ᐅ Single-family house – 150 sqm – 1.5 stories – frustration

Hello!

After receiving a draft from the architect yesterday, I am reaching out to you in desperation!

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size 819m² (8,819 sq ft)
Slope no
Site coverage ratio -
Floor area ratio -
Building window, building line, and boundary -
Edge development -
Number of parking spaces 2
Number of stories -
Roof type -
Architectural style -
Orientation -
Maximum height / limits -
Other requirements -

Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof type, building type timeless, classic, simple, brick veneer, gable roof
Basement, number of floors no basement, 1.5 floors
Number of people, age 2 currently (26, 23) plus a dog (Golden Retriever), children soon
Space requirements on ground floor: kitchen, living room, dining room, utility room, bathroom with shower, possibly an office upper floor: master bedroom, two children’s rooms, bathroom, office if not on ground floor, laundry room would be nice
Office: family use or home office? home office
Number of guest sleepers per year 0
Open or closed layout semi-open
Conservative or modern construction style ?
Open kitchen, cooking island cooking island
Number of dining seats daily 4, guests 8
Fireplace no
Music / stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport carport
Vegetable garden, greenhouse no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not wanted:
- Carport adjacent to utility room
- Utility room adjacent to kitchen
- Kitchen semi-open to living/dining area
- Possibility to create 2 separate living units, for example through a staircase at the main entrance and a vestibule in the hallway (for when the children grow up, rental, etc.)

House Design
Who designed it: architect
What do you particularly like? Why? Not really anything
What do you dislike? Why? Room layout is totally illogical, for example living room in the northeast, utility room in the southwest and far from the carport, 170m² (1,829 sq ft) instead of 150m² (1,615 sq ft)
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: -
Personal price limit for house, including fittings: €275,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal with horizontal trench collector

If you had to give up something, which details/features
- can you give up: cooking island, office on ground floor, laundry room
- cannot give up: semi-open living / kitchen area, possibility to create 2 separate living units

Why does the design look the way it does? For example:
Standard design from the planner? No, but the planner showed us a similar floor plan during discussions
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect? four walls
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad? They hardly considered our wishes and the house is way too large

What is the most important or fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?

We took our own floor plan to two builders who offered it as is. We were not really satisfied and wanted a professional involved. Unfortunately, the architect’s drawing was a real disappointment. Issues I notice as a layperson seem to be overlooked or ignored. Shouldn’t our wishes be feasible within 150m² (1,615 sq ft)? The floor plan problem is holding us back a lot. The architect took almost a month to send us this poor draft. Structural calculations, energy regulations, etc., are waiting to move forward, and I don’t know what to do.

The house is number 25 (blue in the center) on the site plan.

Best regards

André

Are these different plans, or is there a distortion in the perspective?

Are the plans oriented to true north?

haydee schrieb:

Are these different plans, or am I seeing things incorrectly?

Once our idea put on paper by the contractor (little natural light in the upstairs hallway, bathroom too small, walk-in closet we don’t need, utility room too small) and once the drawing from the architect, called Architekt.png.

haydee schrieb:

Are the plans aligned to true north?

Kind of. Our draft is basically upside down, with north at the bottom and south at the top, while the architect’s plan has west at the bottom, south on the right, east at the top, and north on the left.

That would be my question, too. Should we orient the long side of the building north-south or east-west?

N/S: better use of sunlight
E/W: better use of the plot

Wow. I only had time for a quick look, but at first glance, the architect’s design really isn’t ideal. A few things to consider:

- In several places on the ground floor, the sample furniture was planned within the swing area of doors or floor-to-ceiling windows... something an architect should usually notice and avoid.
- I don’t like the side view with the varying heights and quite dominant gables at all... it almost reminds me a bit of the Danzig Crane Gate.

If you haven’t found much positive in the design or personal contact so far, you should seriously consider working with a different architect. Better to have a decisive end with some discomfort than a never-ending problem...

Chiloe schrieb:

If you haven’t been able to find much positive in the design or the personal contact so far, you should really consider working with a different architect. Better to have a quick end to a bad situation than an endless nightmare...

I feel the same way now; it probably doesn’t make sense to continue with this architect. It’s a shame we wasted 4 weeks on this.

Additional points:
- The bathroom on the upper floor has no door! WTF! A "professional" should have noticed this!
- How are you supposed to get between the bed and the wall in the master bedroom? Probably only sideways!