ᐅ Floor Plan & House Positioning Single-Family Home with a Curved Layout

Hello dear forum members,

we have tried to prepare the questionnaire and the attachments carefully and thoroughly.
If there are still any open questions – please feel free to ask.
We appreciate your time in considering our building project and welcome constructive criticism, ideas, and suggestions =)

Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 610m² (6565 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: 0.3 (exceeding this is possible through fully greened roof surfaces)
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3m (10 ft) building boundary on west and east sides, detached building
Number of storeys: 1 full storey
Additional requirements: soundproofing (noise level category II)

Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: classic detached house / somewhat country house style; preferably with a third gable; timber frame construction; gable roof
Basement, storeys: no basement; 1.5 storeys (currently ground floor approx. 95m² (1023 sq ft) + utility room); current knee wall height 1.00m (3 ft 3 in) → would like to increase to 1.10–1.15m (3 ft 7 in – 3 ft 9 in) actual height
Number and age of inhabitants: currently 2 adults, 0 children; planning for 1–2 children
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: cloakroom, utility room (also a “craft corner”), office (see below), kitchen (see below) with small pantry, guest WC with shower (size/possibility for a closet → should later be a children’s bathroom), living room and dining room (family focal point for meals and e.g. game nights with friends)
Upper floor: bedroom, walk-in closet (separate room), 2 children’s rooms (approximately equal size), bathroom with shower and bathtub and toilet behind sliding door, storage room with washer/dryer
Office: family use or home office?: desk, PC, files etc.
Number of overnight guests per year: very rare (1–2 times a year)
Open or closed architecture: rather closed, but without feeling cramped
Open kitchen, cooking island: closed kitchen → preferably short routes to dining room and terrace; preferably U- or G-shaped kitchen, or L-shaped with island
Number of dining seats: fixed 4 seats, extendable to 6–8 desired (also space for a larger table for occasional special gatherings)
Fireplace: desired, but uncertain if space and budget will allow; if yes, then a classic fireplace on a wall, preferably not as a room divider
Garage, carport: double carport desired
Utility garden, greenhouse: classic low-maintenance family garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why something should or should not be: we want a closed staircase with a landing;
we prefer a slightly more complex layout, sometimes an angled wall, as it feels cozier (we don’t like everything square, open, and white);
we want a house for our future family with plenty of storage space and practicality; it should naturally look good inside and out, but it is primarily for use, not a design piece;
covered house entrance;
optimize plot area for house and garden, minimize front garden;
use cardinal directions/sun positions sensibly

House design
Who created the design: combination of DIY (room plan / partial room arrangement / staircase preference) and design by preferred house company (house exterior dimensions / staircase location / partial room arrangement)
What do you particularly like? Why?: rooms, orientation of rooms, staircase / use of stairwell
What do you not like? Why?: unsure about the route from kitchen to dining room/terrace; size of some rooms
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: €370,000 (approx. $400,000) including carport, turnkey (excluding extra costs for site work, exterior landscaping, plastering and flooring (tiles included))
Preferred heating system: currently air-to-water heat pump (monobloc with outdoor unit) with underfloor heating and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery; photovoltaics undecided
If you had to give up details / expansions:
- What could you live without? potentially an internal staircase
- What can you not give up? we would not be open to suggestions on this point and would not participate in the project otherwise; but basically the design mostly meets all our must-have wishes; bedroom access via a walk-in closet is not acceptable for us → so two separate accesses

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
House positioning? (allow only 0.5m (1 ft 8 in) space to neighbor to the north with utility room? House would be about 3.5m (11 ft 6 in) away, so office windows under carport? Or carport offset from house? Or angled placement but then cardinal directions regarding floor plan change? Any other ideas?)

Knee wall height?

Room sizes? → we feel everything is a little tight, or does it just look like that in drawings? We want a cozy, homely house without huge entrance or open gallery, but it should not feel cramped...

Price estimate?

PS: arrows indicate that plot boundaries are slightly angled, no slope; blue = building boundaries; all plans are oriented north

hausnrplus25 schrieb:

Hello dear forum members,

Finally, you’re taking the plunge yourself

hausnrplus25 schrieb:

open kitchen, kitchen island: closed kitchen -> actually prefer short routes to the dining room and terrace;

Have you considered an open-plan kitchen-living area?

hausnrplus25 schrieb:

It should of course look good both inside and out, but it’s primarily for functional use, not a design statement.

Currently, the rooms are just lined up one after another; on the ground floor there are long, narrow corridors between rooms... upstairs there are also (too) narrow rooms for the kids...

hausnrplus25 schrieb:

What don’t you like? Why?: uncertainty about the route from the kitchen to the dining room/terrace; size of some rooms

Yes, I agree... I always think it’s unwise to place the staircase between key rooms: later on, it leaves little opportunity to adjust needs by removing or adding openings...

Why no architect? Why not move the house further back on the plot?

Short and to the point

Forget this floor plan

Don’t think you are allowed to build the utility room right at the boundary.

The rooms on the ground floor – office, cloakroom, WC – are hardly usable narrow spaces.

Kitchen is far from the terrace and dining area.

Swap the positions of kitchen and stairs. This way the kitchen will have direct access to the terrace and can be separated from the living area by sliding doors.

Regarding the upper floor:
The bed would be positioned too far under the sloped ceiling for my taste. The walk-in closet should be accessible from the bedroom.
The children’s rooms are very narrow, as is the small room between the children’s rooms and the bathroom.

The bathtub and toilet are located too far under the slope.
What are those boxed-in sections in the bathroom?

The saying "the first house you build is for an enemy" expresses an insight rather than a directive.
As a study for learning the design software, it was hopefully useful, but after sleeping on it twice, one will likely recognize it as something worth discarding.

hausnrplus25 schrieb:

Design from preferred homebuilder

Tell me, the model that is supposed to be homeopathically related to this design— it can only be similar in overall external dimensions or layout.

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ypg schrieb:


Have you ever considered a closed kitchen-living area?

How do you define a “closed kitchen-living area”? Fully open? Kitchen/dining area combined and living room separate?

Currently, we already have it like this: living room/dining area together, kitchen separate. We discussed this thoroughly and agree that we like it this way. Kitchen as a functional space and living/dining area as a comfortable, cozy zone.

ypg schrieb:


Right now, the rooms are just lined up next to each other; on the ground floor there are long, narrow sequences of rooms... upstairs there are also (too) narrow rooms for the kids...

YES ... exactly our problem. Any suggestions on solutions without massively enlarging the house (due to budget and floor-area ratio)?

ypg schrieb:

Yes, I think so too... I always find it unwise to place the staircase between main areas: later on, it leaves little possibility to adjust the layout by knocking through walls to meet changing needs...

We totally agree with that thought! It is definitely a concern.

Still, we do not want an open-concept solution. And having the staircase next to the living area is much more appealing to us than having it by the front door!

We like the circulation routes from the living area to the bathroom, from the living area to the staircase, and also from the staircase to the bathroom as well as to the entrance and cloakroom. The office has to be accessed through the entrance area, but that doesn’t bother us. If my husband still finds time to game on the PC with the kids, he’s happy to sit a bit out of the way ( ), and filing letters, documents, etc. isn’t an everyday thing. Also, the distance from the mailbox to the hallway console and into the office is actually a good short route!

ypg schrieb:

Why no architect?

We really thought about it, but it’s simply extra costs that could be saved if we find a good solution with DIY and the house company.

Do you have any idea how much just creating multiple drafts would cost? Additionally, we’re a bit unsure whether any architect X can create a design for a timber frame house (regarding specific requirements, budget, etc.). After some online research, we haven’t found anyone in the region specializing in this.

ypg schrieb:

Why not move the house further back?

So that we have privacy in the garden and don’t feel like we’re on display. Placing the house in the east/northeast would also mean long access paths.

haydee schrieb:


Short and painful:
Throw the floor plan in the trash

It didn’t hurt that much.

We have no problem with that; it wouldn’t be the first floor plan to be discarded. But basically, it contains a lot of things we like. The number and type of rooms, as well as their orientation according to the cardinal directions, are as desired. It’s just that the exact layout and size of the rooms are not optimal at all!

haydee schrieb:

I don’t think you’re allowed to build the utility room right on the property line.

According to a phone consultation with the building authority, it is allowed.

We have to comply with noise protection limits for the neighbor regarding the outdoor unit of the air-to-water heat pump.
-> This unit has not yet been positioned. Potentially, we will also get written approval from the neighbors. Whether there is a garage or a utility room next to their tall fence shouldn’t matter, right? The house will be far enough away.

haydee schrieb:


The rooms on the ground floor — office, cloakroom, WC — are hardly usable narrow spaces.

The square meter (m²) count is borderline acceptable for us (of course, you always want everything bigger and more spacious, but that also means more cost and maintenance).

We also agree that it is unfortunate the office and WC feel like narrow corridors.

But we like the locations as they are. We want to have the front door open in that direction to create a good walking path between the entrance and the cloakroom. The WC was originally between the hallway and the living room (see attachment), but then you could touch the TV with your feet from the sofa — so we moved the WC.

haydee schrieb:

Kitchen is far from the terrace and dining area.

Already mentioned. Regarding the terrace — the east-facing kitchen window could be used as a patio door for garden access, but that would reduce counter space in the kitchen. Or it could serve as a pass-through window?!

We plan to visit a kitchen showroom soon. The island in the middle might be illogical, though. Maybe a small square table instead.

haydee schrieb:

Swap the position of the kitchen and staircase. The kitchen would get access to the terrace and be separated from the living area by sliding doors.

Staircase in the corner? = triangular landing?

But then the bedroom would have no regular window? Only a skylight above the bed. My husband could live with that, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore.

haydee schrieb:

Regarding the upper floor:
The bed would be too far under the sloped ceiling for me. Walk-in closet accessible from the bedroom.
Children’s rooms are very narrow, same with the small room between the children’s rooms and bathroom.

The bedroom has almost the same dimensions and bed position as our current apartment, where we feel very comfortable! There are no restrictions due to the sloped ceiling.

haydee schrieb:


Bathtub and toilet are too far under the sloping ceiling.
What are those soffits/dropping sections in the bathroom?

The soffit you mentioned by the bathtub is there to bring the tub slightly out from under the sloped ceiling. Under the roof slope and window, we plan a tiled shelf. On the north side of the bathtub, a small ledge; on the south side, a shelf in the space between the bathtub and shower. Is that clear? Are we allowed to upload reference images from the internet here?

The soffit between the sink and the shower was more out of necessity but we also want to use it for built-in shelves. We don’t want the sink right next to the shower because we want two glass sliding doors for the shower, with access from both sides.

Toilet too cramped under there? We will measure again today at friends who also have their toilet under a sloped ceiling (and the man is almost 2 m tall (6 ft 7 in), so if it fits for him, it certainly fits for us). That one is also in a soffit — not obvious because of the skylight.