ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of Approximately 150 m²

Created on: 12 Feb 2018 18:09
C
chrisw81
Hello,

After a long search, we signed the notarized contract for the land purchase at the end of December. We are now actively planning the floor plan. Unfortunately, the plot is somewhat awkwardly shaped (not rectangular), which creates some limitations for the layout from our perspective. We already have a first draft, but there are several areas we don’t like and are unsure how to improve. Maybe you have some ideas; we would appreciate your input.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 601 m² (6465 sq ft)
Building envelope, building line, boundary: Building line with the house on the west side
Peripheral setbacks: 7 m (23 ft) from the street (north), otherwise the usual 3 m (10 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2 desired
Number of floors: 1 full story allowed
Roof style: Gable roof
Design style: open construction method
Orientation: South
Maximum heights / limits: Ridge height max. 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional requirements: Max. 100 m² (1076 sq ft) of built-up area

Client Requirements
Style, roof form, building type: Solid construction house, rectangular, no bay windows, no projections, etc., gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement; 1.5 stories
Number and age of residents: 2 people, age between 30 and 40, possibly children later
Space needs on ground floor and upper floor: Ground floor – living/dining room, kitchen, guest toilet, utility room, office
Office: family use or home office?: family use
Guest stays per year: 20 days
Open or closed architecture: open living area, closed hallway
Conservative or modern style: conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, island without cooktop
Number of dining seats: 2-4
Fireplace: yes, chimney planned
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Further wishes, special features, daily routine, and reasons for preferences:
- A wardrobe area on the ground floor is important where coats can be stored relatively out of sight.
- On the upper floor, it would be nice to have an open gallery with a desk or similar (not a must and not necessarily next to the stairs).
- A walk-in closet would be nice but not essential.
- A storage room on the upper floor is very important since we do not have a basement.

House Design
Who created the design:
- Basic design by the construction company (FIBAV Stadthaus Vision Studio)
- DIY modifications based on online floor plans (especially Viebrockhaus Maxime 330)
What do you particularly like? Why?:
- Layout of the living/dining area and the narrowing kitchen reduces the hallway effect a bit
- Many windows in the living/dining area
- Wide hallway on the ground floor
What do you dislike? Why?:
- Few options to place furniture (dresser, wardrobe) in the ground floor hallway due to many doors
- Very large hallway upstairs, considered wasted space
- Bedroom is quite small; should be the largest room upstairs (preferably 16 m² (172 sq ft), children’s rooms rather 14 m² (151 sq ft))
- Stair placement limited by chimney location
- Door placement upstairs limited by chimney
- A staircase rotated 90 degrees (entrance next to front door) would appeal more
- Difficult to align windows upstairs and downstairs on the gable end vertically
- Floor-to-ceiling windows upstairs; wider windows with a sill height around 100 cm (40 inches) would be preferred
Price estimate by architect/planner: 200,000 €
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 210,000 €
Preferred heating technology: gas heating

What details or expansions could you give up?
- Can do without: gallery next to stairs upstairs. Living area could also be narrower (e.g., 4.20 m (14 ft) instead of 4.47 m (15 ft))
- Cannot do without: storage room upstairs, shower in guest toilet, extra natural light in the ground floor hallway (e.g., side panel on front door or window)

Why was the design made this way? For example, standard plan from planner?
- Since the house has very little space on the south side, the house should be very narrow in order not to waste more space to the south. It should be wider so that living, dining, and kitchen areas face south as much as possible.
Were corresponding wishes from the architect implemented? No architect meeting has taken place yet.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can the ground floor hallway be better designed to fit a wardrobe? Can the stairs be positioned better or replaced? Should the hallway be enlarged and living space reduced? How can the upstairs hallway be better utilized? Can the bedroom be enlarged? Is it possible to swap the bedroom with another room, e.g., move it to the southeast to allow a walk-in closet?

Thank you very much in advance for your criticism and suggestions!

Lageplan eines Baugrundstücks mit Parzellen, Straßenverlauf und Gebäudestrukturen.


Grundriss: Kochen/Essen/Wohnen, HWR, WC, Diele, Gast, Treppenhaus, Schornstein.


Grundriss Obergeschoss: Zimmer 1, Zimmer 2, Schlafen, Bad, Flur/Galerie, Abstell, Schornstein.
kaho67416 Feb 2018 21:52
Floor plan of an upper floor: hallway, children’s room 1, children’s room 2, utility room, bathroom with shower, staircase

Floor plan of a house with multipurpose room, cloakroom, guest room, technical room, and WC.
K
kbt09
16 Feb 2018 23:18
@kaho674 .. that already looks pretty good .. especially the well-designed shower

However, due to the lack of measurements, I still find the staircase quite challenging.
kaho67417 Feb 2018 08:01
kbt09 schrieb:


Due to the lack of measurements, I still consider the staircase quite tight.

I think the staircase always seems so small because the house is so long and narrow. I usually take the basic stair measurements in advance and calculate with a fairly generous 300 millimeters (12 inches) for floor height plus 270 millimeters (11 inches) for room height. This one is 2.50 meters (8.2 feet) wide and about 2 meters (6.6 feet) deep. The online program even shows a stride length that is too large for 16 steps.
Y
ypg
17 Feb 2018 10:12
kaho674 schrieb:
I think the staircase always appears so small because the house is so long and narrow. I usually take the measurements beforehand using Treppe 1x1 and calculate with fairly generous 300 millimeters (12 inches) for floor thickness plus 270 millimeters (11 inches) for room height. This one is 2.50 meters (8 feet 2 inches) wide by about 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) deep. Even with 16 steps, the online program shows the step size as too large.

Your cabinets also look more like 40 centimeters (16 inches) deep, but are probably 60 centimeters (24 inches). It’s due to the length of the house. I would mirror the upper floor. Perfect!
kaho67417 Feb 2018 11:17
ypg schrieb:
Your cabinets also look more like 40cm (16 inches) deep, but are definitely 60cm (24 inches). It’s due to the house length.

True, and...
ypg schrieb:
I would mirror the upper floor. Perfect!

Agreed!
kaho67417 Feb 2018 12:24
Simply mirroring the layout quickly isn’t possible since the upper floor is not symmetrical. The children’s rooms would become smaller, and the bathroom larger – hmm.

Here are some measurements to help estimate the closet sizes.

Floor plan of a residential house: open-plan room in the center, utility room on the left, guest room on the right, wardrobe.

Floor plan of a house: hallway with staircase, two children’s rooms, utility room, bathroom, and shower.


I think the number of desired features is quite large compared to the available floor area.
On the other hand, the walk-in closet is a decent 2.5m (8 feet 2 inches) but still tight for two people, right? OK, the wardrobe downstairs is also 2.5m by 0.6m (8 feet 2 inches by 2 feet), but otherwise, it would be a squeeze for the formal dresses.
Would it make sense to sacrifice 1m (3 feet 3 inches) of garden space to gain more depth for flexibility? That would also work for the Maxime… Or are we already at the edge of the building plot? I can’t tell.