Hello everyone,
after we secured our plot, we spoke to several construction companies. Some only offer the building volume and want to create the floor plan after signing the contract. That feels a bit like “buying a pig in a poke” to us.
One company approached things differently and, after a several-hour discussion, presented a concept that we would like to share and discuss with you here.
Here is first the questionnaire:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot: F 1.6
Plot size: 394 m² (14.7 x 26.8 meters), no slope
Building envelope: 8.7 x 12.0 meters (11.7 x 12.0 meters minus 3 meters (10 feet) setback towards the east)
Orientation: Southeast to south
Floor area ratio / site coverage ratio: 0.4 / 0.8
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full stories (additional stepped-back floor is allowed)
Roof type: flat roof
Energy standard: at least KFW 55
Energy sources: photovoltaic system and air-to-water heat pump or ground-to-water heat pump
Homeowners’ Requirements
The architectural style, roof shape, and building type are basically set by the development plan and are acceptable to us (otherwise, we would not have applied for the plot).
We (2 adults and 2 elementary school children) plan to build without a basement, with 2 full stories, and a 9-meter (30 feet) garage. Our planned energy source is a ground-to-water heat pump.
We need 1 bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, 1 office (for home office), kitchen, living and dining room, guest toilet (without shower), bathroom (with shower and bathtub), cloakroom as a built-in wardrobe, and of course a utility room. Additionally, storage space is required. We do not expect overnight guests.
We are aiming for a rather modern design with an open kitchen (with a peninsula) and an L-shaped living and dining area (6 dining seats, no fireplace).
Since we do not want a “traditional” entrance canopy, we would prefer a “modern” solution.
House Design
The design comes from a medium-sized general contractor in the region, with its own project draftsmen and an architect.
What we particularly like is that all our requirements have already been fully implemented in the first draft. Even extras like a bench and an interior light well, which we only mentioned in passing, have been included. In our view, the entrance canopy was also well realized, even if it costs a few square meters of living space.
Especially the storage spaces (and the cloakroom) were very well implemented from our point of view. In the first draft, the bathroom was 2.5 m² (27 sqft) smaller, and there was a storage room in front of it. Instead of the fixed storage room, there is now space in the hallway to optionally place a (built-in) closet or remove it later when the children no longer live at home. This redesign also made it possible to add an additional window in the bathroom. Whether this is really necessary is still open.
The kitchen and living/dining area were efficiently designed despite the 42 m² (452 sqft) size.
The guest toilet might be a bit oversized, but worse things exist.
The office window might look better if centered in the room, but the window below it in the kitchen makes this more difficult.
The window in the bedroom behind/above the bed may not be perfect either. We have considered several options and concluded that this is the best solution.
With 16 windows, the house feels like it has quite a lot. We wouldn’t know which one to give up—except maybe the second window in the bathroom. We are also wondering whether the large window in the dining area really needs to be that big.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you have any suggestions on what we could adjust in the floor plan? Any ideas about the windows (large one in dining, two floor-to-ceiling in bathroom, central in office, behind/above bed in bedroom)? Perhaps we can discuss the kitchen layout here or in a separate thread later.
after we secured our plot, we spoke to several construction companies. Some only offer the building volume and want to create the floor plan after signing the contract. That feels a bit like “buying a pig in a poke” to us.
One company approached things differently and, after a several-hour discussion, presented a concept that we would like to share and discuss with you here.
Here is first the questionnaire:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot: F 1.6
Plot size: 394 m² (14.7 x 26.8 meters), no slope
Building envelope: 8.7 x 12.0 meters (11.7 x 12.0 meters minus 3 meters (10 feet) setback towards the east)
Orientation: Southeast to south
Floor area ratio / site coverage ratio: 0.4 / 0.8
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full stories (additional stepped-back floor is allowed)
Roof type: flat roof
Energy standard: at least KFW 55
Energy sources: photovoltaic system and air-to-water heat pump or ground-to-water heat pump
Homeowners’ Requirements
The architectural style, roof shape, and building type are basically set by the development plan and are acceptable to us (otherwise, we would not have applied for the plot).
We (2 adults and 2 elementary school children) plan to build without a basement, with 2 full stories, and a 9-meter (30 feet) garage. Our planned energy source is a ground-to-water heat pump.
We need 1 bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, 1 office (for home office), kitchen, living and dining room, guest toilet (without shower), bathroom (with shower and bathtub), cloakroom as a built-in wardrobe, and of course a utility room. Additionally, storage space is required. We do not expect overnight guests.
We are aiming for a rather modern design with an open kitchen (with a peninsula) and an L-shaped living and dining area (6 dining seats, no fireplace).
Since we do not want a “traditional” entrance canopy, we would prefer a “modern” solution.
House Design
The design comes from a medium-sized general contractor in the region, with its own project draftsmen and an architect.
What we particularly like is that all our requirements have already been fully implemented in the first draft. Even extras like a bench and an interior light well, which we only mentioned in passing, have been included. In our view, the entrance canopy was also well realized, even if it costs a few square meters of living space.
Especially the storage spaces (and the cloakroom) were very well implemented from our point of view. In the first draft, the bathroom was 2.5 m² (27 sqft) smaller, and there was a storage room in front of it. Instead of the fixed storage room, there is now space in the hallway to optionally place a (built-in) closet or remove it later when the children no longer live at home. This redesign also made it possible to add an additional window in the bathroom. Whether this is really necessary is still open.
The kitchen and living/dining area were efficiently designed despite the 42 m² (452 sqft) size.
The guest toilet might be a bit oversized, but worse things exist.
The office window might look better if centered in the room, but the window below it in the kitchen makes this more difficult.
The window in the bedroom behind/above the bed may not be perfect either. We have considered several options and concluded that this is the best solution.
With 16 windows, the house feels like it has quite a lot. We wouldn’t know which one to give up—except maybe the second window in the bathroom. We are also wondering whether the large window in the dining area really needs to be that big.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you have any suggestions on what we could adjust in the floor plan? Any ideas about the windows (large one in dining, two floor-to-ceiling in bathroom, central in office, behind/above bed in bedroom)? Perhaps we can discuss the kitchen layout here or in a separate thread later.
In such small houses, you want to make use of every possible space. This stairway on the upper floor above the stair landing is largely unused. I’m wondering if you could angle the staircase (which I think also looks nicer) and then build a wall cabinet at railing height (about 90cm (35 inches)) above the stair landing.
Here’s a rough sketch – I hope it’s clear:
Has anyone tried something like this before?
Here’s a rough sketch – I hope it’s clear:
Has anyone tried something like this before?
The staircase situation is quite tight... going up is just about manageable, but when going down, you tend to slightly lean backward:
Here, the step the person is about to descend has a clear headroom of just over 200 cm (79 inches). However, a person coming down from above should not be taller than 180 cm (71 inches) if they want to avoid ducking their head.
For this reason, I would generally plan staircase areas without any overhead construction above the landing area—at most above the first step.
kaho674 schrieb:
Give it a try like this: Not bad either, but too much hallway space and no room for an optional closet in the hallway.
kaho674 schrieb:
I don’t think the hallway can be any smaller.
Natural light in the hallway would have to come from a skylight—I love flat roofs. That’s true, it can’t be any smaller.
Well done, but here comes the catch: we want natural daylight in the hallway, and we both don’t like skylights.
kbt09 schrieb:
The staircase is definitely a critical point. I agree with you, especially since our section looks roughly like this (the bedroom window height is not quite accurate):
Many thanks again to @kaho674 for your effort.
Today, we will take another close look at the bedroom floor plans from post 36 and 38 and decide on one. Each has its pros and cons... let’s see which one we choose.
-SCEPS- schrieb:
I agree with you, especially since our cross-section looks roughly like this (the bedroom window is not correctly positioned in terms of height):
[ATTACH alt="Cross-section.jpg"]35884[/ATTACH]
I don’t. Apparently, no one can imagine what a built-in closet is like when it only starts at 90cm (35 inches) above floor level.-SCEPS- schrieb:
Today we will take another close look at the bedroom floor plans from post 36 and 38 and decide on one. Each has its pros and cons... let’s see which one we choose .Have you already decided?If you’re stuck, here’s a real landing staircase (no angled steps) to confuse you even more. I sacrificed the recess. If you ask me, it’s an acceptable compromise.
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