum efficient use of every square meter).
The result is an inexpensive, roomy house that will allow a young family to get the most valuable thing - the opportunity to live independently and have their own territory.
Here we will finish discussing the issue of obtaining all the necessary conditions for life with minimal space, and of course expenses. That's all for now, until new articles.
Choosing a village: what do you pay attention to?
Villages formed by townhouses, although a less common format, attract more and more people every year seeking to purchase economical housing. Construction companies offer a variety of economy class townhouse projects for 2 families; When considering them, it is necessary to take into account some important points:
- Method of organizing a village . In an organized village there is a management company that deals with current issues of comfort, cleanliness of streets and landscaping of the territory. In an unorganized village, life proceeds spontaneously, and the promised infrastructure may not be forthcoming.
Village of duplexes with developed infrastructure Source www.townhouse.ru
- Developer reliability . It makes sense to pay attention to companies with many years of experience and ongoing projects. It is also useful to talk with past clients and familiarize yourself with the organization's charter and legal documents.
- Price per m2 . It depends on several parameters: distance from the city, size of the plot, materials used in the construction of the townhouse.
- Quality of roads . If you make regular trips to the city, you should make sure the quality of the roads.
- Availability of communications . And also the staff serving them.
- Availability of infrastructure and security.
- Attractive location . If you want to listen to birdsong and admire the surface of the water, do not choose a village next to which there is a major highway or road intersection.
- Comfort . If the number of townhouses exceeds a certain limit (50-60), life in the village becomes uncomfortable.
Project in Scandinavian style Source deutek.ru
- Legal nuances . Legally, a townhouse is a house with a plot, so it is important to find out the status of the land plot. If this land is not the property of the developer, then you will also not be able to become the owner of the site. Land lease issued in such cases is associated with certain risks.
Video - a film about small houses
I think many will be interested in watching a film about these very small houses. It is unlikely that you will want such compact homes - they are for too extraordinary people who believe that a person needs very little to be happy (the concept of minimalism, getting rid of over-consumption, etc.). And yet, from this film you can get interesting ideas from architects , and just feel at your best if you think that your house or apartment is too small - after all, everything is learned by comparison
