ᐅ Single-family house floor plan, approximately 150 sqm, with east-facing garden
Created on: 9 Jan 2020 21:17
O
OWLer
Hello everyone,
after reading many threads here about how well-intentioned floor plans are expertly dissected, I’m now stepping out from the shadows. We plan to build this year and have already purchased the plot. We are currently in discussions with two providers. Provider 1 never really impressed us with their designs and plans very large houses without offering much living space. I’m bringing Provider 2 into the discussion here because, apart from the points mentioned below, we still like their design.
We hope the collective forum expertise will point out some pitfalls and maybe even help solve our hallway dilemma.
Sorry for the rough sketches of the measurements.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 610 sqm (648 with purchased noise barrier)
Slope: approx. 70cm (28 inches) over 19m (62 feet), sloping from north to south
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3m (10 feet) from the street, 3m (10 feet) to neighbors north/south, building envelope 10m (33 feet) east-west
Edge development
Number of parking spaces
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: gable roof ≤45°
Architectural style
Orientation: ridge running north-south
Maximum heights / limits: max. ridge height 10.5m (34 feet), eaves max. 6.0m (20 feet)
Other requirements: On the east side, a noise barrier is built along half of the plot, with forest behind it. Due to the noise barrier, the garden is practically not visible from outside.
Clients’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: rather classic
Basement, number of floors: basement, 1.5 floors
Number of residents, age: currently 2 (ages 33 and 27 – planning 2 children)
Space requirements on ground floor: shower WC, open living space (kitchen, dining, living), study; upper floor: 2 kids’ rooms, bathroom, master bedroom (walk-in closet)
Office: home office (teaching profession)
Overnight guests per year: approx. 15
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern construction: conservative and brick-faced
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: preferably yes, budget permitting
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport / budget permitting
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons for why or why not something is desired
House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
We really like the upper floor. Room sizes fit well. We can’t really assess the master bedroom on the south side yet. The kids’ rooms seem the right size and have a good layout in my opinion.
A guest room was not a requirement – apparently there was space on the upper floor. We are not unhappy about that.
The living-dining area really appeals to me. Kitchen opening to the terrace. My wife likes the pantry options with access to the garden, basement, and carport.
What don’t you like? Why?
What we don’t like is the narrow corridors. I imagine 1.2m (4 feet) and 1m (3 feet) very cramped. Between the carport and along the stairs, this wouldn’t bother me so much, but the entrance definitely should be wider.
The master bedroom on the south side does not convince me much.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: >440k€
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: approx. 440k€
Preferred heating system: gas heating required by the plot purchase contract.
If you had to give up something, which details / features could you do without:
I could do without the pantry and use that space for the WC instead. My wife, however, sees this differently.
Which features can you not give up:
The study on the ground floor is a must due to my teaching profession. The idea is to be able to drop things off in the study after returning from school, close the door, and have some downtime without needing to go upstairs or downstairs.
The basement is also essential. Many friends and acquaintances who have built in recent years do so mostly without basements. It takes iron discipline to keep utility rooms “tidy.” We manage that in our rental now but want to move away from that. We don’t want to become hoarders but want more space to spread out. Also, I want to be able to store all my tools in the basement and comfortably repair my bicycles.
Why was the design made the way it is?
Standard design from the planner?
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
Large windows on the ground floor facing the garden, as it is not directly visible.
A bay window on the street side is mandatory for the look. The planned flat-roof bay will definitely be changed to a pitched roof. The plaster on the bay will be replaced by brick cladding. We find the bay window to the garden quite nice. Not a must-have, but it was part of the planning basis we provided and, in my opinion, positively impacts the kids’ rooms.
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
How do you evaluate the usability of the pantry—does it work as well as we imagine it? What other ways, besides widening the house, do you see to widen the corridors? Does the indicated wardrobe area fit?
In principle, I would like to build it this way if only the narrow corridors weren’t an issue. Making the house 25-50cm (10-20 inches) wider is not technically feasible and probably financially difficult.
after reading many threads here about how well-intentioned floor plans are expertly dissected, I’m now stepping out from the shadows. We plan to build this year and have already purchased the plot. We are currently in discussions with two providers. Provider 1 never really impressed us with their designs and plans very large houses without offering much living space. I’m bringing Provider 2 into the discussion here because, apart from the points mentioned below, we still like their design.
We hope the collective forum expertise will point out some pitfalls and maybe even help solve our hallway dilemma.
Sorry for the rough sketches of the measurements.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 610 sqm (648 with purchased noise barrier)
Slope: approx. 70cm (28 inches) over 19m (62 feet), sloping from north to south
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3m (10 feet) from the street, 3m (10 feet) to neighbors north/south, building envelope 10m (33 feet) east-west
Edge development
Number of parking spaces
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: gable roof ≤45°
Architectural style
Orientation: ridge running north-south
Maximum heights / limits: max. ridge height 10.5m (34 feet), eaves max. 6.0m (20 feet)
Other requirements: On the east side, a noise barrier is built along half of the plot, with forest behind it. Due to the noise barrier, the garden is practically not visible from outside.
Clients’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: rather classic
Basement, number of floors: basement, 1.5 floors
Number of residents, age: currently 2 (ages 33 and 27 – planning 2 children)
Space requirements on ground floor: shower WC, open living space (kitchen, dining, living), study; upper floor: 2 kids’ rooms, bathroom, master bedroom (walk-in closet)
Office: home office (teaching profession)
Overnight guests per year: approx. 15
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern construction: conservative and brick-faced
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: preferably yes, budget permitting
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport / budget permitting
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons for why or why not something is desired
House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
We really like the upper floor. Room sizes fit well. We can’t really assess the master bedroom on the south side yet. The kids’ rooms seem the right size and have a good layout in my opinion.
A guest room was not a requirement – apparently there was space on the upper floor. We are not unhappy about that.
The living-dining area really appeals to me. Kitchen opening to the terrace. My wife likes the pantry options with access to the garden, basement, and carport.
What don’t you like? Why?
What we don’t like is the narrow corridors. I imagine 1.2m (4 feet) and 1m (3 feet) very cramped. Between the carport and along the stairs, this wouldn’t bother me so much, but the entrance definitely should be wider.
The master bedroom on the south side does not convince me much.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: >440k€
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: approx. 440k€
Preferred heating system: gas heating required by the plot purchase contract.
If you had to give up something, which details / features could you do without:
I could do without the pantry and use that space for the WC instead. My wife, however, sees this differently.
Which features can you not give up:
The study on the ground floor is a must due to my teaching profession. The idea is to be able to drop things off in the study after returning from school, close the door, and have some downtime without needing to go upstairs or downstairs.
The basement is also essential. Many friends and acquaintances who have built in recent years do so mostly without basements. It takes iron discipline to keep utility rooms “tidy.” We manage that in our rental now but want to move away from that. We don’t want to become hoarders but want more space to spread out. Also, I want to be able to store all my tools in the basement and comfortably repair my bicycles.
Why was the design made the way it is?
Standard design from the planner?
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
Large windows on the ground floor facing the garden, as it is not directly visible.
A bay window on the street side is mandatory for the look. The planned flat-roof bay will definitely be changed to a pitched roof. The plaster on the bay will be replaced by brick cladding. We find the bay window to the garden quite nice. Not a must-have, but it was part of the planning basis we provided and, in my opinion, positively impacts the kids’ rooms.
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
How do you evaluate the usability of the pantry—does it work as well as we imagine it? What other ways, besides widening the house, do you see to widen the corridors? Does the indicated wardrobe area fit?
In principle, I would like to build it this way if only the narrow corridors weren’t an issue. Making the house 25-50cm (10-20 inches) wider is not technically feasible and probably financially difficult.
kaho674 schrieb:
I would definitely align the kitchen door. There are already plenty of kitchen cabinets, especially considering the door. Cabinets aren’t cheap either.
I find the floor-to-ceiling windows in the attic peak a bit excessive. Are you planning to build the stairs all the way up? We’ve already heard about the kitchen door from several sides. It was probably just a quick idea from us—it was something we weren’t sure about from the start.
But the windows in the attic are really on my mind now. It definitely won’t be living space upstairs, but it will have floor-to-ceiling windows. Technically, that makes no sense at all. It would be purely for the look. Hmm, an expensive choice.
LukeLuu schrieb:
I’d be interested to know where you are price-wise at the moment. I’m curious about that too. The last quote was well within budget, and we actually haven’t made many big changes since then.
ypg schrieb:
I’d try using more half-height walls (pony walls) and wider windows upstairs. The walk-in closet and office don’t need floor-to-ceiling windows.
Bedrooms don’t either. The master bedroom doesn't need them either... Bathrooms definitely don’t need full glazing either. Looks like we won’t agree on that. That was exactly what we loved about all the houses we’ve visited. The bathroom will definitely have frosted glass on the bottom half, but it’s on the north side anyway.
Short break here: We will spend more time thinking about the windows. What else in the floor plan just doesn’t work? As future homeowners, so far we’ve been wearing pretty big blinders. What else should we be paying attention to?
- I’d still consider making the walk-in closet wider.
- The bathroom needs urgent work.
- The kitchen door will probably go back in, about 80%.
OWLer schrieb:
If at all, then only for aesthetics. Hmm, an expensive affair.Visually, it’s not very impressive... although tastes differ. There is always a more appealing option.
OWLer schrieb:
As future home builders, we have so far had very narrow views. What else should we pay attention to? On the windows
OT: I don’t understand why the planner can’t fully implement your wishes and instead includes unnecessary details you never wanted. The windows at the roof peak are completely useless and ugly, in my opinion. The walk-in closet is still too narrow. Surely they can see that?!
Sometimes it helps to demand specific furniture arrangements. So, say directly: the walk-in closet must fit 2 wardrobes each 3m (10 feet) long with a depth of 65cm (26 inches), for example. There should be at least 90cm (35 inches) of clearance space in between. Then they must deliver.
Making the two children’s rooms exactly the same size shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Otherwise, if you ask me, it’s just about the windows and basement optimization now.
Sometimes it helps to demand specific furniture arrangements. So, say directly: the walk-in closet must fit 2 wardrobes each 3m (10 feet) long with a depth of 65cm (26 inches), for example. There should be at least 90cm (35 inches) of clearance space in between. Then they must deliver.
Making the two children’s rooms exactly the same size shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Otherwise, if you ask me, it’s just about the windows and basement optimization now.
kaho674 schrieb:
The windows at the roof peak are absolute rubbish and ugly too, in my opinion.Why do you always have to be so blunt? That’s my role.
Yes, and how ugly it looks once the Christmas boxes are pushed in there for storage.
The same goes for frosted glass: the other windows are dark, but that one is bright. Bedroom dark, dressing room with a pleated blind, bathroom frosted glass... That’s what you call "appearance."
Just looking at the floor plans (ground floor and upper floor), I think: what I don’t like is probably a matter of personal taste. However, when I also consider the elevations, I believe calling it a “matter of taste” does a disservice, as it unfairly blames so much ugliness on personal preference. In the basement, only the utility room (HAR) makes sense in terms of location; otherwise, the room layout seems completely random. My advice is to start the planning process from scratch, without the slightest regard for aesthetics. I get the impression that the attempt to achieve an appealing look is actually the main reason the result ended up so consistently unattractive.
If I also take this
into consideration, the clear recommendation is “two full stories.” How a similar design can be executed in a visually pleasing way was demonstrated by @spochtsfreund (floor plan unfortunately only still available in post #10, otherwise in the house pictures thread): https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/efh-172qm-fragen-zum-schnitt-Dachstuhl-und-Klinker.27213/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
If I also take this
OWLer schrieb:
Site occupancy index: 0.4 Floor area ratio: 0.8
OWLer schrieb:
No living space will be allowed upstairs,
into consideration, the clear recommendation is “two full stories.” How a similar design can be executed in a visually pleasing way was demonstrated by @spochtsfreund (floor plan unfortunately only still available in post #10, otherwise in the house pictures thread): https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/efh-172qm-fragen-zum-schnitt-Dachstuhl-und-Klinker.27213/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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