Hello,
I would like to start a new thread regarding the initial design planning.
Previous thread: Single-family house – Opinions on our design
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Einfamilienhaus-Meinungen-zu-unserem-Entwurf.25622/
Here are the main points:
The foundation slab is already in place: 12.49 x 12.49 m2 (41 x 41 ft2) and 30 cm (12 inches) thick.
The foundation slab was inspected for quality by an energy consultant and a structural engineer – no issues were found.
The locations of the underground drainage pipes are marked in the image titled "Foundation Slab - Drainage Pipes."
The house is planned to be built on the existing foundation slab. Demolition is not planned.
The house needs to be constructed as a one-story plus attic (E+1) with a gable roof at a 22° pitch.
The original submission plan from the previous owner was applied for but has not been received yet.
Our own submission plan from the architect exists but was mostly rated as unsatisfactory.
Negative points in the submission plan:
Our specific requests:
We like the ground floor and its room layout quite well. However, the half-landing staircase should be replaced by a space-saving alternative.
The staircase was placed centrally to allow the desired rooms to be created.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: Parcel 35, 775 m2 (8,835 ft2)
KFW 55 standard
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.80
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see site plan
Edge development: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: 2
Roof style: Gable roof, 22° pitch
Style / orientation: South - southeast
Maximum dimensions/limits: Building maximum = 14 m x 10 m (46 x 33 ft) plus single-story extension with max. length 10 m (33 ft), max. depth 3 m (10 ft)
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Gable roof, 22° pitch
Basement, storeys: No basement, 2 full storeys
Number and ages of occupants: 4 persons (3 females, 1 male), ages 40, 38, 12, 9
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Since no basement, more space per floor needed → approx. 90 m2 (970 ft2) per floor
Office use: Home office planned, possibly later converted to a bedroom / guests about 6 times a year
Open or closed layout: Open layout, at least on the ground floor
Traditional or modern design: Modern design
Open kitchen with island: Yes, open kitchen with cooking island
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: Yes, should be placed in the living room, as the chimney should not pass through the children’s bedrooms.
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: Balcony: yes, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Double garage with partition
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine explanations:
Photovoltaic system + possibly battery storage, active ventilation system with heat recovery, air heat exchanger, cistern
House design
Planner: Architect
- Company planner: No
- Architect: Yes
- DIY: No
What do you especially like? Why? Ground floor thanks to the open design with large windows
What do you dislike? Why? Upper floor layout
Estimated price according to architect/planner: ?
Personal budget limit for house including fixtures: 400,000 €
Preferred heating technology: Air heat exchanger with underfloor heating
If you had to give up something, which details or features could you do without?
- Can give up: Battery
Cannot do without:
Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
Not a standard design from the planner, ideas based on model houses + floor plans found online + architect input
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can I improve the layout of the house?
I would like to start a new thread regarding the initial design planning.
Previous thread: Single-family house – Opinions on our design
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/Einfamilienhaus-Meinungen-zu-unserem-Entwurf.25622/
Here are the main points:
The foundation slab is already in place: 12.49 x 12.49 m2 (41 x 41 ft2) and 30 cm (12 inches) thick.
The foundation slab was inspected for quality by an energy consultant and a structural engineer – no issues were found.
The locations of the underground drainage pipes are marked in the image titled "Foundation Slab - Drainage Pipes."
The house is planned to be built on the existing foundation slab. Demolition is not planned.
The house needs to be constructed as a one-story plus attic (E+1) with a gable roof at a 22° pitch.
The original submission plan from the previous owner was applied for but has not been received yet.
Our own submission plan from the architect exists but was mostly rated as unsatisfactory.
Negative points in the submission plan:
- Ground floor + upper floor
- Staircase between ground and upper floor is not properly dimensioned
- Ground floor
- Staircase unsuitable, takes up too much space; entrance to living area is through the kitchen
- Access from garage to house does not fit due to height differences
- Upper floor
- Staircase unsuitable, room layout and a dark hallway with hallway width only 1.10 m (3.6 ft)
- Balcony extends across the entire house length
- See east elevation under the image “View all sides”
- The balcony was extended because the upper floor protrudes 70 cm (28 inches) beyond the ground floor, covering the resulting overhang. In the previous plan, the balcony was only above the bay window.
Our specific requests:
We like the ground floor and its room layout quite well. However, the half-landing staircase should be replaced by a space-saving alternative.
The staircase was placed centrally to allow the desired rooms to be created.
- Keep the technical room in the marked position for connection reasons, near the turning circle.
- Keep the front door position as shown – access from the garage plus guests parking in front of the garage.
- Central staircase to maintain short walking distances.
- Type of staircase: corner staircase with quarter turns (1x or 2x 90° turns) or straight staircase. Spiral staircases are not desired.
- Modern house with an open kitchen and living area.
- Home office.
- Guest toilet with shower.
- Pantry for freezer, food, and beverages.
- Large children's bedrooms, preferably on the south side.
- Room for a walk-in dressing area.
- Separate entrance to the master bedroom, not through the dressing room.
- One master bathroom and one children’s bathroom.
- Small utility room (approx. 6–8 m2 (65–86 ft2)) on the upper floor for washing machine and dryer.
- Tiled stove; the chimney flue should not run through the children’s bedrooms. Preferred route is through the bathroom or utility room.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: Parcel 35, 775 m2 (8,835 ft2)
KFW 55 standard
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.80
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see site plan
Edge development: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: 2
Roof style: Gable roof, 22° pitch
Style / orientation: South - southeast
Maximum dimensions/limits: Building maximum = 14 m x 10 m (46 x 33 ft) plus single-story extension with max. length 10 m (33 ft), max. depth 3 m (10 ft)
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Gable roof, 22° pitch
Basement, storeys: No basement, 2 full storeys
Number and ages of occupants: 4 persons (3 females, 1 male), ages 40, 38, 12, 9
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Since no basement, more space per floor needed → approx. 90 m2 (970 ft2) per floor
Office use: Home office planned, possibly later converted to a bedroom / guests about 6 times a year
Open or closed layout: Open layout, at least on the ground floor
Traditional or modern design: Modern design
Open kitchen with island: Yes, open kitchen with cooking island
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: Yes, should be placed in the living room, as the chimney should not pass through the children’s bedrooms.
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: Balcony: yes, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Double garage with partition
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine explanations:
Photovoltaic system + possibly battery storage, active ventilation system with heat recovery, air heat exchanger, cistern
House design
Planner: Architect
- Company planner: No
- Architect: Yes
- DIY: No
What do you especially like? Why? Ground floor thanks to the open design with large windows
What do you dislike? Why? Upper floor layout
Estimated price according to architect/planner: ?
Personal budget limit for house including fixtures: 400,000 €
Preferred heating technology: Air heat exchanger with underfloor heating
If you had to give up something, which details or features could you do without?
- Can give up: Battery
Cannot do without:
Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
Not a standard design from the planner, ideas based on model houses + floor plans found online + architect input
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can I improve the layout of the house?
MBS2201 schrieb:
Would you rotate the staircase 180 degrees? So that when you go down, you arrive directly in the living/dining area?
What do you think about rotating the staircase 90 degrees, as I had posted a drawing of before? I now see the plan as essentially final, and any further changes would likely move it away from the current goal.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Hello 11ant, I can hardly believe that we’re in the final stage.
I have incorporated a few modifications that Solveigh suggested yesterday.
I still have three points I’m not completely sure about.
1. Is the distance of 1.1m (3 ft 7 in) between the front door and the stairs too narrow?
2. Is the passage from the hallway to the living room, with a width of 1.4m (4 ft 7 in), too small?
3. What do you think about the gallery? Is it feasible to build? Would it look good visually?
I have incorporated a few modifications that Solveigh suggested yesterday.
I still have three points I’m not completely sure about.
1. Is the distance of 1.1m (3 ft 7 in) between the front door and the stairs too narrow?
2. Is the passage from the hallway to the living room, with a width of 1.4m (4 ft 7 in), too small?
3. What do you think about the gallery? Is it feasible to build? Would it look good visually?
MBS2201 schrieb:
11ant, I can hardly believe we’re actually in the final The trophy is only awarded after the construction drawings, but for the design plans, these training rounds are now sufficient.
MBS2201 schrieb:
1. Isn’t the distance between the front door and the staircase at 1.1m (3.6 ft) too narrow?
2. Is the passage from the hallway to the living room with a width of 1.4m (4.6 ft) undersized?
3. What do you think about the gallery? Is this feasible to build? Would it look good aesthetically? Regarding 1) I recommend having the stair width plus a tread length in front of the first riser;
Regarding 2) no, it’s not too narrow;
Regarding 3) what kind of papal blessing are you looking for (for the cat, or whoever is listening)?
In my opinion, it adds no aesthetic value and is acoustically rather disadvantageous.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I would omit the gallery. It only causes noise to spread. Also, the hallway is needed for access to Child 2 – it was better before.
I also find the following issues problematic:
- The recess in the guest bathroom for the shower. What is the purpose of that? There is enough space for a proper rectangular room. The utility room also benefits from removing that corner.
- The path from the bedroom to the bathroom – the bedroom serves as a passageway when I want to get to the bathroom.
- It’s crazy that the children have 30m² (320 sq ft), but the washing machine has to be installed in the children’s bathroom due to lack of space. I can imagine the mess if laundry piles up in this tiny corner right up to the ceiling. The poor kids would have to live with this cramped space every day.
- The chimney is now again on the exterior wall of the gable roof?
- The front door shouldn’t open half in front of the stairs – it should be shifted slightly towards the top of the plan.
I also find the following issues problematic:
- The recess in the guest bathroom for the shower. What is the purpose of that? There is enough space for a proper rectangular room. The utility room also benefits from removing that corner.
- The path from the bedroom to the bathroom – the bedroom serves as a passageway when I want to get to the bathroom.
- It’s crazy that the children have 30m² (320 sq ft), but the washing machine has to be installed in the children’s bathroom due to lack of space. I can imagine the mess if laundry piles up in this tiny corner right up to the ceiling. The poor kids would have to live with this cramped space every day.
- The chimney is now again on the exterior wall of the gable roof?
- The front door shouldn’t open half in front of the stairs – it should be shifted slightly towards the top of the plan.
Why are you accessing the parents’ area through the bedroom when it can easily be done through the dressing room?
This way, the bedroom would no longer be a passage room.
I’m also not really convinced by the children’s bathroom combined with the “integrated” utility room. I would probably separate these two spaces.
The layout of the two children’s bedrooms could also be improved. It seems like there is an insistence on making the two rooms exactly the same size.
As a result, the protruding wardrobe in child 2’s room becomes part of the issue.
Why not simply move the wall between the two bedrooms 60cm (24 inches) to the right? That would eliminate the problem and make the room less awkwardly shaped.
You are building very large, which is certainly your choice. However, I don’t quite understand why you need three showers.
Furthermore, I also believe that the small gallery has more disadvantages than advantages.
If you want to keep that open layout, I would at least consider adding a second door somewhere between the common area and the children’s rooms as a sound barrier, in addition to the bedroom doors.
Either at the entrance to the common area or before the 1.7m (5.6 feet) wide mini hallway leading to the children’s rooms.
This way, the bedroom would no longer be a passage room.
I’m also not really convinced by the children’s bathroom combined with the “integrated” utility room. I would probably separate these two spaces.
The layout of the two children’s bedrooms could also be improved. It seems like there is an insistence on making the two rooms exactly the same size.
As a result, the protruding wardrobe in child 2’s room becomes part of the issue.
Why not simply move the wall between the two bedrooms 60cm (24 inches) to the right? That would eliminate the problem and make the room less awkwardly shaped.
You are building very large, which is certainly your choice. However, I don’t quite understand why you need three showers.
Furthermore, I also believe that the small gallery has more disadvantages than advantages.
If you want to keep that open layout, I would at least consider adding a second door somewhere between the common area and the children’s rooms as a sound barrier, in addition to the bedroom doors.
Either at the entrance to the common area or before the 1.7m (5.6 feet) wide mini hallway leading to the children’s rooms.
I think—and I’m repeating myself—you’re on the right track. Your design #131 is a solid foundation to work from.
I wouldn’t rotate the stairs 180 degrees. That way your walking paths won’t be kilometers long.
Rotating the stairs 90 degrees and starting them from the living room is a matter of personal taste.
That’s a statement you can definitely work with. Keep it up!
Do you? On Pinterest, you can also find many coherent, functional, brilliant but SIMPLE floor plans.
Of course, personally I’d love the spacious 400 m² (4,300 sq ft) Bauhaus villa in the Brazilian jungle with an infinity pool—but my husband always says:
Watch out for costs!, structural engineering, and building permit/planning permission. And don’t forget your existing foundation slab.
Attached are the promised variants:
Ground Floor: The office is no longer accessed from the living room but is 20 cm (8 inches) wider. A bed fits in; the question is whether it always needs to be set up. Whether the door between the vestibule and hall is necessary is a matter of taste.
Ground Floor: I even made the hall smaller. With a coat niche and space under the stairs, the hall is still generously sized!
Ground Floor technical room is about 20 cm (8 inches) larger.
Ground Floor: The kitchen is furnished differently so you can get a sense of the dimensions—you really have an enormous amount of space.
Ground Floor: The kitchen and living area can also be swapped.
Attic Floor Variant 2:
Attic 2: The bathroom/dressing room/bedroom area is widened by 20 cm (8 inches).
Attic 2: The bedroom is accessed through the dressing room, which also enlarges the utility room.
Attic Floor Variant 3:
Attic 3: The corridor toward the bathroom is narrower but wider toward the children’s rooms.
Attic 3: Utility room separated from the children's bathroom.
Attic 3: Small open space; personally, I’m not a fan of open spaces—they need to be generously sized to be effective, and I think the space would be wasted here.
Please keep in mind costs!, structural engineering, and building permit/planning permission.
MBS2201 schrieb:
Stairs: Would you rotate the stairs 180 degrees?
I wouldn’t rotate the stairs 180 degrees. That way your walking paths won’t be kilometers long.
Rotating the stairs 90 degrees and starting them from the living room is a matter of personal taste.
MBS2201 schrieb:
Office: It should be sized so that a double bed + wardrobe fits in. But I would prefer a separate entrance in case guests stay over or a family member moves in.
That’s a statement you can definitely work with. Keep it up!
MBS2201 schrieb:
We wanted a house like you see on Pinterest, with beautiful staircases, generously designed rooms, etc.
Do you? On Pinterest, you can also find many coherent, functional, brilliant but SIMPLE floor plans.
Of course, personally I’d love the spacious 400 m² (4,300 sq ft) Bauhaus villa in the Brazilian jungle with an infinity pool—but my husband always says:
Watch out for costs!, structural engineering, and building permit/planning permission. And don’t forget your existing foundation slab.
Attached are the promised variants:
Ground Floor: The office is no longer accessed from the living room but is 20 cm (8 inches) wider. A bed fits in; the question is whether it always needs to be set up. Whether the door between the vestibule and hall is necessary is a matter of taste.
Ground Floor: I even made the hall smaller. With a coat niche and space under the stairs, the hall is still generously sized!
Ground Floor technical room is about 20 cm (8 inches) larger.
Ground Floor: The kitchen is furnished differently so you can get a sense of the dimensions—you really have an enormous amount of space.
Ground Floor: The kitchen and living area can also be swapped.
Attic Floor Variant 2:
Attic 2: The bathroom/dressing room/bedroom area is widened by 20 cm (8 inches).
Attic 2: The bedroom is accessed through the dressing room, which also enlarges the utility room.
Attic Floor Variant 3:
Attic 3: The corridor toward the bathroom is narrower but wider toward the children’s rooms.
Attic 3: Utility room separated from the children's bathroom.
Attic 3: Small open space; personally, I’m not a fan of open spaces—they need to be generously sized to be effective, and I think the space would be wasted here.
Please keep in mind costs!, structural engineering, and building permit/planning permission.
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