House design – ready-made or bespoke?

The decision is made – we are building a house. Ahead of us is a huge amount of work involved in choosing the right area, then the plot and the design. Which brings us to the house design. Is it better to choose a ready-made one, or to opt for a custom-made, bespoke plan?

• A difficult decision
• Adaptation
• House design – from zero to hero
• Clash of the titans

A difficult decision

Let us begin by saying that when it comes to choosing a house design, there is no single answer. What some see as an advantage of having a plan drawn up by an architect, others will consider a serious drawback. Much depends here on personal taste, but also on budget and location.

The first and most noticeable argument in favour of buying a ready-made house design is its price. Compared with a custom-made plan, the price difference can be as much as several thousand PLN. So why is it not necessarily the best solution?

Adaptation

Cynics say that a ready-made design is just a picture book with no substantive or legal value. They are partly right, though that is only one side of the coin, and a rather distorted one. In reality, a catalogue design is a visualisation of the house together with the layout of the rooms, suggested materials, and so on. In most cases it will require additional adaptation to the conditions on the investor's plot.

One must then take into account the lie of the land, the type of soil, the plot's orientation, the size and shape of the plot, the position of the house in relation to neighbouring buildings, the access road and many other factors.

Besides, a building permit will have to be obtained separately. It may therefore turn out that the several thousand we saved on the architect's work will be spent on all the necessary documentation, utility connection designs and adaptation. It may, but it need not.

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House design – from zero to hero

Using the services of an architect involves far higher costs. Anyone planning to invest in a new home knows that you look for savings wherever you can, which is why many of us decide to start with the design. A "ready-made" design comes with specific reviews and may be chosen more or less often, which is also a useful pointer when deciding. On the other hand, it means that identical houses already stand in many other places. For some investors that can be an obstacle.

In this respect, choosing an architect is less safe, but allows for more. The vision of our new home, for example in Będzin, is worked out together with the designer, which gives us greater control over the whole process and, in turn, over the shape of our future home. It is hard to put a price on such an opportunity, but it is certainly added value.

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Clash of the titans

It is impossible to say definitively which is the better choice. It may happen that, browsing the catalogues, we come across a house design that mirrors our dream home almost one hundred per cent. Then all we need to do is make small corrections, adapt it to the place where we will live and get to work.

However, we live in times when personalisation matters more and more, customers' awareness reaches much further than it used to, as does the desire to stand out. That is precisely why a house design of our own can be a far greater treat than a ready-made, repeatable plan. Especially if we dream of something out of the ordinary, such as a modern, rectangular house shape or an unusual terrace.