ᐅ Final stage floor plan: Is there still potential for improvement?
Created on: 16 Apr 2018 22:14
M
modder
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 606m² (6519 sq ft)
Slope: slight north-facing slope (3m (10 ft) over 34m (112 ft) length)
House: south-north = 1m (3 ft) height difference
Site occupancy index: 0.35 (212m² (2282 sq ft))
Floor area ratio: 0.40 (242m² (2605 sq ft))
Building envelope: marked in blue (approx. 11.8 x 14.5m (39 x 48 ft))
Boundary construction allowed: no
Parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: two full stories: ground floor + upper floor
Roof type: 38–42° (degrees) gable roof
Architectural style: traditional
Ridge orientation: south-north
Maximum heights / limits: northern eave-side wall height above natural ground level: 3.80m (12 ft 6 in)
Additional requirements: knee wall height from top of raw floor slab to bottom of wall plate 0.50m (70cm / 1 ft 8 in approx. inside)
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: all according to development plan
Basement, floors: basement + ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages: 28 (female), 30 (male), plus at least 1 planned child
Space needs in basement: hobby room, utility room, pantry/storage, sauna planned later
Space needs on ground floor: living room, dining + kitchen, WC, hallway
Space needs on upper floor: master bedroom, dressing room, child 1 + child 2, hallway, bathroom
Office: home office!
Overnight guests per year: 3 guests at Easter and Christmas
Closed architecture
Conservative construction style
Open kitchen connected to dining room
Number of dining seats: 5
Living room fireplace: wall-mounted ethanol fireplace
Music / stereo wall: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: single or double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other: hallway large enough to bring in and temporarily park a stroller, e.g., when it’s raining outside; staircase with 1m (3 ft 3 in) wide steps and easy to walk on (hence double landings); living room at least 4.5m (15 ft) wide; no direct connection between parents’ and children’s bedrooms; stairway not located in entryway dirt area; all interior doors with 985mm (39 in) clear opening; dining room: lift-and-slide door with 3m (10 ft) width
House Design
- Designer: do-it-yourself
- What do you particularly like about it? Why?
Double-landing staircase, kitchen and dining area facing south, circulation area on the north-east side; large glass window in dining room facing garden, G-shaped kitchen, enlargement of children’s rooms with dormer windows; hallway hopefully spacious-looking even though it could be a little wider
- What do you dislike? Why?
No room for a urinal in the ground floor bathroom
Basement not yet well planned, unsure how to properly separate a future sauna room
Personal budget limit for house including equipment: €425,000
- Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump / ground loop collector + mechanical ventilation with heat recovery + underfloor heating
If You Have to Give Up Anything, on which details / features
- Could give up: exposed roof structure
- Cannot give up: shower in ground floor WC; staircase with straight steps; stairway outside the dirt zone; wardrobe
Why is the Design Like It Is?
Lots of reading layout reviews here, input from builder friends; about 100 hours of drawing floor plans
- What makes it especially good or bad in your view?
In our opinion, very efficient use of space in a relatively small house, pleasant hallway layout
What Is the Most Important / Basic Question About the Floor Plan Summarized in 130 Characters?
Is this floor plan practical?
Are there any major issues or deal-breakers we might have overlooked?
Attached are our own drawings from SketchUp / site plan from the development plan
Our plot is number [9]
Note: Unfortunately, windows are missing on the upper floor. There are planned windows on the gable ends sized 150 x 138cm (59 x 54 in), dormer windows each approx. 200 x 138cm (79 x 54 in), and in the stairwell, master bedroom, and bathroom an additional double casement window sized 78 x 160cm (31 x 63 in)
Plot size: 606m² (6519 sq ft)
Slope: slight north-facing slope (3m (10 ft) over 34m (112 ft) length)
House: south-north = 1m (3 ft) height difference
Site occupancy index: 0.35 (212m² (2282 sq ft))
Floor area ratio: 0.40 (242m² (2605 sq ft))
Building envelope: marked in blue (approx. 11.8 x 14.5m (39 x 48 ft))
Boundary construction allowed: no
Parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: two full stories: ground floor + upper floor
Roof type: 38–42° (degrees) gable roof
Architectural style: traditional
Ridge orientation: south-north
Maximum heights / limits: northern eave-side wall height above natural ground level: 3.80m (12 ft 6 in)
Additional requirements: knee wall height from top of raw floor slab to bottom of wall plate 0.50m (70cm / 1 ft 8 in approx. inside)
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: all according to development plan
Basement, floors: basement + ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages: 28 (female), 30 (male), plus at least 1 planned child
Space needs in basement: hobby room, utility room, pantry/storage, sauna planned later
Space needs on ground floor: living room, dining + kitchen, WC, hallway
Space needs on upper floor: master bedroom, dressing room, child 1 + child 2, hallway, bathroom
Office: home office!
Overnight guests per year: 3 guests at Easter and Christmas
Closed architecture
Conservative construction style
Open kitchen connected to dining room
Number of dining seats: 5
Living room fireplace: wall-mounted ethanol fireplace
Music / stereo wall: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: single or double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other: hallway large enough to bring in and temporarily park a stroller, e.g., when it’s raining outside; staircase with 1m (3 ft 3 in) wide steps and easy to walk on (hence double landings); living room at least 4.5m (15 ft) wide; no direct connection between parents’ and children’s bedrooms; stairway not located in entryway dirt area; all interior doors with 985mm (39 in) clear opening; dining room: lift-and-slide door with 3m (10 ft) width
House Design
- Designer: do-it-yourself
- What do you particularly like about it? Why?
Double-landing staircase, kitchen and dining area facing south, circulation area on the north-east side; large glass window in dining room facing garden, G-shaped kitchen, enlargement of children’s rooms with dormer windows; hallway hopefully spacious-looking even though it could be a little wider
- What do you dislike? Why?
No room for a urinal in the ground floor bathroom
Basement not yet well planned, unsure how to properly separate a future sauna room
Personal budget limit for house including equipment: €425,000
- Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump / ground loop collector + mechanical ventilation with heat recovery + underfloor heating
If You Have to Give Up Anything, on which details / features
- Could give up: exposed roof structure
- Cannot give up: shower in ground floor WC; staircase with straight steps; stairway outside the dirt zone; wardrobe
Why is the Design Like It Is?
Lots of reading layout reviews here, input from builder friends; about 100 hours of drawing floor plans
- What makes it especially good or bad in your view?
In our opinion, very efficient use of space in a relatively small house, pleasant hallway layout
What Is the Most Important / Basic Question About the Floor Plan Summarized in 130 Characters?
Is this floor plan practical?
Are there any major issues or deal-breakers we might have overlooked?
Attached are our own drawings from SketchUp / site plan from the development plan
Our plot is number [9]
Note: Unfortunately, windows are missing on the upper floor. There are planned windows on the gable ends sized 150 x 138cm (59 x 54 in), dormer windows each approx. 200 x 138cm (79 x 54 in), and in the stairwell, master bedroom, and bathroom an additional double casement window sized 78 x 160cm (31 x 63 in)
I’ve been going back and forth with the drawings all this time because of all your suggestions. Incredible. And I actually thought we were pretty much done in the last few days.
Unfortunately, combining the bedroom and dressing room isn’t possible since we do go to bed together but get up about 1 to 1.5 hours apart (I’m an early riser).
Do you mean placing the sofa against the northern or the western exterior wall?
Your comment about the staircase is really helpful! We definitely need to clarify that.
What still bothers me a bit is that in Katja’s design, so much space on the upper floor is taken up by the hallway.
Unfortunately, combining the bedroom and dressing room isn’t possible since we do go to bed together but get up about 1 to 1.5 hours apart (I’m an early riser).
Do you mean placing the sofa against the northern or the western exterior wall?
Your comment about the staircase is really helpful! We definitely need to clarify that.
What still bothers me a bit is that in Katja’s design, so much space on the upper floor is taken up by the hallway.
I would definitely add a large window on the north side of the living room. Whether the sofa is placed on the east or west side is really a matter of personal preference. The existing door in the living room could also be made bigger. The original floor plan is way too dark. There is really a lot more that can be done with it...
modder schrieb:
Combining the bedroom and dressing room isn’t possible for us because, although we go to bed together, we get up about 1 to 1.5 hours apart. (I’m an early riser )Before settling for a poorly designed dressing room, I would consider the idea ypg suggested about using built-in wardrobes under the sloped ceiling to make the most of the space. Then simply go the old-fashioned route: lay out your clothes in the bathroom the night before. With all the hype around must-have dressing rooms, people often forget that this works just fine as well...
But then on weekends, I always have to have my sweatpants ready. And then I want to work on the car but I’ve grabbed the wrong pants, or I have to go back into town. No, right now we have an unused children’s room in the apartment that we use as a walk-in closet, and it’s simply wonderful. It’s a decision we made for ourselves.
Whenever someone is sick, the other person moves out of the bedroom and sleeps for a few days in the children’s/walk-in closet room. And dealing with the clothes is a huge effort every time because you don’t always remember to prepare them in advance, or in the morning you suddenly think, “Oh, today you have something important, so you need to wear a shirt.”
Whenever someone is sick, the other person moves out of the bedroom and sleeps for a few days in the children’s/walk-in closet room. And dealing with the clothes is a huge effort every time because you don’t always remember to prepare them in advance, or in the morning you suddenly think, “Oh, today you have something important, so you need to wear a shirt.”
modder schrieb:
What still bothers me a bit is that Katja’s design uses so much space for the hallway on the upper floor. Huh? That’s just 30 cm (12 inches) more depth (150 cm (59 inches) instead of the 120 cm (47 inches) you planned), and I would definitely keep it that way, otherwise you won’t even have enough space upstairs for two people to pass each other comfortably.
modder schrieb:
But then you also have to get your jogging pants ready every weekend. And then if I want to work on the car, I grabbed the wrong pants or have to go back to the store. No, we currently have an unused kid’s room in the apartment that we repurposed as a walk-in closet, and it is simply wonderful. It’s a decision we made for ourselves.
Whenever someone is sick, the other person moves out of the bedroom and spends a few days in the kid’s/walk-in closet room. And with the clothes, it’s always a huge effort because you don’t always remember to lay them out, or you realize in the morning “Oh, today I have something important, so I need to wear a shirt.”Good planning is everything. Personally, I can think 10 hours ahead. We currently don’t have a walk-in closet and get up separately, which works great. It’s a matter of organization and discipline. Since I’m not exactly fully alert in the morning anyway, I’d probably plan what to wear the evening before, even with a walk-in closet. When I bike to work, I already pack my backpack with clothes in the evening and lay out my cycling gear. Sure, a closed walk-in closet is nice, but giving up living space elsewhere for it doesn’t make sense. A well-built wardrobe can also serve as a room divider. Then you just add a door instead of having only an open passage, but you save the wall. And nobody goes wild when getting dressed or undressed.
And as long as you don’t have any or only one child, you can “repurpose” a room as a walk-in closet, but once you have two toddlers, a heads up to the partner (and likely spouse): sleeping in late will be a thing of the past. Because walk-in closet or not, by at least 5:30 a.m., the little ones will be standing in front of the parents’ bed wanting to get up or at least cuddle in bed.
ypg schrieb:
P.S. I would combine the dressing room and bedroom, fully enclosing the sloped ceiling area with sliding doors. This way, you will have plenty of space behind for shelves and clothes rails. A seating area can then be created in the dormer. Like this?
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