Floor plans are done! Now what?

We finally stopped tinkering with the floor plans, adding and subtracting stories, and dithering about roof decks. We consider these to be floor plans to be pretty much final. That is to say, they represent the house we want to build.

My previous post shows how it will look from the outside. Here's where we landed on the floor plans (if you click the image will expand in a pop-up):

Below ground

Ground floor

First floor (if you're British anyway)

Roof

And yes, I do still consider it a two story house despite the rooftop lounge and the wine room.

I think we should probably celebrate. Getting to final floor plans is a major milestone: we've reached basecamp in the mountain of building a house. Or maybe we've just got our maps out and decided on a route. Either way, it's the end of a phase and a cheque has been written to the architect to prove it. Getting here only took us about a month longer than I thought it would, which isn't bad considering all the vacillation.

So what's the next step? According to my little sketched plan, we should be submitting to the city for 'approval in concept'. But it's all got a bit muddled and I'm slightly confused. I think we need a Civil Engineer to draw up 'C-sheets', which are detailed elevations, before we go to the city. When I asked the architect he said 'no we have all we need but yes we do need C-sheets' and something about structural engineers and Building Department and 'approval stamps' and I'm afraid I lost interest.

Clearly we're about to enter a phase of layered bureaucracy. I think I'll turn my attention to Pinteresting tiles and paint colors (and booking ski trips and planning Christmas presents and all the other fun winter stuff) and just trust that they'll sort all the boring admin out in due course.