ᐅ Single-family house, 175 sqm without a basement—too large?
Created on: 15 Apr 2020 10:02
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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?
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?
F
Fummelbrett!2 Jun 2020 08:14Drasleona schrieb:
- I understand having a window in the pantry for light; we still need to reconsider this.I would not plan for a window. Just an exhaust fan to allow air exchange if necessary. Yes, you’ll have to switch on the light every time you quickly grab something—but the stored items benefit from darkness: canned goods in jars, jams, teas in cellophane, potatoes, onions—they prefer it dark.
D
Drasleona2 Jun 2020 08:28Then I’ll try to comment on this somehow...
A brief note on sliding doors: I think they look great and have certain advantages, but at our construction company they cost about three times as much as hinged doors, which is not worth it to me.
Maybe the fundamental issue is that this forum always assumes custom-designed houses where you can use any materials available on the market. Perhaps I’m simply in the wrong place, as someone planning to build with a prefabricated house manufacturer. Maybe.
In any case, for us, there is a window catalog to choose from, but we are also limited to it. Windows sized "160.5 cm" sound great, but simply don’t exist with this manufacturer.
Windows on the eaves side in children’s rooms would significantly limit our furniture placement options. So, in our amateur cluelessness, we thought about installing very wide floor-to-ceiling windows instead of an additional strip window (which was actually also recommended by the architect).
In general, many things are a financial issue, and sometimes I almost feel like I have to be ashamed in this forum to say that we simply cannot afford an extra €10,000 for sliding doors and windows.
To be honest: right now I’m quite frustrated.
A brief note on sliding doors: I think they look great and have certain advantages, but at our construction company they cost about three times as much as hinged doors, which is not worth it to me.
Maybe the fundamental issue is that this forum always assumes custom-designed houses where you can use any materials available on the market. Perhaps I’m simply in the wrong place, as someone planning to build with a prefabricated house manufacturer. Maybe.
In any case, for us, there is a window catalog to choose from, but we are also limited to it. Windows sized "160.5 cm" sound great, but simply don’t exist with this manufacturer.
Windows on the eaves side in children’s rooms would significantly limit our furniture placement options. So, in our amateur cluelessness, we thought about installing very wide floor-to-ceiling windows instead of an additional strip window (which was actually also recommended by the architect).
In general, many things are a financial issue, and sometimes I almost feel like I have to be ashamed in this forum to say that we simply cannot afford an extra €10,000 for sliding doors and windows.
To be honest: right now I’m quite frustrated.
S
saralina872 Jun 2020 08:59Drasleona schrieb:
In general, many things come down to finances, and I almost get the impression that I’m supposed to be ashamed here for saying that simply spending an extra 10,000 euros on sliding doors and windows isn’t possible for us.... without having read everything:
Don’t get discouraged.
For the vast, vast majority, building a house is about balancing priorities. Hardly anyone has an unlimited budget and can plan completely freely. If sliding doors simply aren’t worth the extra money to you, that’s perfectly fine—you don’t need to justify it. In the end, you’re the one who will live there, not someone who only offers suggestions.
For us, the big issue was the basement, not necessarily here on the forum, but with family and friends. It feels like 99% would never build without a basement—though the fact that you first need to have or secure the money for it doesn’t seem to matter much in their minds.
That’s completely normal.
D
Drasleona2 Jun 2020 09:05Thank you...
My current problem is that many comments come across to me as "Oh my God, how can someone be so stupid?!" I’m sure that’s not the intention (a classic issue with written communication), and I might be too sensitive, but when that’s the kind of response you mostly perceive, it’s hard not to get frustrated.
We have also considered making the emergency exit windows face the garden. We could convert both large windows there into emergency exit windows, which would solve the problem with the different heights. However, the architect said that doing so would require us to design the area to ensure fire department access. That discouraged me from pursuing the idea further.
My current problem is that many comments come across to me as "Oh my God, how can someone be so stupid?!" I’m sure that’s not the intention (a classic issue with written communication), and I might be too sensitive, but when that’s the kind of response you mostly perceive, it’s hard not to get frustrated.
We have also considered making the emergency exit windows face the garden. We could convert both large windows there into emergency exit windows, which would solve the problem with the different heights. However, the architect said that doing so would require us to design the area to ensure fire department access. That discouraged me from pursuing the idea further.
S
saralina872 Jun 2020 09:19Drasleona87 schrieb:
My current problem is that many comments feel to me like, "Oh my God, how can someone be so stupid?!" I'm sure that's not the intention (a classic issue with written communication), and maybe I'm just too sensitive, but when it feels like that's the only kind of response you get, it's hard not to get frustrated.I don’t want to lie—I assume that there are definitely users here who mean their posts exactly the way you feel.
But: At least on the last few pages of your thread—I haven’t read more than that—none of the usual suspects have been active.
The people who have posted so far are truly only trying to help.
I can understand you well. I think everyone who is building or has built has been at that point at some time.
Drasleona schrieb:
Maybe the fundamental issue is that people here always assume fully custom-designed houses where you can use any materials available on the market. Maybe I, as someone planning to build with a prefab house manufacturer, simply don’t belong here. Maybe. No. 80% of people here discuss affordable standard houses that they want to optimize within given constraints. And we know that too. If you followed discussions by others like you in this forum, you would understand that immediately and many questions and the reasons behind them would become clear.
Drasleona schrieb:
By the way, that was also recommended by the architect. Yes, that’s the one who talks for you—just as she thoughtlessly draws in everything you suggest. I don’t see any initiative from her from your design #158 to the current one.
Just having a storage room without windows, facing the best southwest direction, is a bit cheeky when optimizing that space is obvious.
Her job seems to be not to upset you until the planning phase is finished.
You can’t blame the architect for lacking initiative. But if you’re looking for advice and support, you have to engage with the tips offered.
I could write countless arguments about walk-in closets, windows, bathrooms, kitchens, sofas, views, and sight lines (like many here), but honestly: I have already done so extensively in many other forum threads, and I won’t just point to other similar discussions anymore.
Drasleona schrieb:
You shouldn’t feel ashamed to say that an extra 10,000 euros for sliding doors and windows is not feasible for you. No, you don’t have to. I don’t have sliding doors either, but 2-meter (6.5-foot) wide swing doors. Maybe I’m laughed at for that – I don’t care, I’m happy. That’s how a forum works: collecting and filtering ideas. If you have the space and plan carefully, the doors don’t disturb, and you can sleep better due to a smaller loan.
For example, for us, there was no extra cost for windows, because 4 square meters (43 square feet) of wall costs the same as 4 square meters (43 square feet) of large patio doors, and we even took two more of those.
In your case, you probably have to choose: either use shutters on bedroom and hobby room windows, which then are pretty much pointless, or prioritize planning window areas in the living space. That’s all one can point out.
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