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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chrisw81
28 Apr 2020 14:37
Curly schrieb:

That wouldn’t be my house, it’s all too dark for me.

Best regards,
Sabine

Isn’t that just a matter of personal taste? And do you really think the amount of light in a room increases evenly with larger window areas? Sometimes adding more windows hardly adds any extra light if there’s already a light source in another spot that illuminates the room well. For example, two windows placed at a right angle – the second window doesn’t add much light because the first window already lights that part of the room.
Also, some people find it comfortable to have a place where they can retreat and not always sit right in front of a window.
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Chrisi1906
28 Apr 2020 14:38
Curly schrieb:

Small, old-fashioned, suitable for cannon barrels. Upstairs hallway is very dark, and in the living room the windows are so low that taller people have to duck. How high will your ceilings be? Are they that low?

Best regards,
Sabine

We don’t have a new quote yet. The bungalow offer included a clear ceiling height of 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in).
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chrisw81
28 Apr 2020 14:40
Curly schrieb:

Small, old-fashioned, suitable for cannon barrels. Upstairs hallway all dark, living room windows so low that taller people have to duck. How high will your ceilings be, are they that low?

Regards,
Sabine

I also don’t understand why the small windows have to be double casement. The windows in the living room are indeed strangely low, it should be at least about 2.20 meters (7 ft 3 in) from the finished floor level—even with the lowest permitted ceiling height.
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Chrisi1906
28 Apr 2020 14:42
chrisw81 schrieb:

I also don’t understand why the small windows need to be double casement.
The windows in the living room are actually strangely low; they should be at least about 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in) from the finished floor level, even with the lowest allowed ceiling height.

Because a single casement window would otherwise hit the staircase when opened.
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Curly
28 Apr 2020 14:50
Chrisi1906 schrieb:

Because the window without double glazing would hit the stairs when opened.

Who needs a window that opens right next to the stair steps? You could easily trip over it coming down from above or bump into it coming up.

Best regards
Sabine
11ant28 Apr 2020 14:52
Chrisi1906 schrieb:

Unfortunately, the planner has again placed their standard bathroom furniture in the floor plan.

That doesn’t bother me in itself—only that this is just the tip of the iceberg, meaning there is still unfinished structural work underneath the surface.
Chrisi1906 schrieb:

Because the window without a double casement would hit the staircase when opened.

That’s nonsense; normally it’s installed as a tilt window, and you remove the hinge mechanism when cleaning.
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