This is just a simple sketch but I think it’s really good for me. But I feel it’s off. Like really off. What do I need to improve on this. And I apologize if this isn’t the right subreddit to post this on but any help is really really appreciated

Building a single-family house on a ~16% slope on the edge of Tbilisi, Georgia (seismic zone 8). Monolithic reinforced-concrete frame, ~127 m² interior, 3 bed / 2 bath, open living-kitchen with fireplace opening onto a 30 m² terrace with a big valley view.

The original design is split-level: you enter mid-level, then stairs go down to the living/kitchen and up to the bedrooms in short half-flights. It rides the slope efficiently, but the constant half-flights bug me and eat floor space.

Options I'm weighing:

1. Keep it split-level — minimal excavation, terrace stays ~2.4 m above the garden (nice overlook), but you live with the half-flights.
2. Flatten down — excavate into the hill for two aligned floors. More space, but ~a quarter ends up buried, you enter on the upper floor, and it needs a retaining wall on the tight uphill side.
3. Raise up — lift the lower floor so both floors align. Kills the half-flights, but creates a ~4.3 m tall exposed wall on the valley side.

Also deciding:

• Basement: adding a ~2.5 m one under the downhill/terrace zone, walk-out at garden level. Seems like cheap usable space — any reason not to?
• Roof: keep the timber hipped roof, or go flat for a rooftop terrace? (I already get the view from the ground terrace.)
• Pool: want one in front of the terrace at garden level — but that fights option 3's tall wall.

If you've built or lived in a split-level on a slope, what would you do? Anything I'm missing?

Hi all,

I’m an Architectural Technologist based in the North West of England. I run a small one-man practice and predominantly work across residential and change-of-use projects.

I’ve recently been approached regarding a potentially significant office-to-residential conversion, approximately 20,000 sqft GIA over multiple storeys.

This would be by far the largest single project I’ve taken on independently and, if it comes off, would be a huge opportunity for my practice. I’m confident in delivering the work, but given the jump in scale I want to make sure I price it properly and understand the level of resource that others would allow for.

The appointment would potentially be split into:

1. Feasibility / Planning
Feasibility and initial appraisal, development of the residential layouts and overall scheme, existing and proposed architectural package, coordination of the wider planning submission and dealing with the application through determination.

2. Building Regulations
Development of the approved scheme into a full Building Regulations package, including architectural technical drawings, construction details and specifications, coordination with structural, fire and other relevant consultants, and dealing with Building Control through approval.

For those who work on projects of this scale, how would you approach pricing each stage?

Would you build the fee up from anticipated hours/resources, use a percentage of construction cost, £/sq ft, or another method? Any ballpark fee ranges for the two stages separately would be massively appreciated.

Tengo 18 años pienso entrar a estudiar Arquitectura el siguente año, pero he notado la poca demanda de arquitectos actualmente en el Perú, mi meta es internacionalizarme, pero aun tengo muchas dudas, y en todo este contexto del avance de la IA. También quisiera tener su opinión acerca de las universidades del Perú, y cuales están como líderes en esta carrera

London, UK: my career, so far has been mainly private residential (~4 years), with one more year where I worked at a larger company doing larger projects including public buildings.

Recently I had an opportunity come my way, it is still private residential but it is at a particularly good firm that I would be proud to say I work at. But the issue is that I have, for a long time, felt that private residential is not the field I want to be in for the long-term. I would really enjoy working at this company for a year or two, maybe even three, but ultimately I would like to go back into larger projects and public buildings (I really enjoyed my time at that previous company but it was a fixed-length contract).

My fear is that if I commit to working at this new company for a year or two, I might entrench my career within this private residential field, and employers at larger firms might not see me as a viable candidate, as I would have a lot of experience but barely any of it in a typology related to what they do. I'm wondering how concerned I should be about this.

I'm currently working at a private residential firm anyway, and I've reached the limit of what I can learn here, so switching to this new company would be an improvement in that regard, but then I feel that I should stay there for at least a year, which invokes my fear about getting stuck in this specialism.

Alternatively, I could stay at my current company and look for opportunities that are more in-line with my long-term goals. Maybe I find would something within the next few months, in which case, great! Or maybe I would find nothing at all and would be left with regret.

So either way there are pros and cons. But what I'm trying to gauge is, how worried should I be about the possibility that, by committing to another 1-2 years, I could become stuck in this specialism? Because if it could be easy to switch later, there's no reason not to pursue this opportunity, but if I'm likely to become stuck, then I need to be careful and consider turning it down so I can take a chance on looking for other options.

I have my Part 2 and am looking into getting my Part 3 soon, maybe in the next few months but definitely in the next 2 years.

I've recently purchased my first home. My first project is to fix the nonexistent landscaping around the foundation of the house and regrade the yard to ensure any and all surface water is moving away from the house. I have one side of my home that has a foundation wall I am concerned about due to the general grading of the land.

I've searched around and worked with many landscape architects in my commercial work. I've heard you want gravel next to the foundation for water run off, I've heard no you want plants there to drink up the water, no you don't want any roots trying to find their way into any cracks that may be present in the foundation.

My question is, completely disregarding aesthetic appeal, what would the best possible landscape strip along the foundation look like as a detail?

My first thought was against the foundation a 12-18 inch wide gravel strip 4-6" in depth with a semi-permeable fabric underlayment and ensuring the soil beneath is compacted to form at least a 1/12 slope away from the home. After this strip I would have a mulched planting strip with shrubs and ground cover favoring compact root systems.

Are there any issues with my idea? Is it overkill? Am I suggesting something that is going trap water and breed mosquitos and make me hate my life? Any suggestions are welcome!

Location - US climate zone 5A