Hello,
we have been silent readers for quite some time. Now it is getting serious for us: we have a potential plot, a fixed-price contract with a prefab home builder is signed, and tomorrow is our first appointment with the architect.
I would like to briefly present our plans here and am already looking forward to feedback.
What is especially important to us:
1) A full story is specified, but the ridge height may be up to 9 m (29.5 ft). We want to increase the ground floor area using bay windows so that the usable space on the upper floor under the sloped ceilings is minimal (Hessen; upper floor max. 75% of ground floor with height >2.3 m (7.5 ft) from raw floor to the top of the roof structure). With this, we aim to achieve a knee wall of about 1.5 m (5 ft) clear height with a roof pitch of around 35°. This should keep the total height just under 9 m.
2) Due to our family situation, we need a spacious room on the ground floor (I call it guest) including a fully functional, accessible bathroom with barrier-free features.
I have attached the floor plan ideas. In the image showing the house and outdoor areas, the garden is slightly cut off at the top, meaning the garden extends a bit further. Unfortunately, it faces NNW.
A few details:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: approx. 580 m² (6,243 sq ft). Width 16 m (52.5 ft), length 36 m (118 ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor space index: 0.7
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: 5 m (16.5 ft) distance from street, 3 m (10 ft) on right/left
Parking spaces: one single garage + one parking space in front and one beside
Number of stories: 1 full story
Roof type: gable roof
Style: timeless / rather modern
Orientation: plot faces NW, unfortunately
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (29.5 ft) above finished street level
Homeowner requirements
Basement, stories: planned without basement unless soil report recommends it
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults about 40 and 2 children aged 1 and 3 years at move-in
Room requirements ground floor / upper floor: total 170-180 m² (1,830-1,940 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? See above – accessible living area
Guests per year: approx. 6
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern construction: timeless?
Open kitchen, island: open kitchen but slightly screened (so the dirty dishes aren’t visible from everywhere…)
Dining seats: 4, optionally more
Fireplace: rather no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony from bedroom desired, facing street side because garden faces NW. So some sun can be caught in transitional seasons.
Garage, carport: 1 + 2 parking spaces
House design
Planning by: ourselves
What do we particularly like? We look forward to the relaxation/play area (or whatever one wants to call it) in the upper floor by the large window front to the west. We imagine large windows in the knee wall plus adjacent roof windows.
What don’t we like? Why? We don’t like the NW orientation, but setting the house further back also seems unfavorable.
Personal budget limit for the house incl. equipment: approx. €400,000 only for the house, i.e. excluding additional costs and excluding the plot, turnkey delivery
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to give up any details/extras
- You can do without:
- You can’t do without: elevated knee wall despite single story, we’re willing to pay about €20,000 extra for this (mainly for the two bay windows)
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we get the most out of the plan with a full story and a northwest orientation?
we have been silent readers for quite some time. Now it is getting serious for us: we have a potential plot, a fixed-price contract with a prefab home builder is signed, and tomorrow is our first appointment with the architect.
I would like to briefly present our plans here and am already looking forward to feedback.
What is especially important to us:
1) A full story is specified, but the ridge height may be up to 9 m (29.5 ft). We want to increase the ground floor area using bay windows so that the usable space on the upper floor under the sloped ceilings is minimal (Hessen; upper floor max. 75% of ground floor with height >2.3 m (7.5 ft) from raw floor to the top of the roof structure). With this, we aim to achieve a knee wall of about 1.5 m (5 ft) clear height with a roof pitch of around 35°. This should keep the total height just under 9 m.
2) Due to our family situation, we need a spacious room on the ground floor (I call it guest) including a fully functional, accessible bathroom with barrier-free features.
I have attached the floor plan ideas. In the image showing the house and outdoor areas, the garden is slightly cut off at the top, meaning the garden extends a bit further. Unfortunately, it faces NNW.
A few details:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: approx. 580 m² (6,243 sq ft). Width 16 m (52.5 ft), length 36 m (118 ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor space index: 0.7
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: 5 m (16.5 ft) distance from street, 3 m (10 ft) on right/left
Parking spaces: one single garage + one parking space in front and one beside
Number of stories: 1 full story
Roof type: gable roof
Style: timeless / rather modern
Orientation: plot faces NW, unfortunately
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (29.5 ft) above finished street level
Homeowner requirements
Basement, stories: planned without basement unless soil report recommends it
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults about 40 and 2 children aged 1 and 3 years at move-in
Room requirements ground floor / upper floor: total 170-180 m² (1,830-1,940 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? See above – accessible living area
Guests per year: approx. 6
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern construction: timeless?
Open kitchen, island: open kitchen but slightly screened (so the dirty dishes aren’t visible from everywhere…)
Dining seats: 4, optionally more
Fireplace: rather no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony from bedroom desired, facing street side because garden faces NW. So some sun can be caught in transitional seasons.
Garage, carport: 1 + 2 parking spaces
House design
Planning by: ourselves
What do we particularly like? We look forward to the relaxation/play area (or whatever one wants to call it) in the upper floor by the large window front to the west. We imagine large windows in the knee wall plus adjacent roof windows.
What don’t we like? Why? We don’t like the NW orientation, but setting the house further back also seems unfavorable.
Personal budget limit for the house incl. equipment: approx. €400,000 only for the house, i.e. excluding additional costs and excluding the plot, turnkey delivery
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to give up any details/extras
- You can do without:
- You can’t do without: elevated knee wall despite single story, we’re willing to pay about €20,000 extra for this (mainly for the two bay windows)
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we get the most out of the plan with a full story and a northwest orientation?
Although the house is detached, the floor plan reminds me of a terraced house—although with a larger floor area.
I find the guest bathroom disproportionately spacious and would rather allocate more space to the kitchen.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Sheldor schrieb:The effort for supporting beams, waterproofing, and thermal insulation of the small flat roofs is considerable. Have you calculated how “necessary” this really is? I mean: with possibly how many centimeters less knee wall it would be avoidable to add the bay windows just to prevent a full additional story below?
we are willing to pay an extra €20,000 for that as well (mainly for the two bay windows)
I find the guest bathroom disproportionately spacious and would rather allocate more space to the kitchen.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Hello 11ant,
Thank you very much for your input.
We really hope that we are not underestimating the additional costs for the bay windows. In the offer for the construction contract, the extra costs seemed quite low to me at around €18,000 (about $19,500), but that does not include costs for windows, flooring, etc. At least for the rear bay window, there would be some additional costs. The bay windows together have an area of about 13m2 (140 sq ft). This would result in an increase of the knee wall height from about 1.1m (3.6 ft) to around 1.5m (4.9 ft). --> What is your opinion on this? Is an increase of 40cm (16 inches) in knee wall height worthwhile?
We need the bathroom downstairs to be spacious because, due to family reasons, at least one area of the house must be designed to be barrier-free (this would be the guest room and the bathroom, including, for example, 1m (39 inches) wide doors). However, I also find the bathroom unusually long. Are there better design ideas for this?
The plot width is 16m (52.5 ft). Two times the required setback distances leave a usable width of 10m (32.8 ft). The house is shown in the plan as 9.5m (31.2 ft) wide and 11.5m (37.7 ft) long, plus the length of the bay windows. That is probably why the house is quite elongated. Are there any disadvantages to this that we might be overlooking?
What is really concerning us: Is the positioning of the house appropriate as it is, or would you place it further back on the plot for a south-facing garden? But then we wouldn’t get any evening sun, and the space behind the house might be lost, right?
Best regards and thanks for the advice.
Thank you very much for your input.
We really hope that we are not underestimating the additional costs for the bay windows. In the offer for the construction contract, the extra costs seemed quite low to me at around €18,000 (about $19,500), but that does not include costs for windows, flooring, etc. At least for the rear bay window, there would be some additional costs. The bay windows together have an area of about 13m2 (140 sq ft). This would result in an increase of the knee wall height from about 1.1m (3.6 ft) to around 1.5m (4.9 ft). --> What is your opinion on this? Is an increase of 40cm (16 inches) in knee wall height worthwhile?
We need the bathroom downstairs to be spacious because, due to family reasons, at least one area of the house must be designed to be barrier-free (this would be the guest room and the bathroom, including, for example, 1m (39 inches) wide doors). However, I also find the bathroom unusually long. Are there better design ideas for this?
The plot width is 16m (52.5 ft). Two times the required setback distances leave a usable width of 10m (32.8 ft). The house is shown in the plan as 9.5m (31.2 ft) wide and 11.5m (37.7 ft) long, plus the length of the bay windows. That is probably why the house is quite elongated. Are there any disadvantages to this that we might be overlooking?
What is really concerning us: Is the positioning of the house appropriate as it is, or would you place it further back on the plot for a south-facing garden? But then we wouldn’t get any evening sun, and the space behind the house might be lost, right?
Best regards and thanks for the advice.
Why don’t you plan a terrace next to the kitchen? At least you’ll get some sun there.
In the dining room, I would consider installing a lift-and-slide door. It can be opened without anyone having to get up from the dining table, and there are versions with very low thresholds (not the expensive fully threshold-free ones, but some with just a slight step you can even step on).
Try marking the 2-meter (6.5 feet) line.
Otherwise, I can only agree with 11ant.
In the dining room, I would consider installing a lift-and-slide door. It can be opened without anyone having to get up from the dining table, and there are versions with very low thresholds (not the expensive fully threshold-free ones, but some with just a slight step you can even step on).
Try marking the 2-meter (6.5 feet) line.
Otherwise, I can only agree with 11ant.
Hello haydee,
A lift-and-slide door is a great idea; we were already considering something like that.
To the left of the kitchen, we wanted to create at least a small seating area, possibly connected around the corner of the house with the main terrace. However, I’m unsure if that is allowed. The house is only 3.5m (11.5 feet) from the left neighbor’s property line. Is a terrace still permitted there according to the Hesse neighborhood regulations? Well, we will definitely discuss this with our architect.
I have redrawn the attic with the 2m (6.5 feet) line. That corresponds to a knee wall height of 1.5m (5 feet) and a roof pitch of 35° (which then extends 70cm (27.5 inches) from the wall).
A lift-and-slide door is a great idea; we were already considering something like that.
To the left of the kitchen, we wanted to create at least a small seating area, possibly connected around the corner of the house with the main terrace. However, I’m unsure if that is allowed. The house is only 3.5m (11.5 feet) from the left neighbor’s property line. Is a terrace still permitted there according to the Hesse neighborhood regulations? Well, we will definitely discuss this with our architect.
I have redrawn the attic with the 2m (6.5 feet) line. That corresponds to a knee wall height of 1.5m (5 feet) and a roof pitch of 35° (which then extends 70cm (27.5 inches) from the wall).
For an initial idea, this isn’t completely off the wall. However, like 11ant, I see a cost issue with the bay windows. A simple rectangle is much more cost-effective in terms of price/performance. You’re unlikely to use these balconies much if you have your own garden with a patio anyway. I think you already have enough to manage with the 400,000 (currency) budget. So I would try to plan fewer of these gimmicks and keep it simpler if the budget is to remain the same.
Similar topics