ᐅ Single-family house approximately 185 sqm – Initial design – Suggestions for improvement?
Created on: 2 Nov 2019 21:52
L
Lionsbarn
Hello everyone,
My wife and I are expecting a child and are planning to build our own house soon. We have visited two large model home parks, looked through many brochures, and gathered inspiration online.
We want to build a single-family house (to KfW 55 energy standard) with a gable roof and a bay window and are currently in discussions with several builders. We have presented them with our designs, but feedback has been limited, so we’re unsure whether we should also consult an architect.
Therefore, we would like to share our design here and get your opinions on whether the floor plan makes sense or if we might have overlooked something or made any mistakes.
Thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700m² (7,535 ft²)
Slope: No
Site coverage ratio: see screenshot
Floor area ratio: see screenshot
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Building envelope approx. 25 x 20m (82 x 66 ft), 3m (10 ft) setback from neighboring property
Edge development: Yes, garage
Number of parking spaces: 2 desired (1 garage)
Number of storeys: 1 full storey
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: Modern single-family house
Orientation: -
Maximum heights / limits: see screenshot
Other requirements: Roof pitch: minimum 20°; driveway from NW direction
Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Single-family house (KfW 55) with gable roof and bay window, knee wall preferably high (approximately 1.25m (4 ft))
Basement, floors: 1.5 full storeys, no basement
Number of people, ages: 3 people (34, 33, 0), one baby on the way, potentially more in the future
Room requirements – ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Spacious and bright living/dining area, kitchen (not open), office, utility/technical room
Upper floor: Bedroom with walk-in closet, 2 children’s rooms, guest room (or third children’s room), bathroom
Office: Essential due to work
Overnight guests per year: 5-10
Open or closed layout: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: No / yes
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: Yes
Music/stereo setup: Large TV and 9.1 surround sound with big speakers
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Garage with adjacent rooms
Utility garden, greenhouse: Low-maintenance garden, lawn and flowerbeds
House design
Who planned it: Do-it-yourself – ideas gathered from model home parks, brochures, and the internet
What do you like most? Why?
Ground floor: Open living/dining area with fireplace, morning sun enters the kitchen and moves throughout the living room all day. The sofa always has a view of the garden and the fireplace.
Upper floor: Quite large children’s rooms, each room has windows
What do you dislike? Why?
Ground floor: Position of the staircase, kitchen far from the entrance, distance of kitchen island from the wall, utility room too small?
Upper floor: Hallway too large and bathroom too small? Storage space poorly planned?
Estimated price according to planner:
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 400,000 € (excluding land)
Preferred heating technology: Gas condensing boiler with solar thermal and centralized ventilation system
If you had to give up on which features/finishes could you do without: Smart home
-which you cannot do without: Office/guest room, separate walk-in closet, fireplace, garage
Why does the current design look like it does? For example:
- The first draft is a mix of impressions from model home parks, brochures, internet, etc.
- Since the driveway is at the NW corner of the plot, the house and garage should move as far as possible to the NE to create a garden and terrace facing SW.
- Living/dining area should be on the SW side of the house.
- The kitchen should be separated from the living/dining area by a sliding door.
- Children’s rooms should be spacious and get as much sunlight as possible.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What do you think of the design, and what could be improved? Is a door from the hallway to the kitchen useful? Should we plan a half-landing staircase? Is the utility/technical room big enough? How do you rate the storage space upstairs?
Thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions!
My wife and I are expecting a child and are planning to build our own house soon. We have visited two large model home parks, looked through many brochures, and gathered inspiration online.
We want to build a single-family house (to KfW 55 energy standard) with a gable roof and a bay window and are currently in discussions with several builders. We have presented them with our designs, but feedback has been limited, so we’re unsure whether we should also consult an architect.
Therefore, we would like to share our design here and get your opinions on whether the floor plan makes sense or if we might have overlooked something or made any mistakes.
Thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700m² (7,535 ft²)
Slope: No
Site coverage ratio: see screenshot
Floor area ratio: see screenshot
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Building envelope approx. 25 x 20m (82 x 66 ft), 3m (10 ft) setback from neighboring property
Edge development: Yes, garage
Number of parking spaces: 2 desired (1 garage)
Number of storeys: 1 full storey
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: Modern single-family house
Orientation: -
Maximum heights / limits: see screenshot
Other requirements: Roof pitch: minimum 20°; driveway from NW direction
Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Single-family house (KfW 55) with gable roof and bay window, knee wall preferably high (approximately 1.25m (4 ft))
Basement, floors: 1.5 full storeys, no basement
Number of people, ages: 3 people (34, 33, 0), one baby on the way, potentially more in the future
Room requirements – ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Spacious and bright living/dining area, kitchen (not open), office, utility/technical room
Upper floor: Bedroom with walk-in closet, 2 children’s rooms, guest room (or third children’s room), bathroom
Office: Essential due to work
Overnight guests per year: 5-10
Open or closed layout: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: No / yes
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: Yes
Music/stereo setup: Large TV and 9.1 surround sound with big speakers
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Garage with adjacent rooms
Utility garden, greenhouse: Low-maintenance garden, lawn and flowerbeds
House design
Who planned it: Do-it-yourself – ideas gathered from model home parks, brochures, and the internet
What do you like most? Why?
Ground floor: Open living/dining area with fireplace, morning sun enters the kitchen and moves throughout the living room all day. The sofa always has a view of the garden and the fireplace.
Upper floor: Quite large children’s rooms, each room has windows
What do you dislike? Why?
Ground floor: Position of the staircase, kitchen far from the entrance, distance of kitchen island from the wall, utility room too small?
Upper floor: Hallway too large and bathroom too small? Storage space poorly planned?
Estimated price according to planner:
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 400,000 € (excluding land)
Preferred heating technology: Gas condensing boiler with solar thermal and centralized ventilation system
If you had to give up on which features/finishes could you do without: Smart home
-which you cannot do without: Office/guest room, separate walk-in closet, fireplace, garage
Why does the current design look like it does? For example:
- The first draft is a mix of impressions from model home parks, brochures, internet, etc.
- Since the driveway is at the NW corner of the plot, the house and garage should move as far as possible to the NE to create a garden and terrace facing SW.
- Living/dining area should be on the SW side of the house.
- The kitchen should be separated from the living/dining area by a sliding door.
- Children’s rooms should be spacious and get as much sunlight as possible.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What do you think of the design, and what could be improved? Is a door from the hallway to the kitchen useful? Should we plan a half-landing staircase? Is the utility/technical room big enough? How do you rate the storage space upstairs?
Thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions!
I think the approach is very good. I like it.
However, I see that no actual measurements were used for the closets and walls. With real dimensions, the walk-in closet will no longer work. The shower will also need to be deeper, and in some places, the interior walls will be 15cm (6 inches) instead of the assumed 10cm (4 inches) (as a non-expert, always plan with plaster), so it won’t fit properly anymore. The bottlenecks are the shower, wardrobe, and utility room.
And above that, the bathroom, walk-in closet, and bedroom. In the other rooms, this is not as critical. In the kitchen, there is enough space to move and maneuver around the work surfaces.
However, I see that no actual measurements were used for the closets and walls. With real dimensions, the walk-in closet will no longer work. The shower will also need to be deeper, and in some places, the interior walls will be 15cm (6 inches) instead of the assumed 10cm (4 inches) (as a non-expert, always plan with plaster), so it won’t fit properly anymore. The bottlenecks are the shower, wardrobe, and utility room.
And above that, the bathroom, walk-in closet, and bedroom. In the other rooms, this is not as critical. In the kitchen, there is enough space to move and maneuver around the work surfaces.
And, due to possible sliding closet doors and a slight gap from the wall, it is best to always plan closets with a minimum depth of 65 cm (25.6 inches). For example, the Ikea Pax closets with sliding doors are 66 cm (26 inches) deep. Therefore, a depth of 70 cm (27.6 inches) would be an even better planning dimension.
L
Lionsbarn3 Nov 2019 12:50kbt09 schrieb:
In general, having some measurements would be helpful, and as mentioned, definitely the 2m (6 ft 7 in) line in the attic.
A site plan is also important so it can be assessed whether the garage can be accessed easily. It seems like a lot of paved area in front of the house might be needed. kaho674 schrieb:
Yes, especially measurements that actually make sense and not distances to the wall center or similar nonsense. So exterior dimensions, wall thicknesses, stair dimensions, floor-to-ceiling height, and similar. Then we could calculate whether you can manage the 125cm (4 ft 1 in) knee wall height. I also think the dormer roof will have to be dropped. Thanks for your feedback so far. I will get started on fully dimensioning the floor plans and try to create a site plan.
I also have a complete draft from a developer, but unfortunately I’m not allowed to upload it here.
kaho674 schrieb:
The technical room is really tight – can you tell us what equipment is planned to go in there? Planned are a washing machine and dryer, as well as a gas boiler, buffer tank, centralized ventilation system, meter cabinet, and possibly an energy storage system later on.
kbt09 schrieb:
In the hallway, the recess for the utility room – I would make sure it is consistently about 65cm (26 inches) deep and can fit a continuous cabinet. So either narrow side windows or narrower doors, or something like that. What exactly do you mean by that?
L
Lionsbarn3 Nov 2019 13:06kaho674 schrieb:
The storage space on the upper floor becomes difficult to access under the sloped ceiling. I would create an open void and completely open it up. That's true, having it fully open definitely makes the area feel brighter and more welcoming. The idea was to have some space on the upper floor for the vacuum cleaner and such. Where should we put it? ops:
Lionsbarn schrieb:
What exactly do you mean?She means that the wardrobe appears to be only 30/40 cm (12/16 inches) deep, which is not enough for coats and outerwear. This niche should be about 65 cm (26 inches) deep. The same applies to the walk-in closet.
Lionsbarn schrieb:
True, fully open it definitely feels brighter and more welcoming. The idea was also to have space upstairs for the vacuum cleaner and such. But where to keep it?For example, in the guest room? It’s usually empty or used as a hobby room. Eventually, all those things that are supposed to be regularly stored in the attic—but often aren’t because of laziness—will find a place there. Another option would be to arrange the kids’ rooms so that a built-in closet fits between the doors.
Lionsbarn schrieb:
True, fully open it naturally feels friendlier and brighter. The idea was also to have space upstairs for the vacuum cleaner and such. But where to put it? ops: Yes, I initially designated the guest room as a general storage area as well. Without dimensions, though, it’s hard to say anything for sure. The sloped ceilings need to be included first and whether they’re suitable for a dormer or not. Also, all cupboard sizes and their footprint areas must be checked. In the end, you might decide against an open void and instead plan a small storage niche including a washing machine in that spot. Yvonne’s idea is also great.
But without measurements... no cookies.
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