ᐅ Floor plan design for a single-family house with a basement on a sloped site
Created on: 16 Sep 2017 11:43
C
cherio
Hello!
Last year, we purchased a 709m² (7,631 sq ft) sloped plot of land and are now working on the floor plan and obtaining quotes from local home builders. I created a rough floor plan using MS Visio and shared it with the builders. They were allowed and encouraged to modify and optimize the plan based on their experience. We have now received a draft and a quote that largely meet our expectations. In my template, I designed a U-shaped staircase, but the builder’s representative modified the plan for their offer to include a straight staircase. This staircase from the basement to the ground floor, however, opens directly into the middle of the living/dining area.
This raises the question for us about potential issues such as cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects. The builder said that basements are not as cold as they used to be. But what if the door downstairs is left open and there is a draft going upstairs? What if our children come home with friends and stand right in the middle of the living room?
Otherwise, we are already very happy with the upper floor and the ground floor layout. Some minor adjustments can still be made in the basement, for example, access from the carport into the basement room, and so forth.
Here are the details:
Development plan/restrictions: Yes
Plot size: 709m² (7,631 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Plot ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries:
Edge development: garages/carports allowed
Number of parking spaces
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: gable roof 28°–38°
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 6m (20 ft) above natural ground level
Additional requirements: transverse gables and roof structures only allowed on the hillside side, due to noise protection
Owners’ requirements:
Style, roof type, building type: detached single-family home with basement
Levels: basement, ground floor, attic
Number and age of inhabitants: 2 adults (36, 37), 2 children (1, 3)
Space requirements on ground and upper floor
Office: family use or home office? Family use
Guest bedrooms per year: 5–10
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern construction: traditional
Open kitchen, island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, please also explain why you want or do not want certain features:
WC in basement, so the children do not have to walk through the whole house when playing outside. Storage room on the ground floor to hold water crates and the vacuum cleaner. Children’s bedrooms of equal size with views of greenery.
House design:
Planner:
- Planner from a construction company: Yes
- Do-it-yourself: MS Visio drawing
What do you particularly like and why?: small hallway in the upper floor, layout and size of bedrooms upstairs; orientation of rooms on ground and upper floor according to cardinal directions; open design; large windows facing south; office in basement; hidden coat closet under the stairs in basement
What don’t you like and why?: staircase exit on ground floor; entrance area in basement possibly too small
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €280,000 including carport
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €360,000 total, excluding landscaping
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump with ventilation system and heat recovery (Proxon). The Proxon by Zimmermann Lüftung.
If you had to skip some features or extensions, which ones?
- Could skip: fireplace, wood stove on ground floor; double carport (possibly later)
- Could not skip:
Why did the design turn out like it is now?
Received template and optimized with own ideas.
Standard plan from planner? No, customer-specific.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
What is your most important/fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- The plan for the offer shows a straight staircase. This staircase from basement to ground floor opens right into the middle of the living/dining room. We wonder about cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects.
I look forward to your suggestions and constructive feedback.
Best regards,
Cherio
Last year, we purchased a 709m² (7,631 sq ft) sloped plot of land and are now working on the floor plan and obtaining quotes from local home builders. I created a rough floor plan using MS Visio and shared it with the builders. They were allowed and encouraged to modify and optimize the plan based on their experience. We have now received a draft and a quote that largely meet our expectations. In my template, I designed a U-shaped staircase, but the builder’s representative modified the plan for their offer to include a straight staircase. This staircase from the basement to the ground floor, however, opens directly into the middle of the living/dining area.
This raises the question for us about potential issues such as cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects. The builder said that basements are not as cold as they used to be. But what if the door downstairs is left open and there is a draft going upstairs? What if our children come home with friends and stand right in the middle of the living room?
Otherwise, we are already very happy with the upper floor and the ground floor layout. Some minor adjustments can still be made in the basement, for example, access from the carport into the basement room, and so forth.
Here are the details:
Development plan/restrictions: Yes
Plot size: 709m² (7,631 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Plot ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries:
Edge development: garages/carports allowed
Number of parking spaces
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: gable roof 28°–38°
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 6m (20 ft) above natural ground level
Additional requirements: transverse gables and roof structures only allowed on the hillside side, due to noise protection
Owners’ requirements:
Style, roof type, building type: detached single-family home with basement
Levels: basement, ground floor, attic
Number and age of inhabitants: 2 adults (36, 37), 2 children (1, 3)
Space requirements on ground and upper floor
Office: family use or home office? Family use
Guest bedrooms per year: 5–10
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern construction: traditional
Open kitchen, island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, please also explain why you want or do not want certain features:
WC in basement, so the children do not have to walk through the whole house when playing outside. Storage room on the ground floor to hold water crates and the vacuum cleaner. Children’s bedrooms of equal size with views of greenery.
House design:
Planner:
- Planner from a construction company: Yes
- Do-it-yourself: MS Visio drawing
What do you particularly like and why?: small hallway in the upper floor, layout and size of bedrooms upstairs; orientation of rooms on ground and upper floor according to cardinal directions; open design; large windows facing south; office in basement; hidden coat closet under the stairs in basement
What don’t you like and why?: staircase exit on ground floor; entrance area in basement possibly too small
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €280,000 including carport
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €360,000 total, excluding landscaping
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump with ventilation system and heat recovery (Proxon). The Proxon by Zimmermann Lüftung.
If you had to skip some features or extensions, which ones?
- Could skip: fireplace, wood stove on ground floor; double carport (possibly later)
- Could not skip:
Why did the design turn out like it is now?
Received template and optimized with own ideas.
Standard plan from planner? No, customer-specific.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
What is your most important/fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- The plan for the offer shows a straight staircase. This staircase from basement to ground floor opens right into the middle of the living/dining room. We wonder about cold air from below, drafts, and other negative effects.
I look forward to your suggestions and constructive feedback.
Best regards,
Cherio
I will scan the drawings from a solid construction house provider at work tomorrow. They followed my specifications and have prepared a quote for us. These drawings are dimensioned, and the cost breakdown seems reasonable. However, I didn’t want to overwhelm the forum with all the offers and drawings at once. That’s why I’m sharing first the design we like and where the budget limit is supposedly met.
Regards, Cherio
Regards, Cherio
cherio schrieb:
who followed my specifications [...] first the design we like So, you prefer the modified design over the one that strictly adhered to the original specifications?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
cherio schrieb:
In this design, the knee wall is 50cm (20 inches) high and the roof pitch is 45°. However, all the neighboring houses have a knee wall of at least 1m (39 inches) and a shallower roof pitch. Just as a side note.. In my opinion, a 45° roof pitch is not attractive, and with the zoning plan specifying 28 to 38°, it seems to share my view; aside from that, a 50cm (20 inches) knee wall is nonsense: either the knee wall fully replaces a dwarf wall or its purpose becomes questionable. How do the neighboring houses meet the eave height requirement without resorting to this Frankenstein’s toolbox approach?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I would place the living room with the kitchen in the basement, possibly adding a pantry and a WC.
Adjust the ground floor and upper floor accordingly, with the parents’ bedroom potentially under the roof, and the children’s bedrooms and utility room on the ground floor. Just think sensibly rather than following a standard layout.
It might also be possible to manage with one less floor, which would help stay within the budget.
Adjust the ground floor and upper floor accordingly, with the parents’ bedroom potentially under the roof, and the children’s bedrooms and utility room on the ground floor. Just think sensibly rather than following a standard layout.
It might also be possible to manage with one less floor, which would help stay within the budget.
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