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

Created on: 12 Feb 2018 18:09
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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.
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chrisw81
1 Mar 2018 13:18
ypg schrieb:

And then everything is built around the chimney, which probably won’t fit into the budget anyway with a pressure monitor and all that?

If I were you, I’d try not to lose focus and create a definitive, written room program. This indecisiveness can silence even the most patient user here.
@kaho’s patience is remarkable.
Actually, she’s needed in another discussion [emoji12]

I didn’t mean to come across as indecisive. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough in my initial description. But sometimes things just develop—suddenly other things become important as you think more about them. I’d rather call it a process. I didn’t want it to seem like I change my mind every day...

Since the base price of the house was quite affordable, I’m hoping there’s still enough left for extra features like a fireplace. I prefer to invest some money in the interior fittings, where I always live, rather than on other frills.
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chrisw81
1 Mar 2018 13:19
11ant schrieb:

I still find it amusing how the chimney for the cozy fireplace gets almost idolized, while on the other hand, there is no flue planned at all for the actual heating system.

I always thought that was the architect’s responsibility and that it would be located somewhere near or in the utility room?
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chrisw81
1 Mar 2018 13:20
kaho674 schrieb:
Well, I didn’t read anything about a gas heating system or similar. For example, we use geothermal heating. That doesn’t require a chimney. Maybe the original poster is planning something similar.

A gas heating system is currently planned. Unless the architect convinces us with good arguments to choose something else, it will probably stay that way.
11ant1 Mar 2018 13:29
chrisw81 schrieb:
I always thought that was the architect’s responsibility, and that it would be located somewhere near/in the utility room?

Well, in that case, you might as well only design the interior walls, and let the architect handle the exterior walls.

But of course, you can approach it that way: the owner just sketches out what matters to them emotionally, and the architect takes care of all the technical details.

Still, if you’re already working on it and visualizing details, I would prefer to see the whole picture — but that really comes down to personal preference, and you might feel differently than I do.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
kaho6741 Mar 2018 13:31
chrisw81 schrieb:
A gas heating system is currently planned. Unless the architect convinces us with good arguments to choose something else, it will probably stay that way.
Well, in my opinion, the chimney for the heating system is actually quite hassle-free, as it can go through the utility room and then likely through the bathroom near the gable without major difficulties.
11ant1 Mar 2018 13:36
kaho674 schrieb:
Well, in my opinion, the chimney for the heating system is actually relatively trouble-free,

I also don’t think it would cause much stress. It just seems a bit odd to me to give a lot of thought to where the second chimney penetrates the roof while completely ignoring the first one. It would make sense to combine the flues into a single chimney (not necessarily at all costs, but at least to keep in mind that this should be coordinated).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/