ᐅ 160 m² single-family house with timber frame construction on a north-facing slope, including a basement

Hello,

below you will find our (almost) final floor plan. Only a few adjustments and changes to the windows are still being made. We would appreciate your feedback.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Construction according to Paragraph 34 of the Building Code. Neighboring buildings are 1.5 to 2 stories with pitched roofs.

Plot Size
3000m2 (approximately 0.74 acres), building area around 600m2 (0.15 acres) along the street

Slope
Approximately 2m (6.6 feet) diagonal incline where the house will be located, rising from southwest to northeast

Orientation
South (uphill side)

Client Requirements: Style, Roof Type, Building Type
Single-family house, pitched roof (most cost-effective), rather open design

Basement, Floors
Full basement + 2 floors

Number of Occupants, Age
2 adults + 2 children (planned)

Room Requirements on Ground Floor and Upper Floor
Open kitchen + dining area + living room, pantry, study, guest WC, parents’ area (bedroom, walk-in closet, bathroom), children’s area (2 bedrooms + bathroom), garage, utility room, storage room

Office: Family use or home office?
Family use + emergency children’s bedroom

Overnight Guests per Year
1-2

Open or Closed Architecture
Rather open

Conservative or Modern Building Style
Rather modern

Open Kitchen, Kitchen Island
Open kitchen, island not necessary

Number of Dining Seats
6

Fireplace
No

Music / Stereo Wall
5.1 surround, approx. 3 meters (10 feet) for TV, etc.

Balcony, Roof Terrace
No

Garage, Carport
In the basement

House Design
Who Created the Plan:
Floor plan from a construction company, modified according to our wishes by the planner of a prefab house company (structural engineer)

What Do You Like Especially? Why?

- Separate parents’ area

- Open design with living room accessible from two sides

- Staircase on the north side, where the street is

- Garage inside the house

- Large windows facing south

- Living room + kitchen + dining areas facing south

- Open ridge ceiling on the upper floor

What Do You Dislike? Why?

- Low, small windows on the upper floor due to the 1.8m (5.9 feet) knee wall height – we will probably raise this to 2.10m (6.9 feet)

- Boring exterior appearance

- Small study room, but currently the best compromise for us

- Kitchen windows not floor-to-ceiling, will be changed

- Possibly too few windows

Cost Estimate from Architect / Planner:

Approximately 400,000 Euro turnkey, including photovoltaic system and natural fiber insulation (ecological) fixed-price offer including basement, electric garage door, etc.

Laminate flooring

External roller blinds in living/kitchen/dining areas

No controlled mechanical ventilation.

No waterproof concrete basement (no “white tank” system).

Personal Price Limit for the House, Including Equipment:
House including all ancillary costs 470,000 Euro

Preferred Heating Technology:
Air-to-water heat pump + photovoltaic system

If You Had to Cut Back, Which Details / Extensions Could You Forgo:
Basement, but due to the slope it does not make much economic sense. Otherwise, we have already cut back as much as we can imagine.

Why Does the Design Look Like It Does Now?
We liked the design from the start, especially the south orientation of all main rooms suits the plot very well.

What Is the Most Important / Basic Question About the Floor Plan in 130 Characters or Less?
1. From what knee wall height do windows including rolling shutters below the knee wall really make sense? At 1.8m (5.9 feet) knee wall, windows would be at hip height, which is not a solution for us. For example, in the children’s room, a desk should fit underneath.

2. According to the soil report, we have about 1m (3.3 feet) of soil class 4 and below that soil class 5-6. What costs could be expected for earthworks on a sloped site?

3. Do you think a mechanical ventilation system is essential in a timber frame house? According to two reputable prefab house providers, it is mostly unnecessary and mainly important only for allergy sufferers.

A small note on the attached files: in the Google Maps image, south is at the top and the plot is where the two yellow markers are. In the views, I sketched around a bit unfortunately.

What I don’t like right away: the many different window sizes. There are four on the front (garage side) and three at the back (garden side). On top of that, the windows are arranged all over the place, which makes the overall look quite chaotic. The walk-in closet is too narrow to be used effectively (one side remains unused). The rooms feel narrow and corridor-like, sometimes awkwardly shaped. A lot of space is wasted on circulation areas and hallways. Was this really designed by an architect?

Thank you for your feedback.
We completely agree with you regarding the windows. We are not happy with them either, and our structural engineer hasn’t been able to offer many constructive suggestions.
Basically, the dressing room is more like a walk-in closet. With 4m (13 feet) of wardrobe space that we want to fit in, it will always be tight unless you plan a very large room. Currently, we get dressed in about the same area, which works well in principle. Of course, the parents’ area could be redesigned.
The layout, in its main features (ground floor, children’s rooms), is a standard design from a high-end prefab house company.
Best regards

Clearly, the slope is challenging, but the poor child coming home from school has to crawl through the entire house all the way to their room (with a narrow slit window), or is there no open space on the first floor?

What are the general sill heights of the windows? A bit more dimensioning would be helpful.
As a counter question regarding the ventilation system: what does the heating concept look like with the reputable suppliers?

So far, we have not received a plan with more dimensions, but this could certainly be arranged upon request.
We were told the windows can start about 60 cm (24 inches) below the knee wall, meaning at 1.20 m (47 inches), which would result in a 55 cm (22 inches) sill height with a 65 cm (26 inches) window height.
The heating system would be an air-water heat pump with underfloor heating.

Edit: There is no open space in the ceiling on the first floor. This means there is one above it.

Lbx schrieb:
The design is basically a standard layout (ground floor, kids’ rooms) from a high-end prefabricated house company.

I find it quite disappointing that it was done so carelessly there.

In the basement, almost 11 sqm (118 sq ft) are wasted in the entrance area, and then another third of the utility room space is lost due to the passageway.

On the ground floor, the sofa in the design juts into the middle of the room, and the area at the bottom left also looks like wasted space. What is supposed to go there? Does the guest toilet need a window facing north, or would east be just as good? That way the windows in both the north and east could be arranged better.

Overall, the entrance situation takes some getting used to: You enter the house through the basement (okay, it’s a hillside location) and first find yourself in a room with a staircase. Upstairs, you come face to face with the guest toilet and the office (the cloakroom is probably planned downstairs?). Then you turn the corner and have to walk through the kitchen before eventually reaching the living room. Is that how you want it?

Upstairs, a lot of space is again lost to circulation, and similarly, much space is wasted in the bathroom. For example, how do you intend to use the bottom right corner of the bathroom effectively? Nothing really fits well there.

The children’s rooms are also quite awkwardly shaped. Are you planning to put wide beds in there when they become teenagers?

You actually have a large house with a lot of area, but to my taste, not much usable space.

Did the seller draw this themselves, or did they really consult an architect? To me, it looks more like a seller’s draft without much attention to detail.