ᐅ Single-family house – flat roof – edge of forest location – 175 sqm
Created on: 16 Feb 2019 22:03
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benediktr
After being a silent reader in this forum for a long time, I would now like to share my thoughts and ideas with you. I hope to receive some suggestions for improvement and constructive feedback.
Unfortunately, I cannot provide a site plan at the moment. Therefore, here is a screenshot of the property. I have roughly traced it on the ground floor plan. The exact orientation definitely needs further planning. It is plot number 51.
Below, I try to outline the essentials in the questionnaire.
Development plan/restrictions
Section 34 of the Building Code
Plot size
580 sqm (6,243 sq ft)
Slope
No direct slope; terrain descends about 3 m (10 ft) from north to south and roughly 3 m (10 ft) from west to east; retaining wall to the south present
Building setbacks
North/East/South – 3 m (10 ft), West – 6 m (20 ft)
Number of parking spaces
1-2
Number of floors
2 full stories plus basement
Roof type
Flat roof
Architectural style
Modern
Orientation
Southwest
Maximum heights/limits
-
Other specifications
Owners’ requirements
Room layout as shown in the plan; spacious living-dining-kitchen area
Style, roof type, building type
Flat roof
Number of occupants, ages
Currently 2 people, 28 and 26 years old; planning for 1-2 children
Room requirements on ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF)
GF: living, dining, kitchen, utility room, WC
UF: bathroom, 2 children's rooms, bedroom plus walk-in closet
Office: family use or home office?
Family use
Guest overnight stays per year
Very seldom
Open or closed architecture
Open
Conservative or modern construction
Modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island
Yes
Number of dining seats
6
Fireplace
Corner fireplace
Music/stereo wall
No
Additional wishes/particularities/daily routine, including reasons for preferences
- Staircase from ground floor to upper floor should start in the dining area and not be visible from the living room
- Living room preferably on the west side, as we both work very long hours
House design
Who did the planning?
Do-it-yourself, using various floor plans as templates
What do you particularly like? Why?
Straight staircase, layout of living, dining, and kitchen areas, corner fireplace
What do you not like? Why?
I am unsure if the rooms upstairs might be a bit too narrow due to the straight staircase. This could be improved with a landing staircase, but that is just a minor point to accept.
Estimated cost according to architect/planner:
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings:
450,000
Preferred heating technology:
Gas condensing boiler, possibly with a water jacket in the fireplace
If you have to give up something, what details/features
- can you forgo? Partition separating the WC in the bathroom
- cannot you do without? Walk-in closet
Why did the design become what it is now?
Room orientation on the plot guided the design based on our wishes. View to the west, looking over forest and fields. Access from the north to avoid an outdoor staircase.
What do you think are its strengths or weaknesses?
We would prefer to avoid floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side, as the neighbor’s front door is there, which is not ideal for brightness. Large window fronts on the west side due to the view, as mentioned. A window in the walk-in closet could still be planned.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
Do you think the upper floor rooms might feel "narrow and elongated"? Budget?
Unfortunately, I cannot provide a site plan at the moment. Therefore, here is a screenshot of the property. I have roughly traced it on the ground floor plan. The exact orientation definitely needs further planning. It is plot number 51.
Below, I try to outline the essentials in the questionnaire.
Development plan/restrictions
Section 34 of the Building Code
Plot size
580 sqm (6,243 sq ft)
Slope
No direct slope; terrain descends about 3 m (10 ft) from north to south and roughly 3 m (10 ft) from west to east; retaining wall to the south present
Building setbacks
North/East/South – 3 m (10 ft), West – 6 m (20 ft)
Number of parking spaces
1-2
Number of floors
2 full stories plus basement
Roof type
Flat roof
Architectural style
Modern
Orientation
Southwest
Maximum heights/limits
-
Other specifications
Owners’ requirements
Room layout as shown in the plan; spacious living-dining-kitchen area
Style, roof type, building type
Flat roof
Number of occupants, ages
Currently 2 people, 28 and 26 years old; planning for 1-2 children
Room requirements on ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF)
GF: living, dining, kitchen, utility room, WC
UF: bathroom, 2 children's rooms, bedroom plus walk-in closet
Office: family use or home office?
Family use
Guest overnight stays per year
Very seldom
Open or closed architecture
Open
Conservative or modern construction
Modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island
Yes
Number of dining seats
6
Fireplace
Corner fireplace
Music/stereo wall
No
Additional wishes/particularities/daily routine, including reasons for preferences
- Staircase from ground floor to upper floor should start in the dining area and not be visible from the living room
- Living room preferably on the west side, as we both work very long hours
House design
Who did the planning?
Do-it-yourself, using various floor plans as templates
What do you particularly like? Why?
Straight staircase, layout of living, dining, and kitchen areas, corner fireplace
What do you not like? Why?
I am unsure if the rooms upstairs might be a bit too narrow due to the straight staircase. This could be improved with a landing staircase, but that is just a minor point to accept.
Estimated cost according to architect/planner:
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings:
450,000
Preferred heating technology:
Gas condensing boiler, possibly with a water jacket in the fireplace
If you have to give up something, what details/features
- can you forgo? Partition separating the WC in the bathroom
- cannot you do without? Walk-in closet
Why did the design become what it is now?
Room orientation on the plot guided the design based on our wishes. View to the west, looking over forest and fields. Access from the north to avoid an outdoor staircase.
What do you think are its strengths or weaknesses?
We would prefer to avoid floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side, as the neighbor’s front door is there, which is not ideal for brightness. Large window fronts on the west side due to the view, as mentioned. A window in the walk-in closet could still be planned.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
Do you think the upper floor rooms might feel "narrow and elongated"? Budget?
benediktr schrieb:
Where do you still see potential for improvement or changes here?The staircase entrance to the basement is located in the dining room. A quarter-turn staircase with a half-height wall or a wall with decorative windows in the upper section would help – this would create a cozy atmosphere.I’m not really happy with the cloakroom. It has quite a bit of space, yet there is hardly anything that fits in. If you add more opposite the wardrobe, it quickly looks cluttered. I don’t have any ideas on that right now.
The elevations should be reviewed. Otherwise, I quite like the design.
I would place the coat closet against the interior wall and make it larger as a half-room, while improving the positioning of the bathroom door.
I would rotate the staircase 180 degrees.
I would make the utility room accessible from the hallway and position the tall kitchen cabinets along this short wall. I would omit the base cabinets on the lower side of the plan and instead install a panoramic window or patio door there, so you are facing outside while cooking.
Upstairs, I would also change quite a bit in the bathroom: move the door, place the toilet by a window, and align the drainage with the guest toilet...
I would rotate the staircase 180 degrees.
I would make the utility room accessible from the hallway and position the tall kitchen cabinets along this short wall. I would omit the base cabinets on the lower side of the plan and instead install a panoramic window or patio door there, so you are facing outside while cooking.
Upstairs, I would also change quite a bit in the bathroom: move the door, place the toilet by a window, and align the drainage with the guest toilet...
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benediktr12 Jun 2019 20:48haydee schrieb:
Exactly
Do the bathroom windows have a sill height?The window on the east side has a sill, since this is the street side and quite visible. On the north side, I am still undecided between a floor-to-ceiling window and one with a sill. A floor-to-ceiling window would be no problem because only a small path runs along there.
hampshire schrieb:
I like the clarity of the design and the relaxed way the wishes have been implemented.
Dirt from kids in the living room? Every townhouse resident knows that and manages well. (As the crime scene cleaner says: “Dirt is just matter in the wrong place.”) So you simply use a durable flooring, like bamboo parquet or tiles.
Kitchen not directly opening onto the terrace? With a little imagination, you could give the kitchen access to the garden, if necessary with a few steps and a small herb garden next to it.
The upstairs hallway too big – maybe. However, in this house you can always use more storage space, and the hallway is perfect for that. Just add cabinets.
Rooms upstairs are not generously wide but definitely not “narrow and corridor-like.”
Which construction method will be used for the house?Thanks for the feedback. It also took a long time for us to implement our wishes into one design. The terrace would be 3 m (10 feet) away. If I decide to install a single-leaf floor-to-ceiling window there, I would need to build a privacy screen on the south side, because this is where the neighbor’s house entrance is. The hallway size is due to the straight staircase; I have already tried to optimize it as much as possible.
The house will be built with aerated concrete (AAC). Load-bearing walls will be made of sand-lime brick, and, if necessary, the wall for the cantilever staircase will be in
kaho674 schrieb:
The stairway to the basement starts in the dining room. A quarter-turn staircase with a half-height wall or a wall with decorative windows at the upper part would help – that creates a cozy atmosphere.
I’m not really happy with the cloakroom. It uses quite a bit of space but still barely fits anything. If you add more opposite the wardrobe, it quickly looks cluttered. I don’t have an immediate idea for improvement.
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The elevations should be reviewed. Otherwise, I really like the design. The stairway to the basement is located at the entrance door. The stairway to the upper floor starts in the dining room. Since the basement will not be living space, I plan to build it with a clear room height of 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in), which allows the staircase to be a bit shorter and prevents bumping into it immediately at the entrance. I’m also a bit uncertain about the cloakroom and have no good ideas yet.
I will provide the elevations soon.
ypg schrieb:
I would move the cloakroom to the interior wall and enlarge it as a half room; also, improve the bathroom door position.
I would rotate the staircase 180 degrees.
I would make the utility room accessible from the hallway and place the tall kitchen cabinets along the short wall. I would skip the base cabinets on the lower plan side and install a panoramic window or terrace door there, so you can step outside directly while cooking.
Upstairs, I would make several changes to the bathroom: move the door, place the toilet next to a window, and connect the drainage with the guest toilet…As I said, we don’t like the cloakroom yet either. Thanks for the suggestion. We had already considered placing the utility room door in the hallway, and that is generally possible. As you said, that would free up space for tall cabinets. A terrace door in the kitchen is also possible, but as mentioned, a privacy screen would need to be built because the neighbor’s entrance is there, and we want some privacy. The argument for direct garden access instead of taking a small detour is definitely significant. I will share the planned downspout layout soon.
Thanks for the many comments.
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benediktr16 Jun 2019 19:41As promised, here are the views. Apologies for the possibly somewhat poor quality, but this is the best I can get from the program.
I have a question for the building engineers regarding the overhang. If it is properly constructed and insulated, do you see any disadvantages related to this?
Best regards and many thanks for your answers.
I have a question for the building engineers regarding the overhang. If it is properly constructed and insulated, do you see any disadvantages related to this?
Best regards and many thanks for your answers.
benediktr schrieb:
A patio door is also possible in the kitchen, but as mentioned, some kind of privacy screen would need to be installed since the neighbor’s main entrance is there, There is only a band of windows there.
I would install a large panoramic door... Privacy is usually created by planting a hedge, at least wherever you want to have privacy in the garden or inside.
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