Getting into the Details of Modern House Design and its Affordability

Introduction to Modern House Design

Of recent, the attention is given to ‘modern house design’ has gotten to a record high. Everywhere one visits, be it the local store, HGTV shows, design magazines, and even on social media, there’s always new intriguing information on modern design that gets your attention. 

The Layout of Modern House Designs

Without a doubt, modern house design has a nice intuitive style. However, at S3DA Design, we are mainly interested in and attracted to the simple types because they are affordable. Creating an affordable home for you is what we care about! Why not create your dream home when it’s affordable and there are professionals to make it easy and stress-free. That’s actually what we do, we turn customers’ dreams into reality.  

As a point of note, we are well-acquainted that a lot of modernist houses aren’t quite affordable, but rather tend towards the high side. These are the ones that mostly get featured on TV and also in fancy magazines but this doesn’t mean that everyone who desires a simple and affordable modern design must empty his savings. This is not ranting but the reality of the situation of things. For lovers of modern house design that’s affordable then a modernist approach isn’t a bad idea for a start.

Why a Modern House Design is Ideal and Affordable

While complicated design tends to be beautiful and expensive, modern architecture is made up of simple design and construction but affordable.  However, we need to discuss the principles of a modern design before going deeper into the reasons that make modern house design affordable.

The advancement of new construction technologies like metal, concrete, and glass was the pinnacle of significant change in modern residential architecture during the early to mid-1900s. The early pioneers of modern architecture used basic materials and forms in construction and it led to their breaking away from historical architecture types. By this, they simply introduced things that were purely new and functional.

As things improved along the lines in modern design, horizontal roof lines and pure geometric shapes were the tools that defined how to design simple floor plan layouts. Over time, it got to an extent that entire walls could open up, and spans could be further, all as a result of the development in concrete, steel, and glass.  Thereafter, other features like large expanses of glass; places emphasis on daylighting and views to the exterior, exposed beams and columns, and open floor plans were developed.

Moving further into the developments, the majority of the early modern architects focus more on the designs that were important rather than the opposite. They use the basic material palette to create simple and fine-to-detail designs.

We believe that we’ve laid down some fundamental tenets in regards to understanding modern residential architecture. It’s high time we relate these concepts to affordability.

Want to learn more how to design for affordability? Just ask!

Is a Simple Modern House Design Really Affordable?

To better understand how cost relates to modern residential design, there’s a need to break down our discussion into modern concepts.

Simple Layouts

Modern house designs have simple floor plans.

In simple modern house design, construction is faster which is a result of features like walls lining up floor to floor which are across the same floor and rectilinear walls and volumes. With this, we can now see that there are no needs for complicated designs like the changes in elevation, a bunch of ins and outs, and complex curves or angles.

The more time it takes for a construction project to get completed, the more overhead costs and fees to take into consideration. That’s a more reason why less time given to framing walls leads to lower labor costs. Having a short construction schedule cut costs are related but not limited to the following such as job site trailer rental, supervisor salary, and portable toilet rentals.

In the end, the overall construction schedule gets a deserved reduction.

Open Floor Plans

The addition of open floor plans to modern houses helps in improving communal life through the creation of shared spaces. It hence removes the unnecessary interior walls. The separation between each function such as the cooking, dining, and living areas, has now become blurred and closer than before.

Since we mentioned that the entire interior wall constructions are not included in the open floor plan, it therefore helps in reducing construction costs such as material cost and labor cost.

The close proximity of the spaces also reduces the overall square footage of the house. Furthermore, an open floor plan enhances the aesthetic view of the house by creating space between tables and furniture. 

There are other cost-saving opportunities apart from reducing construction cost such as operating costs. Operation costs make the floor plan more efficient and compact by the less square footage measurement and as well volume to heat and cool. More so, the compact floor prevents heating any extra space that’s irrelevant. Hence, it helps in reducing foundation work, site work, and even roofing area.

Daylighting & Views

Modern architecture also has interesting components to its features such as Daylighting and views. Taking an outward look into these components, it’s very confusing to link them to low-cost design. However, there are other factors that can make the house still affordable. 

The components used in making these features possible like window walls are quite expensive but with a careful study of things such as product selection, placement and size will make acquiring the glazing an easy ride.

We certainly know that window walls are expensive as we have stated earlier, however, if the costs of other things have been optimized then having to purchase this item shouldn’t affect your budget. The benefit of the window not only allows easy passage of natural daylight into your house but also reduces your need and request for artificial lighting during the day. This hence makes the lighting loads be less. In the context of medical health, it improves your well-being and mental health with savings in costs.

There’s actually a compromise when deciding to incorporate window wall design into the construction. The compromise being referred to here is that the windows are more expensive and less energy-efficient than solid walls however the performance is obviously seen in another view. This is seen in the benefits of what solar gain and natural daylight helps with some costs but the construction cost and energy bills are high. This cost will be overlooked or be overshadowed with what the large expanses of windows add to the design in views and daylighting.

Simple Detailing & Material Palette

Another way to identify simple house design is by simple detailing. As a result, there are no complicated designs such as ceiling details or trim work. The fact that the designs follow the approach to design which is “less is more” doesn’t make them less in design and quality. From the ceilings to the walls, they both come with smooth painted finishes. The “less is more” approach simply means that they are simple in design.

Getting a good and affordable modern design is very important to us. We know this very well. However, the less construction details that occurs the faster and easier the construction is. The amount that’s reduced in the absence of Crown molding, getting simple flat stock base trim and drywall returns at windows is very encouraging. Having to reduce material and labor costs surely help us to get a simple and desirable house for us.

Do you need help choosing the right material? We can help!

In Conclusion: A Modern House Design is a good design

The truly affordable home isn’t just saving some amount of money against spending for construction and maintenance but in a house full of a serene environment that you feel inspired in. It should also be a house that’s healthy, comfortable, and secure within its boundaries. Lest we forget, it’s a house that certainly brings your dream into a reality where you are able to live “the life”.

The places or we visit or reside in have a connection with our health and well-being and it has been demonstrated that well-designed architectural structures have a tendency to leave a positive effect on our lives.

Optimal performance has been noted to occur in places where there’s a good amount of exposure to views and daylight. The good simple design makes them better and happier and as such leaves a great impact on general health and well-being.

Even though the simple house design helps us save money in its construction, an additional benefit to that is the productivity level that one attains as against those who settle less for the traditional housing. There are significant improvements in the well-being and relationship such as engaging more with family and friends, getting sick less often and feeling happier. If there isn’t any reason for making good architecture other than this then it suffices.

Our real goal in constructing simple modern house design is to make people get their heart desires by getting an affordable home that makes them happier and healthier the more they live in it.

Need help with you structural and MEP design? We can help with that, and beyond. Just contact us.