ᐅ New single-family house construction, approximately 174 m² floor area, architectural design
Created on: 22 Nov 2019 07:51
M
mini_g!
Hello everyone,
After following this forum for quite a while, our own project is becoming more concrete. We have secured a plot of land and have spoken with various general contractors and an architect. So far, my wife and I like the architect’s design best. It is still a draft plan, but it already feels very "right" for us.
Therefore, I would appreciate your feedback. Are there any critical points we might be overlooking? What could be solved more cleverly?
I hope I have included everything needed. If not, I’m happy to provide more information. Unfortunately, the basement is still the old version; it has now been mirrored and the light shafts have been slightly changed. You can see this on the ground floor plan.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Thank you very much! mini
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 494 m2 (approximately 5313 sq ft); about 20.5 m (67 feet) wide on the street side, 24.2 m (79.5 feet) deep
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: not specified
Building setback: 3 meters (10 feet) from the street, 4 meters (13 feet) from adjacent property at the back
Edge construction: no
Number of parking spaces: 1.5 per residential unit
Number of floors: max. 2
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style: classic-modern?
Orientation: ridge runs northwest
Maximum height/restrictions: eaves height 6.5 m (21 feet), ridge height 9.5 m (31 feet)
Other requirements: various, planting obligations, infiltration etc., but nothing really unusual nowadays
Clients’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: classic modern, gable roof
Basement, floors: 2 full stories plus basement
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults in their mid-30s, 2 children aged 2 years
Space requirements on the ground floor: cloakroom, guest WC, utility room, kitchen, living and dining area
Space requirements on the upper floor: 2 children’s rooms, parents’ room, walk-in closets, children’s bathroom, parents’ bathroom
Office: family use plus possible home office about one day every two weeks
Guest beds per year: few; about 3?
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction method: We consider ourselves modern but want a classic building shape on the outside. So the interior is rather open and modern, the exterior has a classic form.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with work island
Number of dining seats: usual 4-6, for events at least 12-16 people
Fireplace: no
Media wall for music/stereo: media wall for TV and books, no stereo
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony for the children
Garage, carport: garage plus carport
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: possibly later
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, reasons why certain things should or should not be included:
- Children’s bathroom
- Balcony on garage/carport accessible for both children (for friends etc. when they are older)
- Utility room next to kitchen on ground floor
- Covered entrance
- Spacious open living and dining area
- Open attic
House design
Planner: architect
What do you like most?
Open and spacious, all our wishes were taken into account. We wanted to keep the building’s main shape as simple as possible and avoid dormers, bay windows, and setbacks.
What do you not like? Why?
Could it possibly be a bit smaller? We don’t have to fully exhaust our budget...
Estimated price according to architect/planner: approx. $600,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: -
Preferred heating system: heat pump with ground collector, possibly supplemented with photovoltaic. Maybe switch to a standard air-to-water heat pump?
If you had to give up something, which details or upgrades would you cut?
Difficult, we don’t really have anything we would cut.
Why did the design turn out as it is now? For example:
We spent a long time thinking about the floor plans, looked at many houses online and from friends/family. We wrote down everything we liked and also what we didn’t want. For example, a clear design without bay windows, setbacks, or similar features was important to us. This is what we took to the builders and the architect. The result is this plan.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Are there any optimizations in the floor plan that we may have missed? Enough windows/daylight in general?
After following this forum for quite a while, our own project is becoming more concrete. We have secured a plot of land and have spoken with various general contractors and an architect. So far, my wife and I like the architect’s design best. It is still a draft plan, but it already feels very "right" for us.
Therefore, I would appreciate your feedback. Are there any critical points we might be overlooking? What could be solved more cleverly?
I hope I have included everything needed. If not, I’m happy to provide more information. Unfortunately, the basement is still the old version; it has now been mirrored and the light shafts have been slightly changed. You can see this on the ground floor plan.
Looking forward to your feedback!
Thank you very much! mini
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 494 m2 (approximately 5313 sq ft); about 20.5 m (67 feet) wide on the street side, 24.2 m (79.5 feet) deep
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: not specified
Building setback: 3 meters (10 feet) from the street, 4 meters (13 feet) from adjacent property at the back
Edge construction: no
Number of parking spaces: 1.5 per residential unit
Number of floors: max. 2
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style: classic-modern?
Orientation: ridge runs northwest
Maximum height/restrictions: eaves height 6.5 m (21 feet), ridge height 9.5 m (31 feet)
Other requirements: various, planting obligations, infiltration etc., but nothing really unusual nowadays
Clients’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: classic modern, gable roof
Basement, floors: 2 full stories plus basement
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults in their mid-30s, 2 children aged 2 years
Space requirements on the ground floor: cloakroom, guest WC, utility room, kitchen, living and dining area
Space requirements on the upper floor: 2 children’s rooms, parents’ room, walk-in closets, children’s bathroom, parents’ bathroom
Office: family use plus possible home office about one day every two weeks
Guest beds per year: few; about 3?
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction method: We consider ourselves modern but want a classic building shape on the outside. So the interior is rather open and modern, the exterior has a classic form.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with work island
Number of dining seats: usual 4-6, for events at least 12-16 people
Fireplace: no
Media wall for music/stereo: media wall for TV and books, no stereo
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony for the children
Garage, carport: garage plus carport
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: possibly later
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, reasons why certain things should or should not be included:
- Children’s bathroom
- Balcony on garage/carport accessible for both children (for friends etc. when they are older)
- Utility room next to kitchen on ground floor
- Covered entrance
- Spacious open living and dining area
- Open attic
House design
Planner: architect
What do you like most?
Open and spacious, all our wishes were taken into account. We wanted to keep the building’s main shape as simple as possible and avoid dormers, bay windows, and setbacks.
What do you not like? Why?
Could it possibly be a bit smaller? We don’t have to fully exhaust our budget...
Estimated price according to architect/planner: approx. $600,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: -
Preferred heating system: heat pump with ground collector, possibly supplemented with photovoltaic. Maybe switch to a standard air-to-water heat pump?
If you had to give up something, which details or upgrades would you cut?
Difficult, we don’t really have anything we would cut.
Why did the design turn out as it is now? For example:
We spent a long time thinking about the floor plans, looked at many houses online and from friends/family. We wrote down everything we liked and also what we didn’t want. For example, a clear design without bay windows, setbacks, or similar features was important to us. This is what we took to the builders and the architect. The result is this plan.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Are there any optimizations in the floor plan that we may have missed? Enough windows/daylight in general?
I also really like the design.
However, I have some criticism:
- The door to the utility room feels too narrow in the kitchen corner. You always have to pass by whoever is working in the kitchen (and that person isn’t always the same). I would move the utility room door on the ground floor to the entrance of the kitchen and leave the kitchen corner as it is.
- I would add an east-facing window to the bedroom and rotate the bed so the head is facing south.
- Some might not mind, but moving the kitchen door slightly towards the bathroom door would be more appealing to many, so I would place it opposite the stairs. This would also have the advantage that not everyone has to pass by the oven and refrigerator when going to the living room.
- Bathroom upstairs: I would swap the shower and toilet and adjust the long window accordingly. The advantage is that the toilet would be somewhat hidden but still have an outside view.
- I find the access points to the terrace insufficient.
However, I have some criticism:
- The door to the utility room feels too narrow in the kitchen corner. You always have to pass by whoever is working in the kitchen (and that person isn’t always the same). I would move the utility room door on the ground floor to the entrance of the kitchen and leave the kitchen corner as it is.
- I would add an east-facing window to the bedroom and rotate the bed so the head is facing south.
- Some might not mind, but moving the kitchen door slightly towards the bathroom door would be more appealing to many, so I would place it opposite the stairs. This would also have the advantage that not everyone has to pass by the oven and refrigerator when going to the living room.
- Bathroom upstairs: I would swap the shower and toilet and adjust the long window accordingly. The advantage is that the toilet would be somewhat hidden but still have an outside view.
- I find the access points to the terrace insufficient.
kaho674 schrieb:
Was the L shape intentionally chosen for the living areas? I don’t see any reason on this plot to not have all living spaces facing the garden. The chill-out room could be separated. The entrance is better on the north side. The L shape resulted from the room layout; it wasn’t predetermined by us. How would you arrange it differently? Swap the kitchen and living room?
The entrance is currently on the north side. The plan isn’t oriented to true north but includes a north arrow.
Best regards! mini
Thank you, ypg!
Best regards! mini
ypg schrieb:Like in the attachment?
- The utility room door feels too narrow in the kitchen corner. You always have to pass by whoever is working in the kitchen (and it’s not always the same person).
So I would place the utility room door on the ground floor at the kitchen entrance and leave the kitchen corner as it is.
ypg schrieb:We had already considered replacing the glass panel to the living room with a glass door. We wanted to close it completely, but the architect suggested not closing the wall there, so it would be easier to separate the living room later if it becomes a separate room with a new wall towards the dining area.
- Some don’t mind, but offsetting the kitchen door slightly toward the toilet door would be preferred by many, so place it opposite the stairs.
This would also have the advantage that not everyone has to walk past the stove and refrigerator to get to the living room.
Best regards! mini
mini_g! schrieb:
The L-shape resulted from the room layout; it wasn’t predetermined by us. How would you arrange it differently? Just a quick thought, I don’t have much time right now:
The property boundaries are the dashed lines, right?
Terrace centered in the garden. Garage in the northwest.
Or did I get the ridge direction wrong here? It’s almost a 45° angle between options...
kaho674 schrieb:
Or did I reverse the ridge direction here? It’s almost a 45° difference between the options.... No, everything is correct!
The first option had the entrance at the front. But I really wanted a proper canopy, and both of us felt that the entrance was too exposed there.
It was already an L-shaped layout. Hmm. I need to think about it again.
Regards! mini
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