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.
11ant17 Feb 2018 13:20
kaho674 schrieb:
Or are we already at the edge of the building zone? I can’t tell.

As far as I can see, there is no proper building zone, just a one-sided building line (the street-side alignment with neighboring house corners).
kaho674 schrieb:
I think the number of wishes is quite large compared to the number of square meters.

Same here. At the top of my cut list are the kids’ bathroom and the cozy fireplace.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Y
ypg
17 Feb 2018 13:32
kaho674 schrieb:
Simply mirroring the layout isn’t possible, unfortunately, since the upper floor isn’t symmetrical. This would make the kids’ rooms smaller and the bathroom larger—hmm.

.

Oh, are your measurements fixed? [emoji16]
11ant17 Feb 2018 13:59
ypg schrieb:
Oh, are your dimensions binding?

The external dimensions are indirectly binding: if the house floor area should be ≤ 100 sqm (1076 sq ft), the example depth of 8.55 m (28 ft) results in a house width of ≤ 11.69 m (38 ft 4 in).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Y
ypg
17 Feb 2018 14:22
11ant schrieb:
The external dimensions indirectly yes: if the house footprint is to be ≤ 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft), the example with a house depth of 8.55 m (28 feet) results in a house width of ≤ 11.69 m (38 feet).

I consider the internal dimensions to be non-binding.
11ant17 Feb 2018 14:31
ypg schrieb:
I consider the interior dimensions as non-binding.

Correct, just because the staircase is not exactly centered, mirroring only one floor would require adjusting room dimensions. If that becomes too tight, the entire house would need to be wider to compensate.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
C
chrisw81
17 Feb 2018 14:43
kaho674 schrieb:
Simply mirroring the layout isn’t an option since the upper floor isn’t symmetrical. That would make the children’s rooms smaller and the bathroom larger – hmm.

I think the bathroom should be moved to the lower left so it is above the utility room/guest bathroom on the ground floor. Otherwise, you’ll have issues with extra soil stacks, and so on.
kaho674 schrieb:
I find the number of requests quite high compared to the square footage.
On the other hand, the walk-in closet at 2.5m (8 feet) is decent but tight for two people, right? OK, there is the coat closet downstairs with 2.5m x 0.6m (8 feet x 2 feet), but otherwise, it will be cramped for evening gowns.
Would you maybe sacrifice 1m (3 feet) of garden space for more closet depth and flexibility? Then the Maxime would fit too... Or are we already at the building boundary? I can’t tell.

I would rather not give up any more garden space. I already find the house oversized. I would sooner reduce the size of the office on the ground floor or make the children’s rooms smaller. The living area could also be a bit smaller (narrower and less deep).