ᐅ New construction of a single-family house with a secondary apartment, 180 m², on a hillside location

Hello everyone,
after gathering ideas and suggestions from this forum for some time, we would now like to present our first draft for discussion. We hope we have already considered many of the points we read here! Our focus is not on exact dimensions but rather on the room layout, arrangement, and any other advice. The goal is to have a design for which we can then plan the windows and subsequently approach general contractors (GCs), so we don’t have to start completely from scratch or have a plan that reflects our needs and daily routines. We have deliberately not yet arranged the windows, since the room layout was not final. It is clear that we want plenty of natural light in the dining area/south side, as there is a slope to the west that “shadows” the house. Our current living focus is the kitchen/dining area, which is why it has a corresponding size, orientation, and central location. Regarding the questionnaire:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 450 sqm (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, 4 m (13 ft) elevation change over 24 m (79 ft), rising from east to west
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor space index: -
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see site plan
Neighboring buildings: see site plan
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: Single-family home including accessory apartment, timber frame construction
Orientation: no restrictions
Maximum height limits: max building height = 7.2 m (24 ft)

Owners’ requirements
Basement, floors: Accessory apartment in basement plus separate entrance and utility/technical room
Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons (2 adults, 2 children) plus accessory apartment
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: 160–180 sqm (1,722–1,938 sq ft), accessory apartment >60 sqm (645 sq ft)
Office: Also usable as guest room, home office 3 days per week
Annual overnight guests: 10
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: both
Number of dining seats: minimum 8
Terrace and garden
Garage: for 1 car plus extended space for bicycles, etc.

House design
Designer: Do-it-yourself. We want to use the slope to create an accessory apartment and garden with separate entrances. The garden for the main house is on the ground floor.
What do you particularly like? Why? Open kitchen with integrated pantry, large dining area, straight staircase as room divider (at the expense of increased circulation space), southeast orientation of kitchen and dining area with large window front (sunlight at breakfast).
What do you dislike? Why? Location of the utility room – distance to bathroom too far.
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: house without land (including incidental construction costs) 600,000 euros
Preferred heating system: air source heat pump plus photovoltaics, underfloor heating

If you had to give up, which details/extensions
– could you do without: extended dining area with cube feature,
– can’t you do without: open kitchen with pantry, utility room on ground or upper floor, accessory apartment of at least 60 sqm (645 sq ft) with separate entrances, external access to ground floor/garden

Why is the design shaped this way? For example:
A combination of floor plans from GCs, our experience from rental apartments, and what is important to us.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What do you consider particularly good or bad about it?
Good: Meets our requirements, large dining area with southeast orientation,
Bad: a lot of circulation space, entrance area very dark

What is the most important/fundamental question about the layout in 130 characters?
Have we included any no-go elements or overlooked anything that is not well thought out?

Thank you very much & best regards

Whatever happens, no matter what:
I wouldn’t want an entrance in the basement next to the granny flat terrace that leads into such a dark hallway, even if it were given to me.

As already mentioned, this dark entrance, where you cannot see anything without artificial lighting, is not attractive at all. The floor plan also needs improvement in other areas. When you go upstairs, you find yourself in front of a bathroom or a toilet, with the door possibly left open. Especially on the ground floor, the toilet and utility room are directly in front of you, and the toilet is practically located in an open space. I would recommend redesigning the layout completely.

Best regards,
Sabine

A hillside house can turn out to be something really special. Do yourselves a favor and find a competent architect.

As a layperson, you often have many "great" ideas, which unfortunately can sometimes lead to disastrous results if you find a willing general contractor who starts building without asking too many questions.

Please draw in the 2m (6.5 feet) line in the attic. This could be very important in the children's bathroom.

-XIII- schrieb:

Please draw the 2m (6.5 ft) line in the attic. That could be very interesting for the kids’ bathroom.

Good point. Without a dormer, the kids’ bathroom won’t work :/

Curly schrieb:

As I already mentioned, this dark entrance where you can’t see anything without artificial lighting is really not nice.

Yes, absolutely. Any ideas on how to fix that? The problem almost always occurs with a sloped site and an entrance in the basement, right?

Curly schrieb:

…When you go up the stairs, you end up facing a bathroom or a toilet, where the door might even be open. Especially on the ground floor, the toilet and utility room are directly in front of you, and the toilet is practically in the open area. I would completely redesign that.

You’re right! A view into the garden would be nicer... Has anyone had a similar situation but managed to solve it?

We will consider a complete redesign, preferably together with an architect. We’re not yet fixed on our plan. However, it did have some advantages for us (separate entrances, garden access without going through the house, straight stairs inside the house, basement room, etc.) which we will now weigh against the concerns mentioned.

My parents and parents-in-law have the main entrance at the top with an external staircase.

An acquaintance has the staircase between the garage and the slope. Large windows on the living level and a cloakroom upstairs. That works surprisingly well.