Hello everyone,
At our developer, a customer who had reserved a plot of land dropped out. Since the other plot faces south / southwest, we didn’t hesitate long and switched to that plot. The new plot is smaller, so we gave up on our bungalow dream. The plot number is 5.
To remind you: The plot is tied to the developer.
I have been thinking over the past few days about the arrangement and design of the rooms and the plot, and I would first like to know if the concept is okay. I am not concerned with details inside the rooms such as windows, doors, or bathroom design. That’s not possible anyway since I created the floor plan myself based on Gussek Haus floor plans. However, I tried to design it as well as possible. For this reason, I want to share the floor plan here for discussion. I’m mainly looking for feedback on the layout and room arrangement, as well as ideas, suggestions, or tips. Maybe you’ll also spot things that “just don’t work” or are not practical for everyday living.
I created the floor plan with RoomSketcher, but only used the free version, so many features are limited. Please ignore the room dimensions on the upper floor. There is a dormer in the area of the home office.
A few more details about the house.
Roof pitch 38°
Knee wall (Drempel) 100cm (39 inches)
External dimensions 12.85 x 9.60 m (42.2 x 31.5 feet) (enlarged, original dimensions of Gussek Haus models are smaller)
Unfortunately, I cannot show internal room dimensions because RoomSketcher does not allow it.
Attached again is the completed questionnaire.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 676m²
Slope: NO
Site coverage ratio: 0.4 (allowed exceedance 25 out of 100)
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: On the north side / south side approx. 20.5 m (67 feet) wide, west and east sides approx. 33 m (108 feet) wide, 3 m (10 feet) building setback on each side, rectangular plot, clearly visible in the pictures
Edge construction setback: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: no requirement
Number of stories: maximum 2 full stories
Roof style: Gable roof, hipped roof
Other requirements: Garage must be 5 m (16 feet) from the property boundary. Garage on the west side because the curb is lowered there.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Doesn’t matter, initially considered a house with a gable roof, there is a dormer in the home office area
Basement, number of floors: No basement due to high groundwater level
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people aged 36 (female), 37 (male), 3 (child), 1 (child)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Living/dining/kitchen area, utility room, guest WC with shower, hallway with coat area and stairs to upper floor, guest room / playroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, bathroom, storage room, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office combined with family use
Guests per year: 1–2 times
Open or closed architecture: Closed architecture?
Conservative or modern style: A mix of both
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Closed kitchen with island would be nice but not a must; open kitchen is also an option
Number of dining seats: 4, with the option for 6
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Sound system in the living room
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Space for 2 cars is required, preferably 3 to 4. Currently considering a garage (3 x 6 m / 9.8 x 19.7 feet) with a carport (3.6 m / 12 feet) in front, not sure if that works. Plus 2 parking spaces in front of the house.
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be:
House Design
Who created the design:
- DIY - copy and combination of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What do you especially like? Why?
- Large closed kitchen with island and direct / short access to the terrace
- Living room close to the terrace
- Guest / playroom on the ground floor
- Storage room on the upper floor with washing machine and dryer
- Utility room with washing machine and dryer (yes, twice)
- 6 rooms
- Layout of rooms on the upper floor
What do you not like? Why?
- Location of the home office on the upper floor is not ideal in my view, but I could live with it
Price estimate from architect/planner: No new estimate so far
Personal price limit for house including features: 400,000
Preferred heating system: Heat pump
Why does the design look like it does now? For example:
Copy-paste of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is the room layout okay?
At our developer, a customer who had reserved a plot of land dropped out. Since the other plot faces south / southwest, we didn’t hesitate long and switched to that plot. The new plot is smaller, so we gave up on our bungalow dream. The plot number is 5.
To remind you: The plot is tied to the developer.
I have been thinking over the past few days about the arrangement and design of the rooms and the plot, and I would first like to know if the concept is okay. I am not concerned with details inside the rooms such as windows, doors, or bathroom design. That’s not possible anyway since I created the floor plan myself based on Gussek Haus floor plans. However, I tried to design it as well as possible. For this reason, I want to share the floor plan here for discussion. I’m mainly looking for feedback on the layout and room arrangement, as well as ideas, suggestions, or tips. Maybe you’ll also spot things that “just don’t work” or are not practical for everyday living.
I created the floor plan with RoomSketcher, but only used the free version, so many features are limited. Please ignore the room dimensions on the upper floor. There is a dormer in the area of the home office.
A few more details about the house.
Roof pitch 38°
Knee wall (Drempel) 100cm (39 inches)
External dimensions 12.85 x 9.60 m (42.2 x 31.5 feet) (enlarged, original dimensions of Gussek Haus models are smaller)
Unfortunately, I cannot show internal room dimensions because RoomSketcher does not allow it.
Attached again is the completed questionnaire.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 676m²
Slope: NO
Site coverage ratio: 0.4 (allowed exceedance 25 out of 100)
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: On the north side / south side approx. 20.5 m (67 feet) wide, west and east sides approx. 33 m (108 feet) wide, 3 m (10 feet) building setback on each side, rectangular plot, clearly visible in the pictures
Edge construction setback: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: no requirement
Number of stories: maximum 2 full stories
Roof style: Gable roof, hipped roof
Other requirements: Garage must be 5 m (16 feet) from the property boundary. Garage on the west side because the curb is lowered there.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Doesn’t matter, initially considered a house with a gable roof, there is a dormer in the home office area
Basement, number of floors: No basement due to high groundwater level
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people aged 36 (female), 37 (male), 3 (child), 1 (child)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Living/dining/kitchen area, utility room, guest WC with shower, hallway with coat area and stairs to upper floor, guest room / playroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, bathroom, storage room, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office combined with family use
Guests per year: 1–2 times
Open or closed architecture: Closed architecture?
Conservative or modern style: A mix of both
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Closed kitchen with island would be nice but not a must; open kitchen is also an option
Number of dining seats: 4, with the option for 6
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Sound system in the living room
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Space for 2 cars is required, preferably 3 to 4. Currently considering a garage (3 x 6 m / 9.8 x 19.7 feet) with a carport (3.6 m / 12 feet) in front, not sure if that works. Plus 2 parking spaces in front of the house.
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be:
House Design
Who created the design:
- DIY - copy and combination of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What do you especially like? Why?
- Large closed kitchen with island and direct / short access to the terrace
- Living room close to the terrace
- Guest / playroom on the ground floor
- Storage room on the upper floor with washing machine and dryer
- Utility room with washing machine and dryer (yes, twice)
- 6 rooms
- Layout of rooms on the upper floor
What do you not like? Why?
- Location of the home office on the upper floor is not ideal in my view, but I could live with it
Price estimate from architect/planner: No new estimate so far
Personal price limit for house including features: 400,000
Preferred heating system: Heat pump
Why does the design look like it does now? For example:
Copy-paste of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is the room layout okay?
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
I often tell the designer what I want them to do. So basically, I describe how I want the floor plan to look with an example layout. But I rarely specify exact dimensions or door positions. However, according to my suggestion, you should have given the designer the base Gussek hybrid house plan and specified all the dimensions that should be kept or enlarged accordingly. You can see that he has zero interest in your house. In my impression, he generally drags himself to the office very reluctantly. Honestly, he probably would have preferred to become a singer or something like that.
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
The washbasin / sink is quite far from the guest WC. Or am I missing something? Basically, we wanted to discuss the bathroom with a bathroom specialist. It’s clear that the designer didn’t consider either the supply or disposal systems. Here, sanitary fixtures were only sketched to prove there was enough space. I already told you where the rest of this story is located.
kaho674 schrieb:
I would install that fixed in place, without the option to open it. I’m not really an expert on double casement windows. Our double casement window specialist daughter was far away from my workstation. I don’t recall any motorized double casement windows; apparently, they were not popular in the product range. We did have them with roof domes though, which would have been easy to reach with a ladder for maintenance. Here, I think I would also prefer a fixed installation. How was it again with you, @chrisw81?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
The best option is probably for you to decide between Katja’s next two suggestions by flipping a coin Okay, it really isn’t anything spectacular. But I don’t see any design flaws here that would make living in this house impossible. The original poster specifically chose this layout. There must be something they like about it, and I would respect that in a functional floor plan. So no, I wouldn’t look for alternatives here. That the architect is too lazy to come up with something for the original poster, though, is once again disappointing.
D
Drasleona21 Apr 2020 19:58I have an alternative proposal; please see the attachment.
If you also reverse the swing of the front door, you basically enter directly into the cloakroom area. Then you only have to go through the mudroom when heading to the guest bathroom, not when using the stairs.
P.S.: As you can see, this is just a rough suggestion; the windows would also need to be changed, of course!
P.P.S.: Referring to the floor plan in post #63: you can also simply swap the guest bathroom and the cloakroom. This way, the mudroom is right at the entrance, and you only need to pass through it to access the utility room. Since you probably won’t do laundry downstairs very often, this shouldn’t be an issue.
If you also reverse the swing of the front door, you basically enter directly into the cloakroom area. Then you only have to go through the mudroom when heading to the guest bathroom, not when using the stairs.
P.S.: As you can see, this is just a rough suggestion; the windows would also need to be changed, of course!
P.P.S.: Referring to the floor plan in post #63: you can also simply swap the guest bathroom and the cloakroom. This way, the mudroom is right at the entrance, and you only need to pass through it to access the utility room. Since you probably won’t do laundry downstairs very often, this shouldn’t be an issue.
The window in the guest bathroom is much too small—why is it square? No light comes into the hallway upstairs either; I would make the stairwell window much larger. You can still put a curtain or something else in front of it, but the main thing is to have plenty of light. For the living area, I would install a larger front door (partly glazed), as it currently doesn’t look inviting and it would also brighten the hallway. It makes such a difference whether a house feels bright and sunny or always half-dark.
Best regards,
Sabine
Best regards,
Sabine
C
Chrisi190622 Apr 2020 08:23kaho674 schrieb:
I don’t quite understand the electric double-sash window. I would install it fixed, without the option to open it. I’m not an expert on double-sash windows, but something like that should exist, right? I thought about it again. If you want to clean the window, you have to be able to open it. Otherwise, you would have to clean it from the roof. Even if dirt tends to wash off easily, it’s better to install it so it can be opened.
Drasleona schrieb:
I have an alternative suggestion, see attachment.
If you also reverse the door swing of the main entrance door, you basically enter directly into the cloakroom area. Then you only pass through the dirt zone when going to the guest toilet, but not when using the stairs.
P.S.: As you can see, this is just a rough proposal; obviously, the windows would need to be changed too!
P.P.S.: Referring to the floor plan in post #63: You could simply swap the guest toilet and the cloakroom. That way, the dirt zone would be directly at the entrance, and you only pass through it to get to the utility room. That probably won’t happen very often if you don’t plan to do laundry downstairs.
That would mean shifting the front door. To be honest, I don’t like that.
D
Drasleona22 Apr 2020 08:52Why move the door? My suggestion was only to change the door swing. But if that is the only issue, it can be left as is. Personally, I find it inconvenient because you would have to walk around the open door.
However, I also don’t like it when four people come in during bad weather and have to walk through half of the ground floor with dirty shoes before reaching the coat area. But that’s a matter of personal preference.
However, I also don’t like it when four people come in during bad weather and have to walk through half of the ground floor with dirty shoes before reaching the coat area. But that’s a matter of personal preference.
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