ᐅ Floor plan design for an urban villa with basement – any suggestions for improvement?

Hello everyone,

We are currently planning a townhouse for the plot of land we purchased. We would appreciate your feedback, improvements, or suggestions regarding the floor plans.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 448m² (5409 ft²)
Slope: South-facing slope, within the building area approximately 1.6 m (5.25 ft) descending from street level
Building type: Single-family house, townhouse style
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.3
Plot ratio / floor space index: 0.6
Building area, building line, and boundary: Maximum building depth 14 m (46 ft), building length 10.5 m (34 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 1 in front of the garage entrance
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: Gable roof, 25-45 degrees; hip roof / tent roof 15-25 degrees
Architectural style: Modern
Orientation: South
Maximum height / limitations: No restrictions

Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Townhouse style, hip/tent roof 25 degrees
Basement, floors: 2 full stories plus basement rooms and a separate apartment in the basement
Number and ages of occupants: 4 people, ages: 46, 47, children 20 and 16 years
Space requirements for basement (UG), ground floor (EG), upper floor (OG):

UG:[/B] Separate apartment for one child (20 years), WC & shower, 1 cellar/storage room, utility room
EG: Kitchen/dining/living, workspace
OG: Two children’s rooms (child 16 years), bathroom, master bedroom, storage room (washing machine, dryer)
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: conservative
Open kitchen with island: open kitchen
Number of dining places: 4
Fireplace: yes
Music/Stereo wall: no
Balcony: no
Terrace: yes, on the ground floor; according to the development plan, half the width of the house
Rainwater tank: no
Garage or carport: garage

House Design
Designed by:
- Structural engineer
Cost estimate according to structural engineer: 350,000€ including ancillary construction costs and utility connections
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: 370,000€
Heating system: Geothermal heating

Why does the design look like it does?
Since our children are older, we wanted to prioritize giving them large rooms. Due to the slight slope on the site, a basement with a separate apartment made sense. This is where our older son would have his own space. Our daughter would have her room on the upper floor. We wanted the living room to be large and open.

We have a family member (father-in-law) who runs a civil engineering company, so we expect to get the earthworks and landscaping done at a relatively low cost.

The budget of 370k is already very tight. I’m not sure how much potential savings you can achieve with your earthworks in the end, but I would recalculate which trade costs how much.

Why such a large children’s room? The child might be out in maybe 2 years. I would at least plan it so that you could later convert it into a walk-in closet plus a guest room. So be careful with the structural design to ensure it’s possible to create an opening in the bedroom wall and build a new wall between the two windows in the current children’s room. That way, the left side could be a guest room and the right side a nice walk-in closet.
The basement room can be converted into a party/hobby room as shown in the plan.

danixf schrieb:

The budget of 370k is really quite tight. I’m not sure how much potential savings you will have with the earthworks in the end, but I would definitely recalculate which trade costs what.

Why such a large children’s room? They might be moving out in maybe two years. At least I would plan it so that it could later be converted into a dressing room plus guest room. So be careful with the structural design to allow for a possible opening in the bedroom wall and to build a new wall between the two windows in the current children’s room. That way, on the left you’d have a guest room and on the right a nice dressing room.
The basement room can be converted into a party or hobby room as shown on the plan.

Thank you very much for the feedback.

We have also considered the cost estimate; according to the structural engineer, the total costs should be accurate. I have attached the cost breakdown, which describes the individual trades. The cost estimate is based on the volume calculation, which was set at €305 per cubic meter.

As already mentioned, we will receive the earthworks and landscaping at cost price.

The children still live with us, so they are to have large rooms. On the upper floor, we have planned the large children’s room so that it can be divided into two rooms for guest accommodation or a dressing room.

Both children still live with you? And both share the same large room? Am I understanding that correctly?

seat88 schrieb:

Both children still live with you? And both in the one big room? Am I understanding that correctly?

No, of course not. Both children have their own rooms: the daughter upstairs and the son in the basement, which is designated as a hobby room on the plan.

Well, I don’t want to discuss the floor plan just yet, but first I’d like to ask the group: what future are you building for here?

Building so large when you have two almost-grown children seems like a mistake to me. Of course, it depends on what the kids plan to do in the coming years. Will they still be living at home in 10 years? Or are they going to university in another city? Is there already a partner they might want to move in with? It would probably be more affordable for you to help them finance a small apartment.

Even if that seems unimaginable now or breaks your heart, chances are the kids will be out of the house in 3-4 years. Then you’ll be stuck with many rooms you don’t need and, even worse, a huge loan that nobody wants. Considering the tight budget, a two-story house would be a better choice for everyone.