ᐅ Floor plan of a 160 sqm urban villa, without a basement – what are your thoughts?
Created on: 10 May 2018 02:46
P
Patkia
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 626 sqm (6730 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.35 + 50% for ancillary structures
Floor area ratio:
Building window, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 ft), no special requirements
Edge development: permitted
Number of parking spaces: no requirement
Number of floors: 3
Roof type: -
Architectural style: -
Orientation: -
Maximum heights / limits: 12 m (39 ft)
Additional requirements: 1 tree per every 300 sqm (3200 sq ft) started
Homeowners’ Requirements
City villa style, hip / pyramid roof
2 full stories
Residents: 2 adults, around 30 years old, 1-2 children planned
Room requirements:
Ground floor: kitchen / dining / living / pantry / guest room (office) / utility room / guest WC
Upper floor: 3 bedrooms / walk-in closet / storage / bathroom
Office: on ground floor, also to be used as guest room
Occasional overnight guests
Open or closed layout: partly open / partly closed
Traditional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island, possibly a small pantry
Minimum seating at dining table: 6
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: home cinema area
Roof terrace: possibly planned later on garage
Garage: yes, double garage with workshop / storage area: 9 m × 6.5 m (30 ft × 21 ft) with access to the house, planned as self-built, driveway large enough for 2 cars
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are preferred or avoided:
Primarily for aesthetic reasons, a small bay window should be included. Not deeper than 50 cm (20 inches) due to roof overhang. There will be a canopy over the front door as a visual relief, so the bay window should face the garden.
Ground Floor (GF):
Bright hallway,
Large kitchen with island (including seating, e.g., stools) and preferably a small pantry (possibly accessible via a "fake" kitchen cabinet), plus a small “bench” made from low cabinets by the window, double-leaf sliding door guided inside the wall to separate dining / living area,
Bright dining area,
Spacious living area, preferably with a panoramic fireplace as a room divider (not next to the TV),
Guest room / office,
Generous utility room with space for possibly two electrical panels, softener system, ground source heat pump, washing machine (possibly dryer), and drying rack,
Guest WC with shower.
Upper Floor (UF): at least 2 children’s rooms, 1 storage room, bedroom can be fairly small. Instead, a spacious bathroom with 2 washbasins (or 1 long basin with 2 faucets), bathtub up to 2 m (6.5 ft), and shower. WC with privacy screen, e.g., with door T-shaped.
Walk-through dressing room between bedroom and bathroom. Sliding door on the wall between bedroom and dressing room and regular door between dressing room and bathroom. Bathroom should also be accessible from the hallway.
General:
Many windows (included in house price without limitation on number or size), some floor-to-ceiling. Possibly preparation in the bedroom for access to the (planned) roof terrace on the garage,
Lifting sliding door system between living / dining area and terrace,
Doors at least 1 m (39 inches) wide on the ground floor,
Terrace on the left side of the house, i.e., facing south. Depending on kitchen location, possibly also a narrower terrace around the corner at the top.
Ultimately, we think it would almost be nicer if the kitchen were on the left so you can look into the garden from there and have direct access to the large terrace. But this criterion changes with every revision of the floor plan :|
House Design
Who designed the plan:
The house plans mainly come from us with some inspiration from the internet.
So far, there has been no truly professional involvement. The upper floor plan was found directly online. However, there the house width is only 10 m (33 ft) instead of 10.5 m (34 ft). Also, the bay window on the left is obviously not included. It would be great to add a small storage room here.
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you dislike? Why?
The two above points are not fully answered yet. We have often moved the kitchen from right to left and back without finding an ideal solution.
Similarly, we are not sure whether the garage should be placed far forward with some space behind for storage out of garden view, or moved about 2 m (6.5 ft) further back (3 m / 10 ft from boundary) to gain some visual privacy from the diagonal neighbor. We are open to innovative ideas about garage placement. It must definitely have access to the house.
Estimated cost according to architect / planner: 230,000
Personal budget limit for house including features: 240,000 (excluding garage, but including foundation slab)
Preferred heating technology: ground source heat pump
If you have to give up some features / extensions:
- What can you do without: hard to say, maybe the pantry? Though supplies would then have to be stored in expensive kitchen cabinets that offer less space.
- What can’t you do without: guest room on the ground floor, space for drying rack in the utility room (never want one of those racks visible in a living area again!).
Why is the design the way it is now?
The design came about through lots of freehand drawing on paper and tinkering on computer to get the best results. Unfortunately, we are stuck now.
Which of your wishes have been implemented by the architect?
A mixture of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think works well or poorly?
Poor: the downstairs and upstairs layouts are hard to coordinate, especially because of the staircase.
Pretty good: the upper floor layout, except that fitting a second door into the bathroom will be difficult.
Downstairs we have been constantly swapping kitchen front left and guest room top right or vice versa. We haven’t agreed on what would be easier to furnish.
What is your key fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we fit all our wishes in the best mix of space, appearance, and usability in the floor plan?
Note: The plan might receive harsh criticism from forum users. Feedback is usually unfiltered—please be prepared. Nobody means to offend; it’s their perspective to help or open your eyes.
Thanks in advance for your help
Plot size: 626 sqm (6730 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.35 + 50% for ancillary structures
Floor area ratio:
Building window, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 ft), no special requirements
Edge development: permitted
Number of parking spaces: no requirement
Number of floors: 3
Roof type: -
Architectural style: -
Orientation: -
Maximum heights / limits: 12 m (39 ft)
Additional requirements: 1 tree per every 300 sqm (3200 sq ft) started
Homeowners’ Requirements
City villa style, hip / pyramid roof
2 full stories
Residents: 2 adults, around 30 years old, 1-2 children planned
Room requirements:
Ground floor: kitchen / dining / living / pantry / guest room (office) / utility room / guest WC
Upper floor: 3 bedrooms / walk-in closet / storage / bathroom
Office: on ground floor, also to be used as guest room
Occasional overnight guests
Open or closed layout: partly open / partly closed
Traditional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island, possibly a small pantry
Minimum seating at dining table: 6
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: home cinema area
Roof terrace: possibly planned later on garage
Garage: yes, double garage with workshop / storage area: 9 m × 6.5 m (30 ft × 21 ft) with access to the house, planned as self-built, driveway large enough for 2 cars
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are preferred or avoided:
Primarily for aesthetic reasons, a small bay window should be included. Not deeper than 50 cm (20 inches) due to roof overhang. There will be a canopy over the front door as a visual relief, so the bay window should face the garden.
Ground Floor (GF):
Bright hallway,
Large kitchen with island (including seating, e.g., stools) and preferably a small pantry (possibly accessible via a "fake" kitchen cabinet), plus a small “bench” made from low cabinets by the window, double-leaf sliding door guided inside the wall to separate dining / living area,
Bright dining area,
Spacious living area, preferably with a panoramic fireplace as a room divider (not next to the TV),
Guest room / office,
Generous utility room with space for possibly two electrical panels, softener system, ground source heat pump, washing machine (possibly dryer), and drying rack,
Guest WC with shower.
Upper Floor (UF): at least 2 children’s rooms, 1 storage room, bedroom can be fairly small. Instead, a spacious bathroom with 2 washbasins (or 1 long basin with 2 faucets), bathtub up to 2 m (6.5 ft), and shower. WC with privacy screen, e.g., with door T-shaped.
Walk-through dressing room between bedroom and bathroom. Sliding door on the wall between bedroom and dressing room and regular door between dressing room and bathroom. Bathroom should also be accessible from the hallway.
General:
Many windows (included in house price without limitation on number or size), some floor-to-ceiling. Possibly preparation in the bedroom for access to the (planned) roof terrace on the garage,
Lifting sliding door system between living / dining area and terrace,
Doors at least 1 m (39 inches) wide on the ground floor,
Terrace on the left side of the house, i.e., facing south. Depending on kitchen location, possibly also a narrower terrace around the corner at the top.
Ultimately, we think it would almost be nicer if the kitchen were on the left so you can look into the garden from there and have direct access to the large terrace. But this criterion changes with every revision of the floor plan :|
House Design
Who designed the plan:
The house plans mainly come from us with some inspiration from the internet.
So far, there has been no truly professional involvement. The upper floor plan was found directly online. However, there the house width is only 10 m (33 ft) instead of 10.5 m (34 ft). Also, the bay window on the left is obviously not included. It would be great to add a small storage room here.
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you dislike? Why?
The two above points are not fully answered yet. We have often moved the kitchen from right to left and back without finding an ideal solution.
Similarly, we are not sure whether the garage should be placed far forward with some space behind for storage out of garden view, or moved about 2 m (6.5 ft) further back (3 m / 10 ft from boundary) to gain some visual privacy from the diagonal neighbor. We are open to innovative ideas about garage placement. It must definitely have access to the house.
Estimated cost according to architect / planner: 230,000
Personal budget limit for house including features: 240,000 (excluding garage, but including foundation slab)
Preferred heating technology: ground source heat pump
If you have to give up some features / extensions:
- What can you do without: hard to say, maybe the pantry? Though supplies would then have to be stored in expensive kitchen cabinets that offer less space.
- What can’t you do without: guest room on the ground floor, space for drying rack in the utility room (never want one of those racks visible in a living area again!).
Why is the design the way it is now?
The design came about through lots of freehand drawing on paper and tinkering on computer to get the best results. Unfortunately, we are stuck now.
Which of your wishes have been implemented by the architect?
A mixture of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think works well or poorly?
Poor: the downstairs and upstairs layouts are hard to coordinate, especially because of the staircase.
Pretty good: the upper floor layout, except that fitting a second door into the bathroom will be difficult.
Downstairs we have been constantly swapping kitchen front left and guest room top right or vice versa. We haven’t agreed on what would be easier to furnish.
What is your key fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we fit all our wishes in the best mix of space, appearance, and usability in the floor plan?
Note: The plan might receive harsh criticism from forum users. Feedback is usually unfiltered—please be prepared. Nobody means to offend; it’s their perspective to help or open your eyes.
Thanks in advance for your help
Patkia schrieb:
But with the 3-meter (10 feet) upward extension, we only have 9 meters (30 feet) as the boundary constructionBut then just skip the 0.75 and make it a proper boundary construction.
Where do you plan to place the entrance? By the garage or facing the street?
No, the 0.75 meters (30 inches) are important to us. It may sound odd, but we simply want to be able to walk all the way around our house. Additionally, we don’t want to have to go onto the neighbor’s property every time some work or similar needs to be done on the wall.
I also don’t want my garage to end up being used as a soccer goal by the neighbor’s kids.
Among other things, the entrance is also a constant topic. We would like to have the entrance facing the street, not the garage.
I also don’t want my garage to end up being used as a soccer goal by the neighbor’s kids.
Among other things, the entrance is also a constant topic. We would like to have the entrance facing the street, not the garage.
Just to clarify:
If I want a laundry room upstairs without having a boxed-in area downstairs, both the bathroom and the laundry room need to be next to each other and located above the utility room on the ground floor because of the water connections, right?
I have been working on the floor plans from @kaho674 all this time, trying to adapt them for us. By now, we quite like them (yes, rotated), but there are still a few adjustments needed.
If I want a laundry room upstairs without having a boxed-in area downstairs, both the bathroom and the laundry room need to be next to each other and located above the utility room on the ground floor because of the water connections, right?
I have been working on the floor plans from @kaho674 all this time, trying to adapt them for us. By now, we quite like them (yes, rotated), but there are still a few adjustments needed.
Patkia schrieb:
By now, we quite like the (yes, rotated) version. Just that it would still need a few adjustments To be honest, I find the rotated version quite poor, since it wasn’t designed for that. If I were you, I would rather try the version with the combined living area arranged in a row.
So, I spent a few more hours working on it, trying to make the best out of it and meet as many wishes as possible.
I’m not completely satisfied yet, mainly due to the tight space on the right side of the upper floor. But in principle, everything should fit. I intentionally took the furniture dimensions larger than usual so I wouldn’t have to say next time, “oh no, it doesn’t fit, built too small.”
For example, the sofa is 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in) wide, and the dining table measures 2 m by 1 m (6 ft 7 in by 3 ft 3 in). These are already XL sizes, even though our actual furniture is much smaller.
Additionally, there is the question of whether the staircase is realistic. I followed @kaho674’s design and dimensions.
What I still don’t know is how practical the bathroom is. I positioned both the laundry room and the bathroom towards the ground floor utility area, but I’m not sure if you would see a suitcase from downstairs, for example, if the bathtub is placed where it currently is.
You probably know more about that, right?
Most of the windows were just roughly placed for now, so there is no detailed planning behind them yet.
I rendered 2-3 images to get an initial impression of how it might look.
By the way, we have ruled out arranging all the rooms in a row. Among other reasons, we want to set up the TV corner so that no direct sunlight shines on the TV from behind, which would make it impossible to see anything.
Edit: I forgot a bookshelf in the hallway on the upper floor, so don’t be surprised by the black box next to the staircase.
In the bedroom, I initially lowered the 114 cm (45 in) wall to the dressing room to have a continuous wall, but I found the bedroom felt more open with it as it is now, letting in more light.
I’m not completely satisfied yet, mainly due to the tight space on the right side of the upper floor. But in principle, everything should fit. I intentionally took the furniture dimensions larger than usual so I wouldn’t have to say next time, “oh no, it doesn’t fit, built too small.”
For example, the sofa is 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in) wide, and the dining table measures 2 m by 1 m (6 ft 7 in by 3 ft 3 in). These are already XL sizes, even though our actual furniture is much smaller.
Additionally, there is the question of whether the staircase is realistic. I followed @kaho674’s design and dimensions.
What I still don’t know is how practical the bathroom is. I positioned both the laundry room and the bathroom towards the ground floor utility area, but I’m not sure if you would see a suitcase from downstairs, for example, if the bathtub is placed where it currently is.
You probably know more about that, right?
Most of the windows were just roughly placed for now, so there is no detailed planning behind them yet.
I rendered 2-3 images to get an initial impression of how it might look.
By the way, we have ruled out arranging all the rooms in a row. Among other reasons, we want to set up the TV corner so that no direct sunlight shines on the TV from behind, which would make it impossible to see anything.
Edit: I forgot a bookshelf in the hallway on the upper floor, so don’t be surprised by the black box next to the staircase.
In the bedroom, I initially lowered the 114 cm (45 in) wall to the dressing room to have a continuous wall, but I found the bedroom felt more open with it as it is now, letting in more light.
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