ᐅ Single-family house, 175 sqm without a basement—too large?

Created on: 15 Apr 2020 10:02
D
Drasleona
Hello everyone
I would also like to hear your opinion on our current design.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 507 sqm (5455 sq ft)
Slope: yes, about 4 m (13 ft) difference in height over a length of 30 m (98 ft)
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Site occupancy index: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) to the street
Edge building: allowed for garage/carport
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: max. 2 full stories
Roof type: anything except flat roof
Style: any
Orientation: any
Maximum heights/limits: ridge height max. 12 m (39 ft), wall height max. 10 m (33 ft)

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, almost 2 full stories (knee wall 1.86 m (6 ft))
Number of occupants, age: 3 people, 1 teenager, 2 adults
Space requirements ground floor / upper floor: approx. 175 sqm (1880 sq ft)
Office: home office
Guest bedrooms per year: rarely 2 guests
Open or closed architecture: rather open, airy, including open kitchen
Balcony, roof terrace: no to both
Garage, carport: double carport planned later

House Design
Who designed it: put together myself
What do you like most? Why?
- Direct access from the bedroom through the dressing room to the bathroom
- Cloakroom niche keeps dirty shoes outside the main passage area
- Floor-to-ceiling windows for lots of light
- Straight staircase, looks modern, easier to walk on than a spiral one and better for accessibility later (stairlift)
- Very spacious living/dining/kitchen area (though perhaps too large?)
- Pantry with everything easily accessible on open shelves
What do you dislike? Why?
- Huge waste of space in the hallways

Why did the design turn out this way?
I saw a similar layout in a townhouse that I really liked at first glance. We want a generous living feel with large window areas.
Since we are planning without a basement, an extra room upstairs was created for storage, guest room, and workshop space.
Important: the bathroom layout is not really planned yet. I have inserted my first idea there but I know it is still far from a “good idea.” For now, the focus is on the basic room layout. The windows are currently more of an idea than fully thought through.

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
- Do you see a way to reduce hallway space despite having a straight staircase?
- What is your overall impression of the design?

Floor plan of an apartment with several rooms, doors, stairs and measurement details in meters.


Floor plan of a house with several rooms, doors, stairs and area details in sqm.


Top-down floor plan: open living/dining area with kitchen, dining table, corner sofa, stairs; several rooms.


Floor plan of an apartment with bedroom, office, living room, kitchen, bathroom and stairs.
D
Drasleona
7 May 2020 09:54
Thank you for your reply, I had suspected as much.

The main issue is actually in the morning. We are usually in the bathroom at the same time and want to get fully ready, of course. You don’t want to go downstairs to the toilet briefly and then come back up again in between.

It’s not absolutely necessary; you can manage without a separate toilet... It was just an idea we had.
A
Alessandro
7 May 2020 13:20
A separate toilet is invaluable.

On a different note: Your dressing room won’t work if you place two 60cm (24 inch) cabinets opposite each other in a room that is 2.1m (7 feet) wide.
D
Drasleona
7 May 2020 13:25
I have thought about this as well, but I assumed that 90cm (35 inches) of clearance would be sufficient. What distance would you recommend?
A
Alessandro
7 May 2020 13:28
You can easily figure this out yourself:
Open the bottom drawer of a 60cm (24 inch) wide chest of drawers, stand in front of it, and bend down as if you want to put something into the drawer.
As soon as your backside touches something when bending down, the distance is too small :P
face267 May 2020 13:29
Alessandro schrieb:

As soon as your backside bumps into something when bending over, the clearance is too small

@Drasleona
…he said your backside is too big!!!
Tolentino7 May 2020 13:49
Just use 55cm (21.5 inches) cabinets; that's enough for standard sizes, and then you have one meter (39 inches) in total. You’re definitely not going to have any fashion shows in there, that’s for sure...