Save thousands on Architecture costs with SketchUp 3D Modeling for your Scandi house in Latvia

| Frame House | 46 seen

This Spring we are planning another awesome DIY project - to build a Scandinavian-style house in rural Latvia.

A simple, one-storey building, with a total area slightly under 60m2.

The local construction law in Latvia classifies buildings under 60m2 as Group 1 buildings, which requires fewer loosened rules, just a description of the construction plan, and a minimal building plan is required to be submitted at bis.gov.lv

I'm planning to build this house myself, thus saving a lot on construction. There is no set timeframe for the project, but I would say it looks like a two Summer project. Fulfilling Summers.

For the past few weeks, I have been in touch with a few architects, looking to order a project for our house to submit to the local construction board to get a construction permit.

So far I have got two offers - an individual offer for about EUR 7,000 and a project from a template for about EUR 650. 

The price for the individual project seems way too high, while the reputation of template project authors raises some doubts. 

In my opinion - a house is just some square shape with a triangle roof, I don't see a reason for an individually shaped square. The inside-room planning also doesn't sound like rocket science. 

Anyhow, I decided, to screw you guys - I will design the project myself using Sketchup 3D Modeling. 

After a good afternoon watching some YouTube videos and drawing the design of our house, I decided to look for ready-made projects and found this awesome project: Modèle Nordique70

I downloaded the project files and started to experiment - wow, just awesome

3D Modeling Scandi House

SketchUp for a web app is just awesome. Also the ready-made and shared project for the Scandi house is awesome. Exactly what I was looking for.

Now I will need to spend some time to understand how to actually edit this project and make it smaller under 60m2.

Also, I wonder, will the local construction board will accept my own drawings without a signature from the architect.

3d modeling

Another thing I need to learn from SketchUp - how to see actual inside floor plan.

But, here you go - in case you are looking to save huge  - think SketchUp app.

Update: Our project got approved in 3 days. Follow up this project at: Frame House