ᐅ Single-family Home for Four People – Opinions

Created on: 10 Apr 2020 21:51
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Chrisi1906
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?

Site plan of a building plot with parcels, dimensions, and orientation


Hand-drawn plot plan sketch with house, garage, carport, and parking spaces


Site plan of a building plot with outline lines, measurements, and small interior layout


2D floor plan of a single-family house with hallway, bathroom, storage room


Floor plan of a house with living and dining area, guest room, corridor, and utility room


White single-family house exterior view with dark tiled roof, windows, and garden


Two-story house with gray facade, dark roof, and garden terrace
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Chrisi1906
22 Apr 2020 09:17
Drasleona schrieb:

Why move the door? My suggestion only involved changing the door swing. But if that’s the only issue, it can stay as is. Personally, I find it inconvenient because you then have to walk around the open door.
I also don’t like it when four people come in during bad weather and have to walk with dirty shoes through half of the ground floor before reaching the coat area. But that’s a matter of personal preference.

Oh, I must have misunderstood then. But even so, you still end up with dirt at the front door and thus near the stairs, even if maybe a bit less.

Having to always go through the dirty area is not ideal. In the original floor plan, that wasn’t the case. But because of the stairs, that’s no longer possible.

I will try to adjust the floor plan a bit so that we can have the old staircase layout again.

Me
Y
ypg
22 Apr 2020 09:33
Chrisi1906 schrieb:

I will try to modify the floor plan a bit so that we can keep the old staircase.
Then it would be a completely different house. It either has to be widened or expanded. But if you just replace or widen it, that wouldn’t really count as planning anymore.

Or there could be a completely different design. Did your starting point have to be Gussek Haus?
Basically, you can just forget about Gussek Haus and start fresh: give the architect the room program and go from there.
These are all considerations you should make before the planning phase and communicate them to the architect. And if you don’t really know what you want: just take a look around in this forum, everything is explained here.
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chrisw81
22 Apr 2020 09:39
Chrisi1906 schrieb:

I thought about it again. If you want to clean the window, you need to be able to open it. Otherwise, you would have to clean it on the roof. Even though dirt runs off well, it’s better to install it so it can be opened.
I would definitely make it operable as well. That’s how we have it too, although we have never cleaned it yet, but I think you can probably reach it with a ladder.
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Chrisi1906
22 Apr 2020 10:38
ypg schrieb:

Then it becomes a different house. It either has to be widened or enlarged. But then it wouldn’t really count as just a revision if you simply swap things or make it wider.

Or there’s a completely different design. Your starting point had to be Gussek Haus.
Basically, you can just forget Gussek Haus and start fresh: give the architect the room requirements and go from there.
These are all considerations you make before the planning phase and communicate to the architect. And if you don’t really know what you want: just have a look around here in the forum, everything is covered there


No, that’s not what I meant. I don’t want to make a different house or significantly widen the floor plan. You could make the storage room smaller and use a curved staircase again. My wife said that if we recess the bathroom, we could keep the storage room as large as it is.

There was a useful link showing stair dimensions outside of the forum. Do you know what I mean? Unfortunately, I can’t find the link anymore.

It’s not about Gussek Haus for me; I just liked the floor plan. That’s why I’m not going to start over. We don’t have an architect but a designer. The designer will then hand over the floor plan to the architect, who will hopefully fix any possible issues.
11ant22 Apr 2020 13:06
Chrisi1906 schrieb:

We do not have an architect, but a planner. The planner then hands the floor plan over to the architect and will hopefully address any potential defects.

Hope dies last.
In my opinion, you don’t need to worry about the double casement window above the stairs: just use a longer spray lance and then pressure-wash it out through the double casement window of the storage room.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
kaho67422 Apr 2020 17:44
Chrisi1906 schrieb:


There used to be a helpful link outside the forum showing stair dimensions. Do you know what I mean? Unfortunately, I can’t find the link anymore.
Google: Stair basics