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:
If you place a wardrobe on the office side, there’s still 68cm (27 inches) left. That’s not much, but with a 180cm (71 inches) wide bed, you would have 78cm (31 inches). Again: You can walk there, but you can’t really use the wardrobe. If you actually need the wardrobe, you have a problem. Imagine standing in front of a wardrobe and putting something 70cm (28 inches) behind you so you can’t step back, like a table. Now try to take something out of the bottom of the wardrobe without ending up sitting under the table. Just opening the wardrobe doors and maneuvering around would annoy me. But okay, it’s not really a planning mistake. You can simply leave out the wardrobe.
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
Could you please say something about the "path" next to the storage room? In my opinion, counting centimeters here is not that important. If it were mine, the staircase would be 1m (3.3 ft) wide, and the remaining space—whatever is left—would have to be enough for the "gallery." However, the width of the stairs can affect their length. As soon as it’s about the staircase, you need all the measurements again (available space, floor-to-floor height, ceiling height). Have you already calculated / received / reviewed these values for your staircase? What are they like?
hanse987 schrieb:
What’s wrong with this arrangement of the living room? You can see the TV and out the door. The downside is that the dining table is behind you, which wouldn’t bother me.I personally find it nicer to sit open to the dining area and the rest of the room. With your arrangement, when you enter the room, you face the back of the sofa. I think that might work in very large rooms, but here the sofa takes up almost the entire width of the room, so you have to squeeze past it along the outer wall. That’s also not a great walkway.C
Chrisi190625 May 2020 10:44saralina87 schrieb:
I just don’t see the point of a kitchen island in a closed kitchen; it doesn’t look especially nice nor is it very practical.
So I would either a) plan a truly open kitchen with a large, impressive island or b) a classic closed kitchen with plenty of space.
What bothers you about the open kitchen right now? Especially with your situation having small children, an open kitchen with an island seems like the obvious choice... What bothers us about the open kitchen is that it looks messy when you leave things out. Of course, the advantage is that you can easily keep an eye on the kids. Our current idea is to install a double sliding door so we can have the best of both worlds.
hanse987 schrieb:
If you make the pathway all the way to the back, I think you will have a problem with the walking clearance height. You’re right. But if I don’t extend the path all the way to the back and leave 90cm (35 inches) of space, it becomes difficult to reach the window. Which is more important? In my view, being able to access the window easily. I often read that windows clean themselves on the outside, but I’m not convinced. I think it depends on the age of the window and eventually the self-cleaning, or lotus effect, will fade.
hanse987 schrieb:
What’s wrong with this living room layout? You have a view of the TV and the door. The downside is that the dining table is behind you, but that wouldn’t bother me. Nothing against the idea. It hadn’t crossed my mind before.
kaho674 schrieb:
Again: You can walk there, but you can’t use the cabinet. If you actually need the cabinet, you have a problem. Imagine standing in front of a cabinet and now put something 70cm (28 inches) behind you, like a table, preventing you from stepping back. Now try to take something out from the lower part of the cabinet without sitting under the table. Even just opening the cabinet doors and maneuvering around would annoy me. But okay, it’s not a real design mistake. You can just leave out the cabinet.
I think counting centimeters here is less important. If it were mine, the staircase would be 1m (39 inches) wide, and whatever space is left has to be enough for the gallery. However, the width of the stairs may affect their length. Whenever a staircase is involved, you need all the measurements (available space, floor-to-floor height, ceiling height). Have you already calculated or checked the dimensions for your stairs? What are they? We have an IKEA wardrobe and a Malm unit. When I open the wardrobe, I need 55cm (22 inches) of space so it can open comfortably. Of course, then I end up sitting on the bed. When I pull out a drawer from the Malm unit, it takes 40cm (16 inches) of space to open comfortably. Since the Malm unit will be placed against the office wall, I currently don’t see a problem combined with the 160cm (63 inches) wide bed. Later, of course, that may change.
I haven’t really dealt with the staircase yet. I would need full measurements of the stair area for that. What I have seen so far makes 90cm (35 inches) seem a bit narrow. Do you mean a gallery where you can’t get close to the attic window at all?
chrisw81 schrieb:
I always find it nicer to sit open to the dining area or the rest of the room. With your layout, when you enter the room you see the back of the sofa. I think that might look good in very large rooms, but here the sofa almost takes up the entire width of the room, so you have to squeeze along the outer wall. That’s not a great walkway either. It depends on the sofa you have. Our current sofa is about 3.10m (10 feet) wide, which leaves a large walkway (room width 4.8m (16 feet)). I think Hanse987’s idea is worth considering.
When it comes to staircases, headroom is 100% the priority. According to DIN standards, the minimum clearance height should be 2 meters (6 ft 7 in). A rough calculation shows that there is less than 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) of headroom if the path continues all the way to the back. You might be annoyed twice a year by the difficulty of cleaning, but insufficient headroom will bother you several times a day. Adequate headroom also helps reduce the need for bandages and visits to the doctor!
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
It depends on what kind of sofa you have. Our current sofa is about 3.10 meters (10 feet) wide, which means the walkway is quite large. (Room width 4.8m (16 feet)) I don’t think Hanse987’s idea is wrong.Of course it’s not wrong. I just find the walkway a bit inconvenient, and the living area doesn’t feel very open. You might as well turn it into a separate room.C
Chrisi190625 May 2020 18:14hanse987 schrieb:
When it comes to stairs, the headroom is 100% the priority. According to the standard (DIN), the minimum clearance height should be 2m (6 ft 7 in). Roughly calculating, I end up with less than 2m (6 ft 7 in) of headroom if you continue the path all the way through. You might get annoyed twice a year about the poor cleaning options, but insufficient headroom will bother you several times daily. Adequate headroom also reduces the use of bandages and doctor visits! That's true. Sorry, I had a blind spot. ☹️ This definitely needs to be changed. If I had done it that way, I would regret it for the rest of my life and literally have headaches.
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