Thanks for that. And I’m sorry for also fighting back “énergiquement”. But as much as I don’t mind having tensed conversation, it does mean that it is harder to keep cool and I tend to answer aggressively. That makes for a not so pleasant discussion, and it also seems to be a problem for the group when this kind of exchange happen, so we might want to watch it.
Thanks @els for your answer above, I also still stand by the fact the the exploration was valuable and justified. A few extra words on that below…
It was indeed the underlying assumption for everybody, based on the drawings we got from the architectes. But then the situation changed when we discovered the curtain drama, which meant that the assumption wasn’t fully workable as is. When the info you are working with changes, it seems reasonable to reassess and explore the options available.
Also there was new information as it became apparent that being able to host a family of 4 was important.
So we tried to find creative solutions as a response to both these issues and I still think it was valid to explore option 3, as it wasn’t clear at that point that it was definetely going to work having the guestroom in Idéfix with our specifications and without increasing the budget. I also personally don’t remember it being formally rejected at any point.
As for option 2, a few people were (at least initially) opposing putting the buanderie in level -1, so it seemed right to explore putting it in Obélix (I refer you to Lie’s post here).
Because we are in a group and we have different views on things, it is fair to explore all options; and especially when different people are objecting all the different options, the only reasonable thing is to make a decision taking that into account and giving a chance for a group discussion before the group makes a decision.
The only thing that we might have done differently is to put our discussions and ideas online earlier for people to be updated earlier. But we really hoped we would have all the information in good time, and it seemed important to have the complete and precise picture as we anticipated it to be a sensitive matter…
I would like it to be clear again that we did ask all of this and more to the architects. Because it sounds here as if we under-explore or discarded that option, which is absolutely not the case. And it feels frustrating to not have the time and effort we put in recognized.
Beyond that, let’s see what the architectes come back with, and whether they can deliver an acceptable option within budget.
If we can get all we want with a guestroom in Idéfix, then it will be the easy option as this was indeed our preferred initial plan, and I’m not even sure we will need a helping circle.
But I do agree that increasing our common space already cost us extra budget, and I’m not ready to increase it any more. So if we decide to also put the buanderie in -1, the extra cost for both spaces shouldn’t be over the 65 000 (and ideally it would be much less, as a big argument for moving the buanderie was to save on budget).