ᐅ Floor plan design for an urban villa with basement – any suggestions for improvement?
Created on: 8 Oct 2019 21:00
C
canerol
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.
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.
11ant schrieb:
This works brilliantly in theory but is nonsense without proper support in practice. Even in non-boom periods, it’s not recommended for beginners. Managing contracts yourself is tricky ground for novices and can turn into a gamble: after trades A, B, C, and D, you still need E. You can’t just prefer the lowest bidder for U (simply because they are available and even offer a friendly price). If E hasn’t worked with D before, there’s a high chance of a lot of extra work hours at the interfaces. DIY contract awarding by amateurs could be my favorite joke if I were cynical – but I’m not. You already missed the mark when awarding the planning services, in my opinion.
Could it possibly be the same person?
(Despite all the humor, this question is serious, as it almost suggests itself given the brilliant planning.) Sorry, I don’t understand the statement... We will plan, coordinate, and award the trades together with the structural engineer and have everything double-checked by the building inspector.
However, I don’t see managing contracts yourself as rocket science. It’s certainly much easier with experience. If you have the time and stay on top of it, even amateurs should be able to handle it.
Funny enough, when I was 16, I significantly downsized my bedroom because it was clear I would be moving out in three years anyway – my parents used a move as an opportunity to save about 30 square meters (320 square feet).
A lot has already been said, but I would seriously consider whether you could reduce your space a bit more (cost savings!) and instead build more sustainably, even with larger kids’ rooms. Instead of 33 square meters (355 square feet) for your daughter, 20 square meters (215 square feet) can be nicely furnished with a couch and a dressing area. There’s just a lot of unused space. Have you tried planning the furniture layout mentally?
For your son, I would design the space so it could really become a self-contained apartment that could theoretically be rented out. At least include plumbing connections for a kitchen, rather than just having one large room.
Size alone is not a measure of quality, and when costs matter, children can still live comfortably with somewhat less space but on a generous scale.
A lot has already been said, but I would seriously consider whether you could reduce your space a bit more (cost savings!) and instead build more sustainably, even with larger kids’ rooms. Instead of 33 square meters (355 square feet) for your daughter, 20 square meters (215 square feet) can be nicely furnished with a couch and a dressing area. There’s just a lot of unused space. Have you tried planning the furniture layout mentally?
For your son, I would design the space so it could really become a self-contained apartment that could theoretically be rented out. At least include plumbing connections for a kitchen, rather than just having one large room.
Size alone is not a measure of quality, and when costs matter, children can still live comfortably with somewhat less space but on a generous scale.
canerol schrieb:
However, I don’t see self-contracting as rocket science; of course, with experience it is definitely much more manageable.With experience, you simply don’t rely on the unfounded hope that a brave individual will somehow manage to pull it off.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
kbt09 schrieb:
If that is supposed to be a kitchen island... what do you want to do with it? The room is 326 cm (128 inches) wide, with 60 cm (24 inches) for the kitchen on the left, then at least 2x 80 cm (31 inches) clear walking space, leaving 100 cm (39 inches) width for the kitchen island.
Still open... a mini office and why a full guest bathroom on the ground floor?
If the terrace is on the ground floor like that, then half of the basement – your son’s room – would have no windows. In any case, I think this isn’t a finalized concept yet.
By the way, I also find the bathroom in the basement too narrow. If an installation wall is needed, then 120 cm (47 inches) room depth is not enough. It should be at least 140 cm (55 inches). A kitchen island would be nice, but as you already mentioned, it probably won’t fit.
The guest bathroom is therefore planned for the ground floor because, for cost reasons, we only want to prepare the bathroom in the basement—meaning we will have the pipes and water lines pre-installed.
If we can stay within budget, we are considering leaving out the shower in the guest bathroom to make the office a bit larger.
canerol schrieb:
A kitchen island would be nice, but as you already mentioned, it probably won’t fit.
Seriously?
Come on, it’s your house! Once it’s built, it’s too late. So if you want a kitchen island, plan one in and redesign the house!