ᐅ Self-designed 160 m² Single-Family Home – Looking for Suggestions and Feedback

Hello Forum Community,

we have designed our dream house ourselves (with the basic tools and knowledge available to us) and would like to gather some opinions and improvement suggestions from experts here.
Regarding the location of the property:
To the north and east, the plot borders directly on neighboring properties; to the west is the access road (30 km/h (18.6 mph) zone); to the south, there is a small pedestrian path followed by the next neighboring property. The building site is in Baden-Württemberg.

Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size	500
Slope	No
Site occupancy index (floor area ratio)	0.4
Floor space index (floor area ratio)	0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary	Ridge direction west/east
Edge development	Garage at northern boundary
Number of parking spaces	1
Number of stories	2
Roof type	Gable roof, pitched roof, flat roof
Architectural style	Modern
Orientation	South
Maximum heights / limits	Main roof 7.0 m (23 ft); ridge height 8.5 m (28 ft); eaves height 6.5 m (21 ft)
Additional requirements	None
Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type	Modern, gable roof 25°, single-family house
Basement, number of floors	No basement, 2 full floors
Number of residents, ages	3 (33, 33, 3)
Required living space on ground & upper floor	75, 75</TD>
Office: family use or home office?	Home office (for 2 people)
Number of overnight guests per year	10
Open or closed architecture	Open
Traditional or modern construction	Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island	Yes, no
Number of dining seats	6
Fireplace	No
Music / stereo wall	No
Balcony, roof terrace	No
Garage, carport	Garage
Utility garden, greenhouse	No
House design
Who designed it?	Do-it-yourself
What do you especially like? Why?	Basically everything, as it was planned according to our own wishes.
What do you dislike? Why?	We would prefer a staircase with a landing, but the available space doesn’t allow it.
Price estimate according to architect/planner	360,000 - 410,000 including garage, excluding additional construction costs
Personal price limit for the house including fittings	380,000 including garage, excluding additional construction costs
Preferred heating technology	Air-to-water heat pump (with indoor and outdoor units)
If you have to give up something, on which details / expansions
- can you give up:	Possibly a smaller garage.
- cannot give up:	Office for two people, sauna
Why is the design the way it is now?	Individually planned by ourselves. Visited numerous home exhibitions and gathered information.

The design seems to be planned around window symmetry. This results in a very tight office on the ground floor with little space to sit down given the current desk arrangement. On the upper floor, it leads to a large window in the walk-in closet, which is also a dead end from the bedroom (which is inconvenient if you don’t get up at the same time).

I would try to position the walk-in closet and bathroom to the north, and the children’s room and bedroom to the south, with the bedroom entrance through the walk-in closet. Think from the inside out and consider how this affects the windows.

I definitely wouldn’t orient the garden to the north.
There are plenty of other options here.

Zeuge17 schrieb:

Get opinions and improvement suggestions from experts here.
Regarding the location of the plot:
To the north and east, we are directly adjacent to neighboring properties; to the west is the access road (30 km/h (approx. 20 mph) zone); to the south, a small pedestrian path followed by the next neighboring plot. The building site is in Baden-Württemberg.

And just like that, after quickly checking while writing, the orientation is wrong again.
It really annoys me!!!
Get it right before others start posting and this becomes yet another thread without added value because people have to look it up.
And yes: You can’t edit your post.

P.S. A pantry was not planned but added as a room, and it has a 1950s vibe.

I don’t think the design is that bad. Some areas do waste a lot of space. Always keep in mind that every centimeter you build is very expensive.

For example, take a look at what happens if you change the shape of the staircase:

A huge chunk of space remains unused without even touching the rooms. The living area, with a rough build depth of 3.88m (12.7 feet) and a length of over 11m (36 feet), is one long corridor. Even Joanna from Fixer Upper would have trouble making that feel cozy. The walk-in closet feels trapped—that’s already been mentioned. Child 2 is probably dreaming of more room depth at night rather than elves and unicorns.

With this house shape and orientation, a large garden area to the east (almost exactly) on the left side is basically being left unused. Is the ridge direction set by the building permit / planning permission, or did you decide that yourselves?

kaho674 schrieb:

Take a look, for example, at what happens when you change the shape of the staircase:

[ATTACH alt="treppenform.jpg"]38719[/ATTACH]

If you develop Katja’s design further, you can nicely allocate the space for the sauna within the yellow area, and the long wall of the dressing room can be extended straight to the other end of the house. This way, the children’s rooms can also be sized identically.

RomeoZwo schrieb:

If you further develop this design from Katja,

I didn’t want to make things worse by adding more small tweaks, but just wanted to point out the waste.
Better to start over.