ᐅ New single-family house, 190 sqm (aiming for fewer square meters!)
Created on: 15 Mar 2019 15:40
L
Lucrezia
Let’s give it a try 😉
We have finally decided on a local supplier who builds MHM walls (solid wood with wood wool insulation). It’s more expensive than a timber frame construction, but the local sourcing and construction method ultimately convinced us.
The floor plans were originally created by an architect, but we have gradually adapted them.
Of course, we will have “official” floor plans drawn up by the architect later. Before that, I’d like to exchange ideas with you and gather good suggestions 🙂
Hard facts:
We already live on the property in an older semi-detached house, which we will then rent out.
Plot size 470 sqm (total 1404 sqm, but part is already occupied by our old house, the double garage, and parking spaces).
The new house will have an “L-shape” to make optimal use of the free part of the property. The preliminary building enquiry with this plan was successful. The facade will be white! (or orange if approved).
The terrain is flat (needs about 60 cm (2 feet) of fill) – part of the topsoil will be reused, and whatever is missing will hopefully be “imported” from neighbors who are also building.
2 stories
Gable roof, between 25° and 28°
Style rather traditional
Orientation southwest
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type rather traditional, gable roof (requirements from local building authority/planning department)
No basement
Number of people, ages: she 45, he 50, 2 medium-sized dogs, children aged 1.5 and 2.5 years
Space needed on ground floor and upper floor – about 120 sqm (1300 sq ft) on the ground floor (due to practice), around 50 sqm (540 sq ft) upstairs would be enough
Practice with 2 rooms on the ground floor: 1 room purely as a practice, 1 larger room for courses/seminars as well. Soundproof wall between practice and living space. In 20 years or later, when we retire, the practice should become a granny flat (hence connections for kitchen + shower).
Guest sleepers per year – 5-6
Open or closed architecture – rather closed
Conservative or modern construction – doesn’t matter, main thing is practical
Open kitchen with island – more likely yes, but not mandatory
Number of dining seats – 3 to 6
Fireplace – only a stove
Music/stereo wall – unclear, possibly in the future?
Balcony, roof terrace – 1 balcony upstairs, 8.5 sqm (90 sq ft)
Garage, carport – no, already exists on the other part of the property
Utility garden, greenhouse – no, already present in the other garden area (maybe expand?)
House design
Originally planned by the architect, now “copied” and modified by me
What do you like in particular? Why? Light! Relatively little “dead space” (entrance, hallway...). I want it bright, and all square meters used rationally and sensibly.
What don’t you like? Why? Practice WC without a window, but apparently it can’t be done differently. Probably still too little storage space because no basement (we have storage in and on the garage, but since we have several hobbies, I’m afraid it will be tight).
Especially upstairs I would like fewer square meters overall, and less corridor space...
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 430K
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures: 510K
Preferred heating technology: heat pump without ventilation system (only in WC/bathroom), underfloor heating.
If you had to give up something, which details/extensions would it be?
- You could give up: parts of the entrance/hallway, living space upstairs
- You could not give up: practice, disabled-accessible practice WC. However, everything could be a bit smaller (overall house size, especially upstairs). A lower knee wall upstairs (currently 144 cm (4 ft 9 in)) is not feasible because on the south side, we would lose too much light.
Why is the design like this now? For example: Practice area
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you see ways to avoid dead space? Reduce costs?
We have treated the upper floor somewhat as an afterthought, since we only need 1 bedroom, 1 guest room, 1 sauna, and not necessarily an extra office/dog room.
The layout is still open. There is definitely room for improvement and lots of opportunity for constructive ideas 🙂
*Note: no window on the south side is possible in the guest room, because the roof gable of the ground floor is there.
We have finally decided on a local supplier who builds MHM walls (solid wood with wood wool insulation). It’s more expensive than a timber frame construction, but the local sourcing and construction method ultimately convinced us.
The floor plans were originally created by an architect, but we have gradually adapted them.
Of course, we will have “official” floor plans drawn up by the architect later. Before that, I’d like to exchange ideas with you and gather good suggestions 🙂
Hard facts:
We already live on the property in an older semi-detached house, which we will then rent out.
Plot size 470 sqm (total 1404 sqm, but part is already occupied by our old house, the double garage, and parking spaces).
The new house will have an “L-shape” to make optimal use of the free part of the property. The preliminary building enquiry with this plan was successful. The facade will be white! (or orange if approved).
The terrain is flat (needs about 60 cm (2 feet) of fill) – part of the topsoil will be reused, and whatever is missing will hopefully be “imported” from neighbors who are also building.
2 stories
Gable roof, between 25° and 28°
Style rather traditional
Orientation southwest
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type rather traditional, gable roof (requirements from local building authority/planning department)
No basement
Number of people, ages: she 45, he 50, 2 medium-sized dogs, children aged 1.5 and 2.5 years
Space needed on ground floor and upper floor – about 120 sqm (1300 sq ft) on the ground floor (due to practice), around 50 sqm (540 sq ft) upstairs would be enough
Practice with 2 rooms on the ground floor: 1 room purely as a practice, 1 larger room for courses/seminars as well. Soundproof wall between practice and living space. In 20 years or later, when we retire, the practice should become a granny flat (hence connections for kitchen + shower).
Guest sleepers per year – 5-6
Open or closed architecture – rather closed
Conservative or modern construction – doesn’t matter, main thing is practical
Open kitchen with island – more likely yes, but not mandatory
Number of dining seats – 3 to 6
Fireplace – only a stove
Music/stereo wall – unclear, possibly in the future?
Balcony, roof terrace – 1 balcony upstairs, 8.5 sqm (90 sq ft)
Garage, carport – no, already exists on the other part of the property
Utility garden, greenhouse – no, already present in the other garden area (maybe expand?)
House design
Originally planned by the architect, now “copied” and modified by me
What do you like in particular? Why? Light! Relatively little “dead space” (entrance, hallway...). I want it bright, and all square meters used rationally and sensibly.
What don’t you like? Why? Practice WC without a window, but apparently it can’t be done differently. Probably still too little storage space because no basement (we have storage in and on the garage, but since we have several hobbies, I’m afraid it will be tight).
Especially upstairs I would like fewer square meters overall, and less corridor space...
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 430K
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures: 510K
Preferred heating technology: heat pump without ventilation system (only in WC/bathroom), underfloor heating.
If you had to give up something, which details/extensions would it be?
- You could give up: parts of the entrance/hallway, living space upstairs
- You could not give up: practice, disabled-accessible practice WC. However, everything could be a bit smaller (overall house size, especially upstairs). A lower knee wall upstairs (currently 144 cm (4 ft 9 in)) is not feasible because on the south side, we would lose too much light.
Why is the design like this now? For example: Practice area
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you see ways to avoid dead space? Reduce costs?
We have treated the upper floor somewhat as an afterthought, since we only need 1 bedroom, 1 guest room, 1 sauna, and not necessarily an extra office/dog room.
The layout is still open. There is definitely room for improvement and lots of opportunity for constructive ideas 🙂
*Note: no window on the south side is possible in the guest room, because the roof gable of the ground floor is there.
What is that in the bathroom: an XXL shower or an XL bathtub?
Do storage rooms for your hobbies upstairs even make sense?
Is the office really for work, or is it more of a dog grooming area?
Why do the dogs even need their own room?
There is a lack of a clear separation between work and private areas.
The open-plan room downstairs feels oversized, more like a large kitchenette.
Do storage rooms for your hobbies upstairs even make sense?
Is the office really for work, or is it more of a dog grooming area?
Why do the dogs even need their own room?
There is a lack of a clear separation between work and private areas.
The open-plan room downstairs feels oversized, more like a large kitchenette.
Hampshire, thank you for your great ideas! The upper floor has been adjusted accordingly, now with two variants that I like much better than before (especially the one with just one guest/office room; in the other, the software doesn’t recognize that the office and our bedroom are two separate rooms. Ugh.). I’m dedicating these to you 🙂
By the way, we would only copy the ground floor practice anyway, so having just one guest/office room would be a possible option.
Problem: I’m afraid this can’t be realized architecturally!
Since the upper floor would be significantly smaller than the ground floor, it would look like a cap placed on top. Which in Bavaria (BY), but probably elsewhere too, wouldn’t be accepted 😀
Exactly, we also had the idea of a “chill/living room upstairs”! Not least because we generally prefer being upstairs rather than downstairs.
However, I would then want to drastically reduce the living space on the ground floor (we want to try to downsize the whole house), and there wouldn’t be room left, for example, when guests come for dinner..
We also expect to mainly use both ground and upper floors ourselves in the future, and only rent out the practice as a separate unit. But it might also be that we move to a warmer climate, and then this problem wouldn’t arise 🙂
By the way, we would only copy the ground floor practice anyway, so having just one guest/office room would be a possible option.
Problem: I’m afraid this can’t be realized architecturally!
Since the upper floor would be significantly smaller than the ground floor, it would look like a cap placed on top. Which in Bavaria (BY), but probably elsewhere too, wouldn’t be accepted 😀
kaho674 schrieb:
I would set up a spacious chill/living area on the upper floor, or maybe move everything upstairs and just create a small second kitchen/dining area on the ground floor for the terrace. Later, you could completely split it into two apartments – one upstairs, one downstairs.
Exactly, we also had the idea of a “chill/living room upstairs”! Not least because we generally prefer being upstairs rather than downstairs.
However, I would then want to drastically reduce the living space on the ground floor (we want to try to downsize the whole house), and there wouldn’t be room left, for example, when guests come for dinner..
We also expect to mainly use both ground and upper floors ourselves in the future, and only rent out the practice as a separate unit. But it might also be that we move to a warmer climate, and then this problem wouldn’t arise 🙂
haydee schrieb:
Is that in the bathroom an XXL shower or an XL bathtub?
Do storage rooms for your hobbies upstairs even make sense?
Is the office really for work or more like a dog grooming salon?
Why do the dogs even need their own room?
There is a lack of a clear separation between work and private areas.
The open-plan space downstairs feels like an oversized kitchenette. In the bathroom, it’s an XXL bathtub.
I’m worried the storage rooms are still too small or too few, since we won’t have a basement anymore.
The office is just for occasional tasks like writing freelance invoices, etc. In practice, the dogs are not allowed in there right now because I also do invasive work. But I love having them close by, so having a room like this is a good compromise, even in the current house. Also, when clients are here, I prefer the dogs to be further away (barking…).
Where exactly do you see the lack of separation between work and private?
There is a separate entrance, soundproof walls and door… what else would you need for a clear separation? Personally, this is perfectly sufficient for me. 🙂
We will still adjust the living room layout, so suggestions are welcome. How would you approach it without increasing the living area?
I would probably turn the walk-in closet into a cozy bedroom, with the bed placed under the sloping ceiling, and use the dog’s room with open storage as a living gallery. Couldn’t that also be used for guests?
An open-plan kitchen with a small kitchen sofa.
Definitely, you should plan a wardrobe near the entrance. You don’t want to go upstairs again just for shoes and jackets. The area that welcomes your guests privately is much too small.
An open-plan kitchen with a small kitchen sofa.
Definitely, you should plan a wardrobe near the entrance. You don’t want to go upstairs again just for shoes and jackets. The area that welcomes your guests privately is much too small.
The office for fee-based work is upstairs again in the private area.
And something is missing downstairs.
If you prefer to be upstairs, then move the guest room and office/dog area downstairs. There is also space for a small kitchenette for the barbecue party.
Upstairs: cooking/eating/living with an open roof structure, sleeping area, sauna, bathroom, dressing room.
A shower is missing upstairs.
Storage room downstairs.
The bathroom and sauna seem very large to me.
And something is missing downstairs.
If you prefer to be upstairs, then move the guest room and office/dog area downstairs. There is also space for a small kitchenette for the barbecue party.
Upstairs: cooking/eating/living with an open roof structure, sleeping area, sauna, bathroom, dressing room.
A shower is missing upstairs.
Storage room downstairs.
The bathroom and sauna seem very large to me.
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