ᐅ Floor plan design for a hillside house with 5 children's bedrooms
Created on: 17 Jun 2017 12:31
A
Arifas
Dear fellow contributors,
I’m sharing our first attempt at the floor plan. Unfortunately, I can’t fill out the list because copying it over on my phone doesn’t work properly, sorry.
Key data:
5 children between 0 and 11 years old
2 adults in their mid-thirties
Plot of about 900 sqm (9700 sq ft), facing north
Building window edge on the street side: 17.35 m (57 ft)
Sloped site; within the building window, the ground rises about 2 m (7 ft) over 10 m (33 ft) from front to back
We want 5 small children’s bedrooms, a slightly larger office for working from home, a master bedroom, three showers, three toilets, a bathtub, and access to the garden through the living room on the upper floor. One wall in the children’s rooms should be removable later.
The attic is walkable.
We are allowed to build 2 full stories, with a ridge height of about 12 m (39 ft) and an eave height of 11.6 m (38 ft).
We would prefer a hip roof.
The current drawing is 9.5 by 11 m (31 by 36 ft), but we would like to have around 195 to 205 sqm (2100 to 2200 sq ft) of living space later; garage or storage will be added.
The back wall of the house is embedded up to about 2 m (7 ft) into the slope.
I will try to attach a rough overview of the plot.
I’m sharing our first attempt at the floor plan. Unfortunately, I can’t fill out the list because copying it over on my phone doesn’t work properly, sorry.
Key data:
5 children between 0 and 11 years old
2 adults in their mid-thirties
Plot of about 900 sqm (9700 sq ft), facing north
Building window edge on the street side: 17.35 m (57 ft)
Sloped site; within the building window, the ground rises about 2 m (7 ft) over 10 m (33 ft) from front to back
We want 5 small children’s bedrooms, a slightly larger office for working from home, a master bedroom, three showers, three toilets, a bathtub, and access to the garden through the living room on the upper floor. One wall in the children’s rooms should be removable later.
The attic is walkable.
We are allowed to build 2 full stories, with a ridge height of about 12 m (39 ft) and an eave height of 11.6 m (38 ft).
We would prefer a hip roof.
The current drawing is 9.5 by 11 m (31 by 36 ft), but we would like to have around 195 to 205 sqm (2100 to 2200 sq ft) of living space later; garage or storage will be added.
The back wall of the house is embedded up to about 2 m (7 ft) into the slope.
I will try to attach a rough overview of the plot.
Hm...
I notice that the planner basically just traced your sketch.
That would be fine if everything matched the requirements, but I don’t see any possibility for a meaningful future separation (too many awkwardly positioned rooms at the front), nor a separate area designated for patients.
What seems inconsistent here is that there is a bathroom for the children in the basement, but that can’t be intended for patient use, right?
Instead, there are two bathrooms upstairs, even though there are "only 3 people" staying there overnight permanently?!
The utility room would be too small for both technical equipment and laundry if a cloakroom is also added.
Your changes: in the basement, the children’s rooms lose space when the entrances become narrow corridors. Although there is one cubic meter more room, the layout looks rather oppressive when entering one of the children’s rooms. Child 3 and 4 have hardly any space for furniture. The rooms are only as wide as the length of a bed...
The piano player fills the entire floor with sound, and the TV is right in the line of hearing, clashing with the piano nearby.
I don’t see my designs as flawless or perfect, but they are somewhat more logical regarding space planning.
The best example is the bathrooms: one for a few people upstairs, one for most of the children, and one accessible in the front area for a practice room or other guests. I don’t see the practice room here at all.
I notice that the planner basically just traced your sketch.
That would be fine if everything matched the requirements, but I don’t see any possibility for a meaningful future separation (too many awkwardly positioned rooms at the front), nor a separate area designated for patients.
What seems inconsistent here is that there is a bathroom for the children in the basement, but that can’t be intended for patient use, right?
Instead, there are two bathrooms upstairs, even though there are "only 3 people" staying there overnight permanently?!
The utility room would be too small for both technical equipment and laundry if a cloakroom is also added.
Your changes: in the basement, the children’s rooms lose space when the entrances become narrow corridors. Although there is one cubic meter more room, the layout looks rather oppressive when entering one of the children’s rooms. Child 3 and 4 have hardly any space for furniture. The rooms are only as wide as the length of a bed...
The piano player fills the entire floor with sound, and the TV is right in the line of hearing, clashing with the piano nearby.
I don’t see my designs as flawless or perfect, but they are somewhat more logical regarding space planning.
The best example is the bathrooms: one for a few people upstairs, one for most of the children, and one accessible in the front area for a practice room or other guests. I don’t see the practice room here at all.
Phew, there’s something to that.
Do you think it would be easier with three levels? A semi-basement plus one full floor plus a finished attic? Is that possible with a ridge height of around 12 meters (39 feet)?
And would that probably be more expensive? Or maybe two full floors into the slope plus a finished attic?
Do you think it would be easier with three levels? A semi-basement plus one full floor plus a finished attic? Is that possible with a ridge height of around 12 meters (39 feet)?
And would that probably be more expensive? Or maybe two full floors into the slope plus a finished attic?
Yvonne, I just looked over your plans again. I actually find them very suitable for us in many ways. But what’s missing for me is that we would like the kitchen or dining area at the front, facing the street or south, and the living room towards the garden (north).
Additionally, we would like a large open living and dining area. We often have many guests, so the 2m (6.5 ft) table should easily be extendable by 1m (3.3 ft). We also want to be able to play music together. Therefore, the piano needs to be placed centrally but somewhat protected.
The living room should also fit the sofa, which is 3.6m (12 ft) long and 2.3m (7.5 ft) deep. The master bedroom must accommodate a 3m (9.8 ft) wide family bed, at least while the little ones are still small.
I had planned the upper floor around these sizes. That does not leave much space for multiple children’s bedrooms. Children’s rooms are the rooms used the least overall—both in terms of lifetime and daily hours. My children prefer to be outside or close to me. This might change eventually, but overall, we will have more needs for togetherness than for privacy. So the house needs to be built accordingly: it should have space for comfortable gatherings of at least seven people and also some room for anyone who wants to retreat occasionally. That means the living and dining area must be large. Even later, when the children bring partners and families, we’ll need that space.
By the way, I really like your basement plan for us!
The practice room can be designed with a standard bathroom. I work with families, children, and sometimes groups with babies—mixed together. Currently, it’s in a facility, but later, when not all children are at home anymore, it might be moved to the house. So this doesn’t need to be a priority.
Oh dear, I think this is really a challenge [emoji85][emoji1]
Additionally, we would like a large open living and dining area. We often have many guests, so the 2m (6.5 ft) table should easily be extendable by 1m (3.3 ft). We also want to be able to play music together. Therefore, the piano needs to be placed centrally but somewhat protected.
The living room should also fit the sofa, which is 3.6m (12 ft) long and 2.3m (7.5 ft) deep. The master bedroom must accommodate a 3m (9.8 ft) wide family bed, at least while the little ones are still small.
I had planned the upper floor around these sizes. That does not leave much space for multiple children’s bedrooms. Children’s rooms are the rooms used the least overall—both in terms of lifetime and daily hours. My children prefer to be outside or close to me. This might change eventually, but overall, we will have more needs for togetherness than for privacy. So the house needs to be built accordingly: it should have space for comfortable gatherings of at least seven people and also some room for anyone who wants to retreat occasionally. That means the living and dining area must be large. Even later, when the children bring partners and families, we’ll need that space.
By the way, I really like your basement plan for us!
The practice room can be designed with a standard bathroom. I work with families, children, and sometimes groups with babies—mixed together. Currently, it’s in a facility, but later, when not all children are at home anymore, it might be moved to the house. So this doesn’t need to be a priority.
Oh dear, I think this is really a challenge [emoji85][emoji1]
Phew... me too.
I’m considering possibly placing the entrance from the front in the basement – bedrooms on the left, your practice on the right, and the staircase in the middle, as the planner designed it. That way, you could bill the lower right part of the building separately as a commercial space... and later divide the children’s rooms on the right into a separate residential unit.
Anyway... I will review your comments in #67 again tomorrow and try to incorporate the components.
However, you should be aware: by the time you move into the house, two years will have passed. Could you imagine that, for example, sleeping habits regarding a 3-meter (10-foot) bed might no longer apply then? Just think about it...
Also, while writing, it occurred to me that in the future there will likely be more teenagers at home with friends and so on... that should be taken more into account than the current situation. What do you think?
How important is the practice to you? I’m guessing it’s more important than you originally assumed? After all, it’s your source of income?!
I’m considering possibly placing the entrance from the front in the basement – bedrooms on the left, your practice on the right, and the staircase in the middle, as the planner designed it. That way, you could bill the lower right part of the building separately as a commercial space... and later divide the children’s rooms on the right into a separate residential unit.
Anyway... I will review your comments in #67 again tomorrow and try to incorporate the components.
However, you should be aware: by the time you move into the house, two years will have passed. Could you imagine that, for example, sleeping habits regarding a 3-meter (10-foot) bed might no longer apply then? Just think about it...
Also, while writing, it occurred to me that in the future there will likely be more teenagers at home with friends and so on... that should be taken more into account than the current situation. What do you think?
How important is the practice to you? I’m guessing it’s more important than you originally assumed? After all, it’s your source of income?!
Great, you still have ideas!
I’m afraid we won’t be able to perfectly meet these typical teenage needs. There will be a garden house with foosball/pool table. I think they’ll have to make do there. I don’t think everything will work out. And even if it seems old-fashioned: we also grew up very happily with smaller rooms.
But the layout of the narrow children’s bedrooms definitely needs to be optimized. Yes. I also think having two bathrooms for the children is important, so there’s no stress in the mornings during school time.
I’m not familiar with invoicing for business purposes. I’ll need to look into that. That could indeed be interesting.
And no, sleeping habits probably won’t change much in 2 years [emoji16]. Most of our kids are “super cuddlers,” and the youngest is still tiny [emoji7]. I believe it’s one of the best-kept secrets that well-designed children’s rooms often remain empty for a long time, or you end up walking a lot between rooms at night [emoji5]. But well, every child is different...
I’m afraid we won’t be able to perfectly meet these typical teenage needs. There will be a garden house with foosball/pool table. I think they’ll have to make do there. I don’t think everything will work out. And even if it seems old-fashioned: we also grew up very happily with smaller rooms.
But the layout of the narrow children’s bedrooms definitely needs to be optimized. Yes. I also think having two bathrooms for the children is important, so there’s no stress in the mornings during school time.
I’m not familiar with invoicing for business purposes. I’ll need to look into that. That could indeed be interesting.
And no, sleeping habits probably won’t change much in 2 years [emoji16]. Most of our kids are “super cuddlers,” and the youngest is still tiny [emoji7]. I believe it’s one of the best-kept secrets that well-designed children’s rooms often remain empty for a long time, or you end up walking a lot between rooms at night [emoji5]. But well, every child is different...
That’s due to your upbringing, the whole idea of a cozy bed. I keep hearing from all sides that it’s not good for children in the long run, but that’s not the topic here... I don’t want to argue with a psychologist either.
I’ll take a look to see if I can plan some other ideas!
Best regards, Yvonne
I’ll take a look to see if I can plan some other ideas!
Best regards, Yvonne
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