ᐅ Single-family home, approximately 1500 square feet, with 2 children’s bedrooms – What do you think of the floor plan?
Created on: 4 Aug 2018 14:18
S
Stege90
Hello,
we have been offered a plot of land by a developer and would like to build our future home there. The plot is located at the end of a cul-de-sac in a traffic-calmed residential area (infilling development).
I should mention upfront that we have not yet received much information from the developer. We shared our rough requirements with him, and he has created a first draft, so far only for the ground floor.
It would be great if you could help us evaluate this early on before we progress too far in the planning and have to make major changes later.
The positioning of the house on the plot is due to the fact that all other options we considered would cast too much shadow on the rest of the plot.
The plot shown as undeveloped on the site plan has meanwhile been built on with a bungalow (marked). A carport will be constructed between the bungalow and our plot.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 750 m² (about 8,070 sq ft)
Slope: none
Floor area ratio: no information received yet
Plot ratio: no information received yet
Building window, building line, and boundary: no information received yet
Edge development: no information received yet
Number of parking spaces: no information received yet
Number of floors: no information received yet
Roof shape:
Architectural style:
Orientation: see image
Maximum heights / limits: ?
Additional requirements?
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: A mono-pitched roof was preferred to minimize sloping ceilings, but according to the developer and the development plan this is not permitted, so a gable roof was proposed – this still needs clarification.
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: currently 3 (28, 28, 1), planned: second child
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: Ground floor: guest toilet, utility room, kitchen/dining room, living room; Upper floor: 3 bedrooms, office, bathroom
Office use: family or home office? office to be used occasionally as a mobile workspace; initially also as a guest room
Guests per year – every 3 months 2-4 people
Open or closed layout – rather closed
Conservative or modern construction: probably a mix
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen connected to dining room – no freestanding kitchen island; separation from dining area by a counter
Number of dining seats: minimum 6, option for a large dining table (big family)
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: yes, in the living room where the sofa is currently planned (wall on the left towards the carport); sofa arranged in an L-shape facing north and east – pictures might be hung on the wall towards the dining room
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage was requested, but we also like the current proposal
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be included:
Bathroom – T-shaped bathroom with shower cabin desired; a large washbasin
Walk-in closet not desired
No basement
Access via the garage/carport
House Design
Designed by:
- planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like and why? What do you dislike and why?
We definitely want the carport to be wider than in the initial floor plan – at least 4 meters (about 13 feet).
Noticeable is the missing entrance area, i.e. the actual front door. Initially, this seemed strange to us, but it provides many opportunities for the interior layout, so after some consideration we don’t find it so bad.
Price estimate according to architect/planner; personal price limit for the house, including fittings: approx. €260,000
Preferred heating technology: not discussed yet
If you have to give up something, which features/extensions
- can you do without: garage – already left out by the developer to enable the design without a main entrance area
- cannot do without: kitchen/dining area – pantry next to the kitchen
Why is the design like it is? For example:
We do not want a completely open living/dining area. Therefore, the living room should be a separate, closed room.
[U]What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What do you think about the missing traditional entrance area?
Please feel free to criticize and offer suggestions for improvement. For now, the focus is on the house location on the plot and the ground floor layout. Since we are still at the beginning, many things are still changeable.
we have been offered a plot of land by a developer and would like to build our future home there. The plot is located at the end of a cul-de-sac in a traffic-calmed residential area (infilling development).
I should mention upfront that we have not yet received much information from the developer. We shared our rough requirements with him, and he has created a first draft, so far only for the ground floor.
It would be great if you could help us evaluate this early on before we progress too far in the planning and have to make major changes later.
The positioning of the house on the plot is due to the fact that all other options we considered would cast too much shadow on the rest of the plot.
The plot shown as undeveloped on the site plan has meanwhile been built on with a bungalow (marked). A carport will be constructed between the bungalow and our plot.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 750 m² (about 8,070 sq ft)
Slope: none
Floor area ratio: no information received yet
Plot ratio: no information received yet
Building window, building line, and boundary: no information received yet
Edge development: no information received yet
Number of parking spaces: no information received yet
Number of floors: no information received yet
Roof shape:
Architectural style:
Orientation: see image
Maximum heights / limits: ?
Additional requirements?
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: A mono-pitched roof was preferred to minimize sloping ceilings, but according to the developer and the development plan this is not permitted, so a gable roof was proposed – this still needs clarification.
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: currently 3 (28, 28, 1), planned: second child
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: Ground floor: guest toilet, utility room, kitchen/dining room, living room; Upper floor: 3 bedrooms, office, bathroom
Office use: family or home office? office to be used occasionally as a mobile workspace; initially also as a guest room
Guests per year – every 3 months 2-4 people
Open or closed layout – rather closed
Conservative or modern construction: probably a mix
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen connected to dining room – no freestanding kitchen island; separation from dining area by a counter
Number of dining seats: minimum 6, option for a large dining table (big family)
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: yes, in the living room where the sofa is currently planned (wall on the left towards the carport); sofa arranged in an L-shape facing north and east – pictures might be hung on the wall towards the dining room
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage was requested, but we also like the current proposal
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be included:
Bathroom – T-shaped bathroom with shower cabin desired; a large washbasin
Walk-in closet not desired
No basement
Access via the garage/carport
House Design
Designed by:
- planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like and why? What do you dislike and why?
We definitely want the carport to be wider than in the initial floor plan – at least 4 meters (about 13 feet).
Noticeable is the missing entrance area, i.e. the actual front door. Initially, this seemed strange to us, but it provides many opportunities for the interior layout, so after some consideration we don’t find it so bad.
Price estimate according to architect/planner; personal price limit for the house, including fittings: approx. €260,000
Preferred heating technology: not discussed yet
If you have to give up something, which features/extensions
- can you do without: garage – already left out by the developer to enable the design without a main entrance area
- cannot do without: kitchen/dining area – pantry next to the kitchen
Why is the design like it is? For example:
We do not want a completely open living/dining area. Therefore, the living room should be a separate, closed room.
[U]What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What do you think about the missing traditional entrance area?
Please feel free to criticize and offer suggestions for improvement. For now, the focus is on the house location on the plot and the ground floor layout. Since we are still at the beginning, many things are still changeable.
J
j.bautsch14 Aug 2018 07:43I really don’t like the staircase solution. If the staircase is enclosed, the space between the stairs going up and down will become very narrow and tunnel-like. Apart from that, I also don’t like the hallway layout, especially in the first design where you have to zigzag around the wardrobe, and then the width is only 1.13m (3.7 ft). I once had 1.20m (4 ft) and already found that quite tight, especially with two-way traffic, and these are raw construction dimensions, right (so it will get even narrower)?
11ant schrieb:
A kitchen-living room combined with a separate sitting area totaling 48 sqm (516 sq ft) is unexpectedly spacious for such a settler-style cottage, but on the other hand definitely worth reconsidering for a more successful layout.
I don’t believe in the 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) interior wall. Where exactly does the 45 cm (18 inches) exterior wall thickness come from?
Overall, the design looks much more coherent – but have you considered my "high" opinion of the contractor?
I’ve already shared my opinion about the contractor.
We like the layout as it is. At least, we wouldn’t know what we would change significantly in the floor plan. We would like the living room to be separate from the kitchen/dining area.
What exactly do you mean by the 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) interior wall and the 45 cm (18 inches) exterior wall thickness?
ypg schrieb:
Are there already dimensions for the plot? And what does Bu mean on the site plan?
And is the driveway not possible via the upper right corner? “Bu” stands for the bungalow currently under construction there. Unfortunately, the driveway via the upper right corner is not possible.
The plot is about 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft).
Bookstar schrieb:
The hallway on the ground floor seems too narrow to me. How much space is there? It looks very much like a corridor. See below.
j.bautsch schrieb:
I don’t like the stair solution at all. If the stairs are closed off, it will feel very corridor-like (between the stair access points). Otherwise, I also don’t like the hallway situation, especially in the first proposal where you have to weave around the coat rack, and then there are only 1.13 m (44.5 inches) wide. I once had 1.20 m (47 inches) and found that quite tight, especially with two-way traffic. Are those raw structural dimensions? (Would it get even narrower then?) You are right about the closed-off stairs. Would it help if we rotated the staircase back and kept the area beneath the stairs open or something similar? Would that make the hallway feel noticeably more spacious overall?
In our current apartment, the hallway is 1.25 m (49 inches) wide, but all doors open into the hallway, which is quite annoying. The 1.13 m (44.5 inches) width is indeed not much, but that would only apply over a length of about 1.50 m (59 inches), and the doors do not open into the hallway.
We currently have one more question and would appreciate your opinions on it.
According to the builder, the heating boiler could also be installed in the attic, which would free up some space in the utility room. What are the pros and cons of this?
We plan to use the utility room, among other things, for hanging and drying laundry. Does a heating boiler radiate enough heat to make it more practical to keep it in the utility room for drying clothes?
According to the builder, the heating boiler could also be installed in the attic, which would free up some space in the utility room. What are the pros and cons of this?
We plan to use the utility room, among other things, for hanging and drying laundry. Does a heating boiler radiate enough heat to make it more practical to keep it in the utility room for drying clothes?
Stege90 schrieb:
What do you mean by the 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) interior wall and the 45 cm (18 inches) exterior wall thickness? I would expect a load-bearing interior wall to be at least 17.5 cm (7 inches) thick. A 45 cm (18 inches) thickness isn’t a standard masonry dimension – common sizes are 36.5 cm (14.4 inches), 49 cm (19.3 inches), or increasingly 42.5 cm (16.7 inches) – so it suggests a multi-layer wall construction. In my opinion, it’s worth asking what kind of wall assembly is planned.
Stege90 schrieb:
Should there be a door leading north from the utility room, or is a window sufficient? I would install a door and, for that reason, omit the eastern door of the storage room.
Stege90 schrieb:
Does a heating boiler possibly still emit enough warmth to make drying laundry in the utility room more practical? A boiler heater does not, and according to common opinion, a full-size furnace wouldn’t either nowadays.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Stege90 schrieb:
Bu stands for the bungalow currently under construction there. Unfortunately, access via the upper right corner is not possible.
The plot is approximately 750 m² (8,073 sq ft) in size.Ah, so it’s the upper plot.
When mentioning dimensions, width and depth are usually meant, not the area.
I would still design the house to be accessible from the south and place the window fronts of the living area facing south and west.
It’s not pleasant to enter a house through a narrow, angled hallway.
Stege90 schrieb:
Does a heating boiler still emit heat, making it more practical to leave it in the utility room for drying laundry?No matter. With heating equipment in the room, drying linty laundry there is not advisable.