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?
mini_g! schrieb:
The first option had the entrance at the front. But I really wanted a proper porch, and we both felt the entrance was too exposed there.
I find that quite relatable and somewhat amusing—visually aiming lower is unusual here, as we mostly see the opposite.
The entrance can also be placed on the gable end; that’s not the issue. For me, it was mainly about the main rooms. In my opinion, they should be entirely facing the garden.
mini_g! schrieb:
In our opinion, the architect is doing a great job, and we want to provide feedback only in the next round of revisions. Otherwise, it becomes too much back-and-forth. Finally, some reasonable clients!
With some of those ping-pong architect chasers, you really start to feel sorry for the planners. But you’ve clearly got a very good architect here: I’ve been here almost three years and can count on one hand how often I’ve seen a rainwater pipe enclosure (like the one in the kitchen) in the plans.
Are you as nice as Götz and Christine from “Zimmer frei”? – I’d be happy to join that club right away. The architect suits me perfectly: flawless, precise, even everything strictly to standard dimensions (and otherwise obviously experienced and/or excellently trained); and as a special treat, probably a bit conservative just for me. I like this house almost as much as @daniels87’s.
I would take it exactly as is, with the L-shaped living room and the utility room in the newer version. Artificial lighting in the dressing room is better, considering dust accumulation. Even the accent wall (exposed concrete) is perfectly placed.
From me: full marks, with a holy picture.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I like option L
I think a fixed glass panel is great! It’s a highlight for the house and doesn’t even cost much.
mini_g! schrieb:Yes, like that. I know it’s appealing to extend the kitchen countertop into the utility room. However, for me, that would be a nice-to-have, and having a more open access to the utility room takes priority. I also mentioned that I would place the kitchen entrance in front of the stairs. I can really picture that: coming down the stairs and arriving right at the island
Like in the attachment?
mini_g! schrieb:
We had already considered installing a glass door to the living room instead of a fixed glass panel. We wanted to fully close that area, but the architect suggested leaving the wall open there might be better. In case the living room should one day be separated into its own room with a new wall separating it from the dining area.
I think a fixed glass panel is great! It’s a highlight for the house and doesn’t even cost much.
kaho674 schrieb:
I find that somehow very likable and somewhat funny, visually rather understated. Usually, we see the opposite here. I think everyone has to decide for themselves what they find attractive. But for us, a subtle approach is preferable.
11ant schrieb:
Finally, some reasonable home builders Thank you, also for the additional positive comments. We try to keep coordination efficient at least. We also have the positive feeling that the architect colleague is doing a good job.
And I think defining “conservative” only negatively is a mistake in my opinion. When it comes to preserving or sticking to truly well-functioning solutions, conservative is positive!
kaho674 schrieb:
The entrance can also be placed on the gable side, that’s not the issue. For me, it was just about the main rooms. In my opinion, they should be entirely facing the garden. We gave it some more thought. We don’t see a way to realize that. The staircase is basically fixed because of the upper floor. And one thing is important to us: we want to position the cloakroom so that access to the guest toilet does not pass through the “dirty area.” I’m afraid we’ll stick with the “L” shape.
ypg schrieb:
However, I also mentioned that I would position the kitchen entrance in front of the staircase. And I can well imagine that: you come down the stairs and reach the island directly. That would have a significant disadvantage. The exposed concrete wall would be fragmented. That wall is important to me because I already have the matching picture for it. However, the wall is currently too short, but with the changed utility room access it would fit.
ypg schrieb:
Fixed glass element sounds good! It’s a highlight for the house and doesn’t even cost much. Sounds good. We will just double-check that it really extends from floor to ceiling and is not just a hole in the wall without a door...
I hope I didn’t miss any feedback; if I did, it was unintentional.
Best regards! mini
ypg schrieb:
I like the fixed glass element! I'm a bit confused right now.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
I'm completely stuck here.She means the glass panel on the ground floor between the stairs and the living room/TV area.Right? Otherwise, I'm stuck too.
Best regards! mini_g!
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