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!
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!
chrisw81 schrieb:
The best floor plan is pointless if you end up changing everything because the chimney doesn’t fit anywhere. Even the architect can’t work miracles.He probably knows better than you and can most likely put his knowledge into practice [emoji4]
chrisw81 schrieb:
The best floor plan is useless if everything has to be changed again because the chimney doesn’t fit anywhere. Even the architect can’t work magic in that case. Every architect should have enough imagination to translate the key points of the client’s requirements into a plan where even the chimneys fit properly.
The architect might be pleased if the client keeps the ridge beam "in mind," but there are still many other challenges that need to be addressed as well.
I was honestly just amused by how focused you are on the second chimney while completely overlooking the first one, but it’s far from being a major problem.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
chrisw81 schrieb:
Tomorrow is the first meeting with the architect, I’m curious to see what ideas he has.Is it a “licensed architect” or someone from a general contractor or similar? It’s best to leave your own experiments at home and just go with a list of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and things you definitely don’t want, then see what he comes up with. And: have fun at the meeting!
Maria16 schrieb:
It’s best to leave your experiments at home and just go with a list of what you absolutely want, what would be nice to have, and what you definitely don’t want, and see what the designer makes of it. Yes, I would also initially hold back on anything like fully drawn ideas—don’t stifle the designer’s creativity before they even start. If you notice they are thinking along similar lines (or realize they’re struggling and can’t interpret the wish list without visuals), then you can casually share what you have put together so far.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Yes, I would also hold back on concrete ideas like already drawn plans at first—definitely don’t want to limit the planner’s creativity before they even start. If you notice they’re thinking along similar lines (or see that they’re stuck and can’t interpret the wish list without pictures), then you can share what you’ve already put together.The architect meeting was yesterday, and it was really hectic... Going through the minutes, setting the house’s height level, and then only a few minutes left for the floor plan... I held back my ideas at first, but he didn’t have any for the cloakroom either, at least not on short notice, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to take time to come up with some. It seemed like the floor plan was only meant to be adjusted minimally in the construction contract, and major redesigns were out of the question in this time frame, let alone any ideas from the architect...
Anyway, the cloakroom niche is now supposed to be centered between the guest bathroom and utility/storage room, with a width of about 90–100 cm (35–39 inches) and a depth of 60 cm (24 inches). The guest bathroom will be a bit wider (about 150 cm (59 inches) instead of 120 cm (47 inches)), and the shower no longer spans the full width. The guest room (and bedroom on the upper floor) is now 3.8 m (12.5 ft) wide. I’ve attached a sketch.
The architect also included a recess for the chimney/fireplace for now, but I’m still considering whether that makes sense...
Pros:
- More space in the hallway and guest room
- Chimney/fireplace doesn’t protrude as far into the living room. This is my main reason for it.
- Niches in the hallway/guest room can look nice if used well (recessed cabinets, etc.)
Cons:
- Awkward corners in the guest room and hallway (which could be used well, but would require quite a bit of work)
- Only 4.2 m (14 ft) depth in living room next to the fireplace, which might be too shallow because of the long corridor shape
- No way to continue the chimney flush with shelves, sideboards, etc. (see picture—with just envisioning the chimney wider), which can also look very nice. Otherwise, the furniture might have to be set further away.
What I could imagine:
- Keep the recess, but extend the entire wall towards the hallway → possibly 4.3 m (14.1 ft) or more depth in the living room
- Remove the recess and extend the entire wall towards the living room → possibly more space in the hallway and still 4.35 or 4.4 m (14.3 or 14.4 ft) depth in the living room → but this only works as far as the chimney fits next to the ridge beam; there’s not much space left there.
The architect didn’t achieve much so far—what do you think (also about my other questions)?
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