Hello House Building Forum
I am new here, and we are currently planning our house with an architect. There are currently 4 of us, but we plan to have a 5th. Therefore, the house will include 3 children's bedrooms.
Here is the questionnaire:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 1250 sqm (13455 sq ft) on 25m x 50m (82 ft x 164 ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: not sure at the moment
Edge development: allowed but I want to avoid it
Number of parking spaces: double carport + 2 cars in front
Roof style: gable roof
Architectural style: classic single-family home
Orientation: see drawing
Owners’ Requirements
Open floor plan on the ground floor, 4 bedrooms on the upper floor, attic with enough space for storage and a hobby area
House Design
Who created the design:
- Architect
What do you like most? Why?
Ground floor: open kitchen and living room. Office accessible from the living room. Direct access to the terrace.
Upper floor: accommodate 3 children’s bedrooms, bedroom with walk-in closet area. The large dormer. The stairs to the attic, where the hobby room will be located.
What do you dislike? Why?
Basically only the staircase to the upper floor. I am a bit bothered by having to walk “around the corner” when coming up. I am looking for ideas to improve this. Or is this concern unfounded?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner:
Not determined yet.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings:
350,000 Euro
Preferred heating system:
Gas boiler, solar thermal, and underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details or extensions can you do without:
We have already eliminated everything we could possibly do without.
Why is the design the way it is? For example:
We went to the architect with our preferred design. He used our floor plan as a basis and created a floor plan that we like even better. Only the staircase layout is not yet 100% satisfactory for me.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
As mentioned, the staircase to the upper floor is my biggest concern. I hope to get some ideas on how to improve it and maybe some feedback on the rest.
South is “up” on the drawings
If more information is needed, I am happy to provide it.
Best regards
I am new here, and we are currently planning our house with an architect. There are currently 4 of us, but we plan to have a 5th. Therefore, the house will include 3 children's bedrooms.
Here is the questionnaire:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 1250 sqm (13455 sq ft) on 25m x 50m (82 ft x 164 ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: not sure at the moment
Edge development: allowed but I want to avoid it
Number of parking spaces: double carport + 2 cars in front
Roof style: gable roof
Architectural style: classic single-family home
Orientation: see drawing
Owners’ Requirements
Open floor plan on the ground floor, 4 bedrooms on the upper floor, attic with enough space for storage and a hobby area
House Design
Who created the design:
- Architect
What do you like most? Why?
Ground floor: open kitchen and living room. Office accessible from the living room. Direct access to the terrace.
Upper floor: accommodate 3 children’s bedrooms, bedroom with walk-in closet area. The large dormer. The stairs to the attic, where the hobby room will be located.
What do you dislike? Why?
Basically only the staircase to the upper floor. I am a bit bothered by having to walk “around the corner” when coming up. I am looking for ideas to improve this. Or is this concern unfounded?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner:
Not determined yet.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings:
350,000 Euro
Preferred heating system:
Gas boiler, solar thermal, and underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details or extensions can you do without:
We have already eliminated everything we could possibly do without.
Why is the design the way it is? For example:
We went to the architect with our preferred design. He used our floor plan as a basis and created a floor plan that we like even better. Only the staircase layout is not yet 100% satisfactory for me.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
As mentioned, the staircase to the upper floor is my biggest concern. I hope to get some ideas on how to improve it and maybe some feedback on the rest.
South is “up” on the drawings
If more information is needed, I am happy to provide it.
Best regards
S
Sparfuchs7724 Jul 2019 11:33One could swap the upstairs bathroom and the northern children's room and shift the walls slightly to make the room sizes fit. That would probably also solve any issues with the wastewater system. But I really like the new proposal!
What I would adjust based on my initial impression:
- On the ground floor, have the entrance to the office at a right angle instead of 45°. That would give me more wall space for the TV area.
- Add a vestibule again. Then move the door to the utility room to where the dresser is currently located.
- Swap the upstairs bathroom and the northern children's room.
However, I would consider these personal preferences. Yes, the living area is close to the hallway leading to the kitchen again, but I think that’s exactly what my wife values. Maybe a passage between the fireplace and the kitchen counter could help?
Even after a lot of thought, I can’t imagine the staircase. Why does the architect’s design include a slant in the utility room, but yours doesn’t have one in the kitchen?
What I would adjust based on my initial impression:
- On the ground floor, have the entrance to the office at a right angle instead of 45°. That would give me more wall space for the TV area.
- Add a vestibule again. Then move the door to the utility room to where the dresser is currently located.
- Swap the upstairs bathroom and the northern children's room.
However, I would consider these personal preferences. Yes, the living area is close to the hallway leading to the kitchen again, but I think that’s exactly what my wife values. Maybe a passage between the fireplace and the kitchen counter could help?
Even after a lot of thought, I can’t imagine the staircase. Why does the architect’s design include a slant in the utility room, but yours doesn’t have one in the kitchen?
Sparfuchs_ schrieb:
How should I imagine the staircase? Will there be a slope visible in the kitchen? I can’t quite picture how the staircase is supposed to look. This is the staircase on the ground floor:
It’s not a landing, but a normal 1/4 turn. Nothing protrudes into the kitchen.
Here are the dimensions:
The staircase to the attic starts slightly offset and then turns at the top so that the stairwell opening in the attic is not too long. Possibly, it could also be stacked directly above for better access to the window in the hallway. There is definitely enough space. The architect can calculate this more easily using their software.
Sparfuchs_ schrieb:
Does the extension need a pitched roof? Wouldn’t a flat roof be cheaper? Flat roofs are usually more expensive than pitched roofs. But maybe dormer windows could also work. My software can’t handle those either. The architect will need to check that.
I wouldn’t recommend swapping the children’s bedrooms. The bathroom is deliberately placed there because that area can be narrower. If you change that, you end up with a huge bathroom or two small children’s bedrooms and one very large one. I don’t think it’s a big issue that one child’s room only faces northwest. There will simply be double casement windows there, which always let in plenty of light from above. In addition, all the children’s bedrooms have a gable window that you can easily step up to.
S
Sparfuchs7724 Jul 2019 11:53kaho674 schrieb:
It’s not a landing but a regular quarter turn. Nothing sticks out into the kitchen there. Oh, so you go straight up and arrive at the top facing south, then turn 90 degrees to enter the hallway. Correct? And the same for the attic.
kaho674 schrieb:
I wouldn’t recommend swapping the children’s rooms. The bathroom is intentionally placed there because the space can be narrower. If you change that, you end up with a huge bathroom or two small children’s rooms and one very large one. I’ll just take this to the architect and let them come up with a solution ^^ Conceptually, this is already very close to what we want. Many thanks again!
Sparfuchs_ schrieb:
Even though the living room is a passageway again here... sometimes you just have to accept the inevitable. Yes, if your wife insists on it, then you have to walk through there.
Sparfuchs_ schrieb:
- On the ground floor, make the office entrance at a right angle instead of 45°. That would give me more wall space for the TV corner. Then the living room becomes really small. Right now it's 4.10m (13 ft 5 in) — that's optimal. If I move the wall, it’s only 3.75m (12 ft 4 in). That’s quite tight for five people. You can see that this door is a real bottleneck in the initial design too. The architect gave an 80cm (31.5 inch) wide passage there — a sign of compromise. So I really wouldn’t do it, unless you are building bigger.
The chimney with the fireplace there also becomes something you always have to move around. If I make a passage to the kitchen, it already eats up a significant corner of the bathroom. It’s not a disaster yet, but it’s starting to be an annoyance. How important is that thing? You could save quite a bit of money there... :P
S
Sparfuchs7724 Jul 2019 12:18kaho674 schrieb:
Yes, if the wife insists on it, then you’ll have to go through there. At the moment, that’s her wish, so I’ll first try to find a compromise.
With the sliding door in the kitchen as in your latest version, the issue is already a bit less problematic. Since we want to put a refrigerator in the utility room anyway, the “beverage supply” for when the kids have visitors could be arranged there as well...
Yes, the entrance to the office is a tight spot. In the original version, there was only an arch planned there, no door. Let’s see what the architect can do about that.
Thanks for including the vestibule right away *.* How big is the utility room now?
I really like the ground floor so far *.*
I’ll put pressure on the architect about the upper floor... he should earn his money too.
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