Dear Housebuilding Forum Community,
I have been following the forum for some time now and we’ve already gathered a lot of ideas and inspiration here. As our house planning has become more concrete, I thought now is the perfect time to ask for your expert advice. We would really appreciate your (honest) feedback. Please be kind to us nonetheless
About the questionnaire:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 1100m² (11840 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: n/a
Floor space index: 0.3
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 11 x 14m (36 x 46 ft)
Edge development: no, except garage/carport etc.
Number of parking spaces: unknown, but should be covered by the planned double carport
Number of floors: 1 full floor (Schleswig-Holstein)
Roof style: no specifications
Architectural style: no specifications
Orientation: no specifications
Maximum heights / limits: none
Other specifications: n/a
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Preferred city villa, but from our and the architect’s perspective, this is not feasible with our space requirements on the building plot within one full floor. Second choice is a gable roof (knee wall 125 cm (49 inches), 40° pitch) with a captain’s gable, as currently planned
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, attic
Number of people, ages: 2 adults 30+, 2 children (+1 planned)
Space requirements ground floor / upper floor:
Ground floor: living room, kitchen (with pantry), guest toilet, cloakroom, office
Upper floor: 3 children’s rooms, master bedroom, bathroom, children’s bathroom. Walk-in closet for parents would be nice but is not a must
Office: family use or home office?: home office
Overnight guests per year: approx. 15
Open or closed architecture: open
Traditional or modern style: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed kitchen, kitchen island (not a must)
Number of dining seats: at least 5
Fireplace: no, possibly electric fireplace or similar
Music/speaker wall: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: not desired but required by development plan
Garage, carport: carport
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for or against certain features
House design
Who designed it: Architect from a construction company
What do you like most? Why? We are basically very happy with the design. All our needs are met
What do you dislike? Why? We find it unfortunate that the children’s rooms are relatively small compared to the parents’ area. We haven’t really come up with a better solution to enlarge them meaningfully
Estimated price by architect/planner: house price including earthworks: 650k (but without land, kitchen, landscaping etc.)
Preferred heating system: geothermal
If you had to give up on which features or extensions
- could you give up: walk-in closet upstairs (but reluctantly)
- could you not give up: basement, 3 children’s rooms
Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard design from the planner adapted to our wishes and needs
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
Basically, the floor plan is very practical from our point of view and covers our requirements. Whether the few weaknesses we see (possibly pantry too narrow, cloakroom too small, children’s rooms too small) can be solved given the building plot and its conditions, we somewhat doubt. But maybe you have ideas?
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Is the floor plan practical in your opinion? Do you see any weaknesses we may have missed, anything missing, and how could these be solved? Is there a way to enlarge the three children’s rooms without creating awkward rooms upstairs?
The furniture shown in the floor plan is from the construction company; we would arrange some pieces differently and move some doors. Our main concern is to have the floor plan and overall concept critically reviewed here by the forum
I have been following the forum for some time now and we’ve already gathered a lot of ideas and inspiration here. As our house planning has become more concrete, I thought now is the perfect time to ask for your expert advice. We would really appreciate your (honest) feedback. Please be kind to us nonetheless
About the questionnaire:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 1100m² (11840 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: n/a
Floor space index: 0.3
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 11 x 14m (36 x 46 ft)
Edge development: no, except garage/carport etc.
Number of parking spaces: unknown, but should be covered by the planned double carport
Number of floors: 1 full floor (Schleswig-Holstein)
Roof style: no specifications
Architectural style: no specifications
Orientation: no specifications
Maximum heights / limits: none
Other specifications: n/a
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Preferred city villa, but from our and the architect’s perspective, this is not feasible with our space requirements on the building plot within one full floor. Second choice is a gable roof (knee wall 125 cm (49 inches), 40° pitch) with a captain’s gable, as currently planned
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, attic
Number of people, ages: 2 adults 30+, 2 children (+1 planned)
Space requirements ground floor / upper floor:
Ground floor: living room, kitchen (with pantry), guest toilet, cloakroom, office
Upper floor: 3 children’s rooms, master bedroom, bathroom, children’s bathroom. Walk-in closet for parents would be nice but is not a must
Office: family use or home office?: home office
Overnight guests per year: approx. 15
Open or closed architecture: open
Traditional or modern style: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed kitchen, kitchen island (not a must)
Number of dining seats: at least 5
Fireplace: no, possibly electric fireplace or similar
Music/speaker wall: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: not desired but required by development plan
Garage, carport: carport
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for or against certain features
House design
Who designed it: Architect from a construction company
What do you like most? Why? We are basically very happy with the design. All our needs are met
What do you dislike? Why? We find it unfortunate that the children’s rooms are relatively small compared to the parents’ area. We haven’t really come up with a better solution to enlarge them meaningfully
Estimated price by architect/planner: house price including earthworks: 650k (but without land, kitchen, landscaping etc.)
Preferred heating system: geothermal
If you had to give up on which features or extensions
- could you give up: walk-in closet upstairs (but reluctantly)
- could you not give up: basement, 3 children’s rooms
Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard design from the planner adapted to our wishes and needs
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
Basically, the floor plan is very practical from our point of view and covers our requirements. Whether the few weaknesses we see (possibly pantry too narrow, cloakroom too small, children’s rooms too small) can be solved given the building plot and its conditions, we somewhat doubt. But maybe you have ideas?
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Is the floor plan practical in your opinion? Do you see any weaknesses we may have missed, anything missing, and how could these be solved? Is there a way to enlarge the three children’s rooms without creating awkward rooms upstairs?
The furniture shown in the floor plan is from the construction company; we would arrange some pieces differently and move some doors. Our main concern is to have the floor plan and overall concept critically reviewed here by the forum
H
Hamburger202014 Dec 2019 13:56kaho674 schrieb:
I’m sharing another design here with a closed kitchen.
As you can see, I didn’t include a balcony on the kids’ rooms. I’m a bit skeptical about that.
With knee wall height of 1.25m (4 feet 1 inch), according to my rough calculations, it’s not necessary.
However, I’m no expert – I’m calculating everything gross including walls – that shouldn’t matter, right?
Here’s my calculation example (values partially rounded):
Floor area (gross including exterior walls) = 142.7m² (1536 sq ft) on the ground floor
Upper floor should not exceed 2.30m (7 feet 7 inches) = 142.7 * 2/3 = 95m² (1023 sq ft)
At 2.30m (7 feet 7 inches) height and a 40° roof pitch, the height limit is about 1.25m (4 feet 1 inch) from the interior wall plus 40cm (16 inches) exterior wall = 1.65m (5 feet 5 inches) from the wall.
Accordingly, under 2.30m (7 feet 7 inches):
Side without gable: 14m (46 feet) * 1.65m (5 feet 5 inches) = 23.1m² (249 sq ft)
Side with gable: 4.70m (15 feet 5 inches) * 1.65m (5 feet 5 inches) = 7.755m² (83 sq ft) × 2 = 15.5m² (167 sq ft) plus 2 × 1.65m (5 feet 5 inches) * 2.85m (9 feet 4 inches) = 9.4m² (101 sq ft), total 24.9m² (268 sq ft).
Area under 2.30m (7 feet 7 inches): 24.9 + 23.1 = 48m² (517 sq ft)
142.7m² (1536 sq ft) ground floor area – 48m² (517 sq ft) = 94.7m² (1020 sq ft) < 95m² (1023 sq ft) target.
Am I making a mistake here?Building regulations apply here in Schleswig-Holstein. There, 75% of the ground floor area is allowed (which is good), but the height is measured from the finished floor level up to above the finished floor of the upper level or above the roof covering. Because of this, the 2.3m (7 feet 7 inches) height limit is reached quickly, even if the clear room height is still far from that.
Thanks very much for the new design! I prefer the layout to the previous version. One downside is that the pantry has the large windows while my office (which will be my main office) is on the less desirable north side.
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
It’s a bit unfortunate that the storage room has the large windows, and my office (which will be my main office) is on the inconvenient north side.Then just swap them. You don’t have to follow the ideas exactly as they are.
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
The building regulations in Schleswig-Holstein apply here. On one hand, 75% of the ground floor area is allowed (which is good), but for the height measurement, it is taken from the floor level up to above the floor of the upper storey or above the roof covering. This means the 2.3m (7.5 ft) height limit is reached very quickly, even if the clear room height is still far from that.
Hmm, that sounds complicated. Do you need to know the roof structure or the manufacturer's specified roof thickness for that? Have you calculated this with your supplier?
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
The house no longer exists. However, one problem occurred to me. You probably cannot rotate the house entirely, because the building would then be a maximum of 13m (43 feet) wide to maintain a 3m (10 feet) setback on each side. Additionally, very expensive sheet pile walls might be required for building the basement.
You would of course have to adapt the floor plan to the 13m (43 feet) width and compensate by adding some extra depth.
Sheet pile walls? Is there a depression or hollow somewhere?
By the way, I think your plot is excellent—no reason to underestimate it.
H
Hamburger202014 Dec 2019 15:19kaho674 schrieb:
Hmm, that sounds complicated. Do you need to know the roof structure or the roof thickness from the manufacturer for this? Have you calculated this with your supplier? The roof pitch is 40°. The idea for the loggia came from me. Originally, we had planned a 13m (43 feet) wide house. This resulted in a knee wall height of 0.75m (30 inches). With the additional loggia, we can now go up to 1.25m (50 inches). This was calculated by the architect from the construction company.
kaho674 schrieb:
The floor plan would, of course, need to be adjusted to the 13m (43 feet) width and allow for a bit more depth. Although in terms of depth, we are limited to 11m (36 feet), since we are already at 10.80m (35.5 feet) with the bay window, if we rotate the building permit / planning permission area. Unless the building authority is very flexible about this.
kaho674 schrieb:
Sheet piles? Is there a depression somewhere? No, but we were always told that for the basement construction, if there is too little space on the side, sheet piles or a Berlin shoring system are required. The basement has to be excavated at an angle (45°?), and there is then not enough room on the side for movement.
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
The roof pitch is 40°. The idea for the loggia came from me. Originally, we had planned a 13m (42.7 ft) wide house. But that resulted in a knee wall height of 0.75m (2.5 ft). With the additional loggia, we can now have 1.25m (4.1 ft). The architect from the construction company calculated that. Yes, I had read that. I just wanted to see the actual calculations — the raw numbers.
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
However, in depth, you would still be limited to 11m (36 ft) (with the bay window, we’re currently at 10.8m (35.4 ft)) if you rotate the building zone. Unless the building authority is very flexible on this. No, why? I see it more like this: Your building zone is currently 11m (36 ft) wide and 14m (46 ft) deep. The reason for the width restriction disappeared with the demolition of the neighboring house. So the building zone is now 13m (42.7 ft) wide and 14m (46 ft) deep. I think the building authority will agree if you ask nicely.
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
No, but we were always told that for cellar construction, if there’s too little space on the side, you need sheet piling or Berliner shield walls. The cellar excavation has to be sloped (around 45°?), so there isn’t enough room to move on the side. I don’t really know much about that, but it sounds odd. You have about 3m (10 ft) of space on each side to move around. I’ve seen terraced house builders construct cellars right next to the neighbor’s house...
Hamburger2020 schrieb:
It’s a bit unfortunate that the pantry has the big windows and my office (which will be my main office) is on the awkward north side. Well, those are just suggestions, as Yvonne said. In this version, I initially left out the pantry entirely and combined the office and pantry into one big room. I made the kitchen a bit larger so there would be enough storage space there. The remaining supplies like the freezer and canned food would then go to the cellar. Then the office would have light from two sides and be a wonderfully bright room on the ground floor. But “pantry” didn’t appear on your “What can you do without?” list.
If you talk to the building authority again and actually negotiate the 13m by 14m (42.7 ft by 46 ft) building plot, you could definitely consider a two-story house with an extension.
kaho674 schrieb:
I see it more like this: Your building plot is currently 11 m (36 feet) wide and 14 m (46 feet) deep. The reason for the width restriction no longer applies since the neighboring house was demolished.Which neighboring house was demolished? — In terms of setbacks, a demolition alone wouldn’t change anything unless, as part of that process, a setback easement was also revoked.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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