ᐅ Home Renovation with Architect: Looking for Suggestions on the House Floor Plan

We (24 years old female & 29 years old male) want to renovate a house inherited from his parents. We have already had several discussions with the architect and are now interested in your opinions. The exterior walls of the house will remain and will be partially extended. The attached images show what is new (in red) and which walls will remain (in black).

Now, about the specifications:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size approximately 850sqm (9140 sqft)
Sloped, filled terrain, so no additional storey allowed
Site coverage ratio
Floor area ratio
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Boundary development
Number of parking spaces: 1 visitor spot, several parking spaces along the driveway to the garage
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights/limitations
Other requirements

Client requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type
Basement, number of storeys
Number of residents, ages: 2 adults, 2–3 children desired (not yet planned)
Space needs on ground floor and upper floors
Office: family use or home office? Family use
Number of guest stays per year: very few
Open or closed design: open
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island
Number of dining seats: definitely 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double garage, possibly an additional carport

House design
Who designed the plans:
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why? Bedroom and living areas separated
What don’t you like? Why? No guest bathroom on the ground floor
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 430,000€
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings:
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump

The spiral staircase is already present in the house and must remain for cost reasons. The architect, however, wants to renew it and highlight it through the large entrance area.

We are very curious to hear your thoughts!

I only see the ground floor and the basement. Is that correct?

I would enlarge the bedroom at the end and shorten the dead-end corridor.
I would keep the small window in this corridor by the terrace but move it opposite the children’s room door.
In the bathroom, you can place the toilet right at the front opposite a small washbasin and add a partition wall to create a proper bathroom. Swap the toilet and bathtub here, and add a wall with a sliding door.

ypg schrieb:
I only see the ground floor and basement now. Is that correct?

I would enlarge the bedroom at the end and shorten the dead-end hallway.
I would keep the small window in this hallway by the terrace but move it opposite the door of the kids’ room.
In the bathroom, you could place the toilet at the front beside a small sink and extend a partition wall into the main bathroom. Swap the toilet and bathtub here, add a wall with a sliding door.

Thanks for the reply 🙂
We have already forwarded the adjustment to the bedroom as planned, which is what I wanted. The bathroom and kitchen are just roughly sketched by the architect for now and not yet finalized.

Yes, we only have the ground floor and basement, but as you can see in the cross-section, the basement is exposed on two sides and not underground. Due to the raised terrain, it is not allowed to add another floor on top.

Sorry, I really don’t like this idea. If I need to use the bathroom while watching TV, it’s actually a shorter walk across the yard than through the house. That long narrow corridor seems, in my opinion, just like wasted space. It’s also not very clear what the starting situation is. Maybe you could redraw the current layout, because if I remove all the red areas, there’s no house left. It would be best to include measurements so we can try tweaking the design a bit. 🙂

Does the kitchen absolutely have to be in the back corner? How flexible are you?

The kitchen and living room should receive enough natural light!

I only have approximate measurements because the architect has the plans of the old house and has only sent us these plans so far.

Here, I have simplified the house based on the old floor plan.

The current living room is on the wrong side to get sunlight in the evening. The previous owner had no children and only lived in the house with her husband. That’s why there is only one bedroom and a small sewing room.

It should also be mentioned that we would like to have two garages.

The measurements are based on the floor plan with the long hallway (which my partner really likes, as we already have something similar in our current apartment).