ᐅ Single-family house 180-190 sqm on a 10x20 m building plot, first draft general contractor proposal
Created on: 28 Oct 2019 12:32
B
Builderbob
Hello everyone,
My wife and I are planning to become homeowners soon and have had a preliminary floor plan created by our (prospective) prefab home provider based on our first meeting.
We have a specific plot in mind, but the new development area is still being surveyed, and the parcels are being reorganized. Therefore, there is no official site plan yet, only the attached zoning plan excerpt (dashed lines = property boundaries).
We find the floor plan draft interesting at first glance, especially since it doesn’t seem like a standard template from the provider, at least from our perspective. I’ve listed a few points below that I think could be improved – I’m sure you’ll notice more...
Thanks in advance for your assessments!
Thomas
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot Size – 47 sqm (505 sq ft)
Slope – none
Site Coverage Ratio – 0.4
Floor Area Ratio – 0.8
Building Envelope, Building Line, and Setbacks – Building envelope 10 x 20 m (33 x 66 ft), setback 3 m (10 ft) from street/neighboring property, perimeter development possible but not planned
Number of Parking Spaces – 2
Number of Stories – 2 full stories
Roof Type – gable, hip, shed, flat
Architectural Style – modern
Orientation –
Maximum Heights / Limits – 9.80 m (32 ft) from road surface to top of building
Additional Requirements –
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, Roof Type, Building Type – not fixed (except: no flat roof)
Basement, Number of Floors – 2 full stories, no basement
Number of Occupants, Ages – 3 persons (36, 35, 1), potentially second child in future
Space Requirements on Ground and Upper Floors –
Ground floor: open living/dining/kitchen area, pantry, office/guest room, utility room
Upper floor: bedroom/bathroom/walk-in closet, 2 children’s rooms, kids’ bathroom
Office: Family Use or Home Office? – occasional home office, room shared with guest room
Number of Sleep Guests Per Year – 5–10
Open or Closed Architecture – open
Conservative or Modern Construction – modern
Open Kitchen, Kitchen Island – yes
Number of Dining Seats – 6–10
Fireplace – yes
Music / Stereo Wall – no
Balcony, Roof Terrace – nice to have, not essential
Garage, Carport – carport
Utility Garden, Greenhouse – no
House Design
Designer – general contractor
What Do You Like Especially? Why?
Ground floor: open living/dining area but no direct line of sight from sofa to kitchen, short route from front door to pantry, separated utility room
Upper floor: separation of children’s and master areas, no “trapped” walk-in closet, roof terrace, “sleeping platform” in children’s room
What Do You Dislike? Why?
Overall: floor plan looks very elongated
Ground floor: entrance vestibule (in my opinion unnecessary), coat storage far from front door (alternative under stairs?), WC possibly too narrow, no direct access from kitchen to terrace (planned at SE/SW corner – around the corner), seating nook in kitchen (planned to be removed/replaced with window seat), distance between kitchen island and wall, narrow passage living/dining area if fireplace and piano (175 x 60 cm) are placed as planned
Upper floor: children’s rooms facing north, bedroom facing south, “space” at roof terrace exit, overall space usage (large hallway 20 sqm plus 10 sqm “leftover” as “sauna room” (sauna for 2 persons should be integrated in bathroom), bathroom rather small and walk-in closet quite narrow)
Price Estimate According to Architect/Planner: $465,000 (excluding land and additional construction costs)
Personal Price Limit for the House, Including Equipment: $500,000
Preferred Heating Technology: air-to-water heat pump, possibly with photovoltaic system
If You Have to Give Up Anything, which Details/Features
- Could You Do Without: sauna, kitchen island, roof terrace
-Could Not Do Without: fireplace, office/guest room, separate walk-in closet/dressing room, 2 bathrooms upstairs
Why Is the Design Like It Is? e.g.
Standard Design from Planner? – no
Which Wishes from the Architect Have Been Implemented? – design based on our room program and “wish list” (e.g., fireplace, “window seat” in kitchen, spatial separation of living room and kitchen, no trapped walk-in closet)
What Do You Think Makes It Especially Good or Bad? – bad: space use upstairs (20 sqm hallway + 10 sqm sauna/leftover space), good: separation of “technical area” on ground floor and children’s/master areas upstairs
What Is the Most Important/Basic Question About the Floor Plan in 130 Characters?
Can this initial draft be developed further, or is it better to start from scratch? If the latter, how to improve (classic rectangle?)?








My wife and I are planning to become homeowners soon and have had a preliminary floor plan created by our (prospective) prefab home provider based on our first meeting.
We have a specific plot in mind, but the new development area is still being surveyed, and the parcels are being reorganized. Therefore, there is no official site plan yet, only the attached zoning plan excerpt (dashed lines = property boundaries).
We find the floor plan draft interesting at first glance, especially since it doesn’t seem like a standard template from the provider, at least from our perspective. I’ve listed a few points below that I think could be improved – I’m sure you’ll notice more...
Thanks in advance for your assessments!
Thomas
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot Size – 47 sqm (505 sq ft)
Slope – none
Site Coverage Ratio – 0.4
Floor Area Ratio – 0.8
Building Envelope, Building Line, and Setbacks – Building envelope 10 x 20 m (33 x 66 ft), setback 3 m (10 ft) from street/neighboring property, perimeter development possible but not planned
Number of Parking Spaces – 2
Number of Stories – 2 full stories
Roof Type – gable, hip, shed, flat
Architectural Style – modern
Orientation –
Maximum Heights / Limits – 9.80 m (32 ft) from road surface to top of building
Additional Requirements –
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, Roof Type, Building Type – not fixed (except: no flat roof)
Basement, Number of Floors – 2 full stories, no basement
Number of Occupants, Ages – 3 persons (36, 35, 1), potentially second child in future
Space Requirements on Ground and Upper Floors –
Ground floor: open living/dining/kitchen area, pantry, office/guest room, utility room
Upper floor: bedroom/bathroom/walk-in closet, 2 children’s rooms, kids’ bathroom
Office: Family Use or Home Office? – occasional home office, room shared with guest room
Number of Sleep Guests Per Year – 5–10
Open or Closed Architecture – open
Conservative or Modern Construction – modern
Open Kitchen, Kitchen Island – yes
Number of Dining Seats – 6–10
Fireplace – yes
Music / Stereo Wall – no
Balcony, Roof Terrace – nice to have, not essential
Garage, Carport – carport
Utility Garden, Greenhouse – no
House Design
Designer – general contractor
What Do You Like Especially? Why?
Ground floor: open living/dining area but no direct line of sight from sofa to kitchen, short route from front door to pantry, separated utility room
Upper floor: separation of children’s and master areas, no “trapped” walk-in closet, roof terrace, “sleeping platform” in children’s room
What Do You Dislike? Why?
Overall: floor plan looks very elongated
Ground floor: entrance vestibule (in my opinion unnecessary), coat storage far from front door (alternative under stairs?), WC possibly too narrow, no direct access from kitchen to terrace (planned at SE/SW corner – around the corner), seating nook in kitchen (planned to be removed/replaced with window seat), distance between kitchen island and wall, narrow passage living/dining area if fireplace and piano (175 x 60 cm) are placed as planned
Upper floor: children’s rooms facing north, bedroom facing south, “space” at roof terrace exit, overall space usage (large hallway 20 sqm plus 10 sqm “leftover” as “sauna room” (sauna for 2 persons should be integrated in bathroom), bathroom rather small and walk-in closet quite narrow)
Price Estimate According to Architect/Planner: $465,000 (excluding land and additional construction costs)
Personal Price Limit for the House, Including Equipment: $500,000
Preferred Heating Technology: air-to-water heat pump, possibly with photovoltaic system
If You Have to Give Up Anything, which Details/Features
- Could You Do Without: sauna, kitchen island, roof terrace
-Could Not Do Without: fireplace, office/guest room, separate walk-in closet/dressing room, 2 bathrooms upstairs
Why Is the Design Like It Is? e.g.
Standard Design from Planner? – no
Which Wishes from the Architect Have Been Implemented? – design based on our room program and “wish list” (e.g., fireplace, “window seat” in kitchen, spatial separation of living room and kitchen, no trapped walk-in closet)
What Do You Think Makes It Especially Good or Bad? – bad: space use upstairs (20 sqm hallway + 10 sqm sauna/leftover space), good: separation of “technical area” on ground floor and children’s/master areas upstairs
What Is the Most Important/Basic Question About the Floor Plan in 130 Characters?
Can this initial draft be developed further, or is it better to start from scratch? If the latter, how to improve (classic rectangle?)?
For me, everything is in one font size.
Builderbob, check what number of parking spaces is required. Usually, there are regulations regarding how many and how they must be arranged. For example, where we are, parking spaces are not allowed to be arranged one behind the other; each parking space must be individually accessible. However, every municipality sets its own rules, including the numbers. But it will probably not be possible to have fewer than two parking spaces for a single-family house.
The question is whether these have to be garages/carports or if simple parking spaces are also allowed. The latter require less space. It might also be worth considering a combination of garage/covered parking space or carport/open parking space. Or a double carport with a wooden wall facing the weather. This also takes up less space than a garage with walls around it (since in a garage, you can only open the car door up to the wall – with an open parking space or carport, you can open it beyond that).
Builderbob, check what number of parking spaces is required. Usually, there are regulations regarding how many and how they must be arranged. For example, where we are, parking spaces are not allowed to be arranged one behind the other; each parking space must be individually accessible. However, every municipality sets its own rules, including the numbers. But it will probably not be possible to have fewer than two parking spaces for a single-family house.
The question is whether these have to be garages/carports or if simple parking spaces are also allowed. The latter require less space. It might also be worth considering a combination of garage/covered parking space or carport/open parking space. Or a double carport with a wooden wall facing the weather. This also takes up less space than a garage with walls around it (since in a garage, you can only open the car door up to the wall – with an open parking space or carport, you can open it beyond that).
B
Builderbob30 Oct 2019 10:03Climbee schrieb:
Usually, there are regulations regarding how many parking spaces and how they should be arranged. For example, in our area, they are not allowed to be arranged one behind the other; each parking space must be individually accessible. However, each municipality sets its own rules, including the number of spaces required. But for a single-family house, it’s probably not possible to have fewer than two parking spaces anyway. I checked the parking space ordinance of the municipality:
“(1) Garages and parking spaces must be accessible without crossing other parking spaces.
(2) If more than one parking space is required for a dwelling, the additional parking space may be arranged so that the other parking space belonging to this dwelling is blocked.”
The development plan states the following:
“In general residential areas, only open and covered parking spaces are permitted outside of the building boundaries set by construction limits, with a maximum distance of 6.0m (20 feet) from the street boundary line.
Garages and their driveways must maintain a minimum lateral distance of 1.50m (5 feet) from traffic areas and public green spaces.”
What this means to me: For a single-family house (one “dwelling” according to the ordinance), I can arrange two parking spaces one behind the other. The 6m (20 ft) distance from the street boundary line for the parking space farther from the street should be sufficient. Since only open and covered parking spaces are allowed outside the building boundaries, garages likely aren’t an option due to the narrow plot—unless I place them entirely at the northern edge of the building area and put the house behind it...
After reconsidering, a double carport would actually be quite practical. However, I don’t see where I could fit it except directly by the street with the house behind it. Unlike garages, a carport should be allowed directly adjacent to the street and shouldn’t have to comply with the setback = minimum 3m (10 ft) building line?
So, I’ve been experimenting with a double carport (since the 1.5m rule only applies to garages) and an entrance in the northeast...

I’m still not satisfied with the upper floor plan though. I placed the utility room as a laundry room on the upper floor because there wasn’t enough space on the ground floor due to the corner of the carport. Unfortunately, this made the upper floor a bit more complicated in layout. The children’s rooms turned out quite large, but shifting the staircase would reduce the size of the office again. Or I could skip the feature of a covered outdoor area in front of the office. But I really miss having a small covered patio area—not necessarily connected to the main terrace—at our house.

But isn’t the main terrace more pleasant facing southwest? So maybe it’s better to move the office back upstairs... I already have a new idea for that...
I’m still not satisfied with the upper floor plan though. I placed the utility room as a laundry room on the upper floor because there wasn’t enough space on the ground floor due to the corner of the carport. Unfortunately, this made the upper floor a bit more complicated in layout. The children’s rooms turned out quite large, but shifting the staircase would reduce the size of the office again. Or I could skip the feature of a covered outdoor area in front of the office. But I really miss having a small covered patio area—not necessarily connected to the main terrace—at our house.
But isn’t the main terrace more pleasant facing southwest? So maybe it’s better to move the office back upstairs... I already have a new idea for that...
Builderbob schrieb:
"In general residential areas, only open or covered parking spaces are allowed outside the building boundaries within the buildable plot area, with a maximum distance from the street boundary line of 6.0 m (20 feet).
So, I understand this to mean that every parking space (outside the building boundaries)—whether open or covered—must have a minimum distance of 6 m (20 feet) from the street. But we could ask @Escroda to be sure...?
Similar topics