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
8 May 2020 21:26
The main reason why the garage is not placed on the east side was unfortunately completely left out. ☹️ There is a road narrowing on the east side. I guess it’s not that easy to just move that, is it?
kaho674 schrieb:

Why are you giving up those 45 cm (18 inches) and not building right on the boundary? I think in some states you even have to build on the boundary or keep a 3 m (10 feet) distance. Is there anything in the way?

You’re right... I could shift the house further to the west side together with the garage.
11ant schrieb:

The problem is when this and that are actually the same, like the southwest sunlight and the southwest neighbor view.

I no longer take the placeholder drawings from the general contractor or builder for "site-provided" garages seriously. Should I have followed that here at all?
A broom-width gap that’s not even one broom wide is a guaranteed dirt trap for life.

The broom corner could still be changed.
NatureSys schrieb:

Is there any plan showing the position of the house on the plot?
Ideally with the neighboring house also drawn in.

I can provide something up to date on Monday. But without the neighboring buildings.
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chrisw81
11 May 2020 09:37
kaho674 schrieb:

I don’t see a west-facing window if the right side of the plan is southwest. My latest version is this one:

[ATTACH alt="Stadtvilla_EG_198qm_gesamt.JPG"]46707[/ATTACH]
Oh, I thought the ground floor from #152 was the latest version. There is a west window there.
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chrisw81
11 May 2020 09:43
Curly schrieb:

There are curtains or double roller blinds that prevent people from looking inside while still letting light in.

Best regards,
Sabine

In theory, yes. But do you really want to have a curtain in front of a window all day? If it’s a window, I want to be able to look through it at any time or have nothing blocking it. I wouldn’t like it if part of the windows in a room always had to be covered.
That would feel like being in prison, with bars in front of the windows.
kaho67411 May 2020 11:18
chrisw81 schrieb:

In theory, yes. But do you really want to have a curtain in front of a window all day long? If there is a window, I want to be able to look through it at any time, meaning nothing should block it. I also wouldn’t want part of the windows in a room to always be covered. That would feel like being in prison, with bars in front of the windows.
Still better than darkness and never being able to look outside.
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chrisw81
11 May 2020 11:34
kaho674 schrieb:

still better than dark and never being able to look outside.

In this case, maybe so. The original poster might want to visit a show home or something similar where the situation is exactly the same – then it would be easier to judge the lighting conditions. But to say outright that it is too dark, I’m not sure.

We also have windows on two sides in the living area (half-height windows), but certainly not more window area than the original poster’s floor-to-ceiling window. And I don’t find it any darker than the spot where we have a floor-to-ceiling window in the dining area. If, instead of windows on two sides, we had just one floor-to-ceiling window, I think it wouldn’t be much darker than it is now. But of course, all of this is theoretical. Light tends to distribute well.
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Chrisi1906
11 May 2020 14:40
Attached are the latest drafts.

The color scheme still needs to be adjusted according to our preferences. Kitchen and bathroom planning is still open, so nothing has been finalized in that regard. Also, only the garage is shown; the storage room behind the garage is not included.

Floor plan of a single-family house with kitchen, living/dining area, hallway, WC, utility room, and guest room


2D floor plan of a house upper floor with bedrooms, bathroom, corridor, and stairs


Front view of a modern single-family house as an architectural rendering


Two-story house with gable roof, garage, car on the left, bushes on the right; simple line drawing.


Modern two-story house design with dark gable roof, white facade, and garage on the right.


Two-story house with gable roof, four windows (two upper with railings), bushes on the left.


Modern two-story house with gray garage, white walls, and garden


Modern white, two-story single-family house with gray roof, terrace, and garden.