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.
I am happy to explain our perspective on the two points mentioned.
Regarding the slope of the pantry, my wife shares a similar view. However, this makes the pantry wall shorter towards the entrance door and, in my opinion, limits the narrow corridor section to a minimum.
If there were no slope, the wall would simply be somewhat longer, which would increase the zig-zag corridor effect again.
Do you think that would really be the better option?
Moving the entrance door further north is very difficult because, with the parked car in front, the entrance would no longer feel "open," and less light would enter the hallway.
For this reason, we unfortunately cannot use your floor plan kbt09 in this regard. We now have to make the best out of this version.
But thank you very much for the suggestion. We will keep your ideas for the bathroom in mind once the fundamental "issues" are resolved.
We do not want to move the pantry to another location in the house because we find the close proximity to the kitchen practical.
Regarding the suggested wider staircase: we have not yet had the walking width calculated, but the staircase does meet standard dimensions. With 2.01m (6 ft 7 in), there remains about 80–85 cm (31–33 inches) of walking width. What are the benefits of a wider staircase?
However, we would probably reduce the size of the utility room and the upstairs office by about 30 cm (12 inches), as this would also make the hallway downstairs feel more open again.
This way, the kitchen door would move further to the left (as in the original plan), but we would actually plan for two tall cabinets there and still have the door open to the left. With a doorstop, that should really not be a problem.
The separation between the living room and the kitchen/dining area, I believe, is simply a matter of taste. Some prefer it one way, others another. The living room faces northeast, but we have a nice view of the green garden through the large windows. I do not need direct sunlight in the living room (considering heat and darkening). The guest toilet and pantry in the south result naturally from the house's orientation on the lot and the other conditions. We are basically satisfied with this now.
We will not make any further changes to the room layout. We want to make the best out of what is now given, as mentioned above. Therefore, we would still appreciate suggestions, especially regarding the arrangement of the windows on the south side (symmetry between bathroom and kitchen windows).
Regarding the slope of the pantry, my wife shares a similar view. However, this makes the pantry wall shorter towards the entrance door and, in my opinion, limits the narrow corridor section to a minimum.
If there were no slope, the wall would simply be somewhat longer, which would increase the zig-zag corridor effect again.
Do you think that would really be the better option?
Moving the entrance door further north is very difficult because, with the parked car in front, the entrance would no longer feel "open," and less light would enter the hallway.
For this reason, we unfortunately cannot use your floor plan kbt09 in this regard. We now have to make the best out of this version.
But thank you very much for the suggestion. We will keep your ideas for the bathroom in mind once the fundamental "issues" are resolved.
We do not want to move the pantry to another location in the house because we find the close proximity to the kitchen practical.
Regarding the suggested wider staircase: we have not yet had the walking width calculated, but the staircase does meet standard dimensions. With 2.01m (6 ft 7 in), there remains about 80–85 cm (31–33 inches) of walking width. What are the benefits of a wider staircase?
However, we would probably reduce the size of the utility room and the upstairs office by about 30 cm (12 inches), as this would also make the hallway downstairs feel more open again.
This way, the kitchen door would move further to the left (as in the original plan), but we would actually plan for two tall cabinets there and still have the door open to the left. With a doorstop, that should really not be a problem.
The separation between the living room and the kitchen/dining area, I believe, is simply a matter of taste. Some prefer it one way, others another. The living room faces northeast, but we have a nice view of the green garden through the large windows. I do not need direct sunlight in the living room (considering heat and darkening). The guest toilet and pantry in the south result naturally from the house's orientation on the lot and the other conditions. We are basically satisfied with this now.
We will not make any further changes to the room layout. We want to make the best out of what is now given, as mentioned above. Therefore, we would still appreciate suggestions, especially regarding the arrangement of the windows on the south side (symmetry between bathroom and kitchen windows).
The T-shaped bathroom layout doesn’t work properly:
Room width:
338 cm (11 ft) – 90 cm (3 ft) shower – 18 cm (7 in) wall – 85 cm (33 in) bathtub – 10 cm (4 in) plaster and tiles on the multiple walls – 55 cm (22 in) for a realistically sized sink.
That leaves an 80 cm (31 in) walkway… okay, it might be just enough, but less generous than the drawing suggests.
However, the T-shaped shower is pointless if the shower door is positioned as shown. If the shower door is instead placed in the passage, it would extend into the window area, and the window would need to become significantly narrower—probably no wider than about 126 cm (50 in).
@Stege90 … it would be great if the house could be redrawn to scale in the site plan.
Room width:
338 cm (11 ft) – 90 cm (3 ft) shower – 18 cm (7 in) wall – 85 cm (33 in) bathtub – 10 cm (4 in) plaster and tiles on the multiple walls – 55 cm (22 in) for a realistically sized sink.
That leaves an 80 cm (31 in) walkway… okay, it might be just enough, but less generous than the drawing suggests.
However, the T-shaped shower is pointless if the shower door is positioned as shown. If the shower door is instead placed in the passage, it would extend into the window area, and the window would need to become significantly narrower—probably no wider than about 126 cm (50 in).
@Stege90 … it would be great if the house could be redrawn to scale in the site plan.
By the way, it is true that you can install slightly larger windows in the children’s rooms. The current windows are really too small.
Also, staircase layouts are linked here: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-unbedingt-vor-Beitrag-Erstellung-lesen.11714/.
Regarding the tread width… you will want to carry wardrobes, mattresses, etc. upstairs. The narrower the staircase, the more difficult this becomes. So definitely test this out. If you make the staircase wider, I would reduce space in the living area.
Finally, check the house orientation; I would really adjust the hallway according to my suggested changes. You will get a straighter layout with better storage where it is needed.
Also, staircase layouts are linked here: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-unbedingt-vor-Beitrag-Erstellung-lesen.11714/.
Regarding the tread width… you will want to carry wardrobes, mattresses, etc. upstairs. The narrower the staircase, the more difficult this becomes. So definitely test this out. If you make the staircase wider, I would reduce space in the living area.
Finally, check the house orientation; I would really adjust the hallway according to my suggested changes. You will get a straighter layout with better storage where it is needed.
The design is getting worse and worse.
The pantry still has its south-facing window. Everything here revolves around the impossible entrance under the carport... as if you wanted to deliberately create a bottleneck with a maze.
Is it possible that you cannot understand our well-intentioned and sensible advice?
The pantry still has its south-facing window. Everything here revolves around the impossible entrance under the carport... as if you wanted to deliberately create a bottleneck with a maze.
Is it possible that you cannot understand our well-intentioned and sensible advice?
Stege90 schrieb:
We don’t want to place the pantry anywhere else in the house because we find having it close to the kitchen very practical.Just take this as an example: the pantry as it is cannot be used properly because of the window facing south. After three days of sunshine, the heat doesn’t leave that narrow room, making it uncomfortable for anyone to stay there. Food spoils quickly.
O
Obstlerbaum3 Sep 2018 18:01Stege90 schrieb:
Moving the front door further north is very difficult because the door would no longer appear "open" due to the parked car in front, and less light would enter the hallway.
We don’t want the pantry in another location in the house because we find the direct proximity to the kitchen practical. Maybe shift the house 2.5m (8 feet) east within the building boundary, then you would have space in front of the entrance to move it north.
Having the pantry next to the kitchen makes sense, but why not just swap the living room and kitchen? That way, you would achieve three things at once:
- Living room with southern exposure
- Dining room with southern exposure
- Pantry directly adjacent to the kitchen and cool on the north side
Similar topics