ᐅ Floor Plan for a 200 sqm Urban Villa – Are Our Requirements Feasible?
Created on: 13 Jul 2020 14:14
E
ECE-2021
Hello everyone,
I’m a bit overwhelmed with our floor plan and keep running into the same problems...
The main issue is probably how to integrate a straight staircase from the ground floor to the upper floor, and how we would have to modify or extend the hallway to fit such a staircase without "breaking up" the other rooms.
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 1005 m² (0.25 acres)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: according to neighboring developments
Floor area ratio: according to neighboring developments
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: according to neighboring developments
Edge development: no
Number of parking spaces: double / large garage planned
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Style: urban villa
Orientation: street facing northeast, plot extends sideways toward west-northwest, garden planned all around southwest / west-northwest
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa with hipped roof
Basement, floors: basement + ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults + young child (3)
Office: home office?
Closed architecture
Closed kitchen, kitchen island
Fireplace
Balcony
Garage
House design
Who designed the plan:
- Option 1: planner from a construction company (not yet an architect)
- Option 2: do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why?
Overall, the floor plan is good and was implemented largely according to our ideas.
What do you dislike? Why?
We would prefer a straight staircase. According to a staircase calculator tool, it would require a length of 3.70 m (12 ft).
From research, this might be rather uncomfortable and therefore unrealistic.
We would be willing to extend the hallway for the straight staircase if necessary.
Symmetry, especially in the front view of the house, is very important to us, so we want to keep the type of front door as is.
The awkward corner in the upper hallway is not very appealing (bedroom / office).
Furthermore, the hallway window was initially placed in the child’s bedroom, but that will be changed so there is natural light in the upper floor hallway.
I’m also wondering if the chimney flue on the upper floor can still be routed freely, possibly offset within the ceiling/floor. Or does it have to go straight up from the ground floor fireplace? Because then it would end up right in the middle of the upper floor hallway.
If you have to give up something, which details or fittings could you do without?
- Could you compromise on: I’m open to suggestions for now
- Cannot compromise on: ideally the straight staircase
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
See differences between our design and the construction company’s plan
- straight staircase instead of quarter-turn
- kitchen recessed
- window in the hallway instead of in the child’s room
- ideally no hallway obstruction on the upper floor
I’m a bit overwhelmed with our floor plan and keep running into the same problems...
The main issue is probably how to integrate a straight staircase from the ground floor to the upper floor, and how we would have to modify or extend the hallway to fit such a staircase without "breaking up" the other rooms.
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 1005 m² (0.25 acres)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: according to neighboring developments
Floor area ratio: according to neighboring developments
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: according to neighboring developments
Edge development: no
Number of parking spaces: double / large garage planned
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Style: urban villa
Orientation: street facing northeast, plot extends sideways toward west-northwest, garden planned all around southwest / west-northwest
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa with hipped roof
Basement, floors: basement + ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults + young child (3)
Office: home office?
Closed architecture
Closed kitchen, kitchen island
Fireplace
Balcony
Garage
House design
Who designed the plan:
- Option 1: planner from a construction company (not yet an architect)
- Option 2: do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why?
Overall, the floor plan is good and was implemented largely according to our ideas.
What do you dislike? Why?
We would prefer a straight staircase. According to a staircase calculator tool, it would require a length of 3.70 m (12 ft).
From research, this might be rather uncomfortable and therefore unrealistic.
We would be willing to extend the hallway for the straight staircase if necessary.
Symmetry, especially in the front view of the house, is very important to us, so we want to keep the type of front door as is.
The awkward corner in the upper hallway is not very appealing (bedroom / office).
Furthermore, the hallway window was initially placed in the child’s bedroom, but that will be changed so there is natural light in the upper floor hallway.
I’m also wondering if the chimney flue on the upper floor can still be routed freely, possibly offset within the ceiling/floor. Or does it have to go straight up from the ground floor fireplace? Because then it would end up right in the middle of the upper floor hallway.
If you have to give up something, which details or fittings could you do without?
- Could you compromise on: I’m open to suggestions for now
- Cannot compromise on: ideally the straight staircase
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
See differences between our design and the construction company’s plan
- straight staircase instead of quarter-turn
- kitchen recessed
- window in the hallway instead of in the child’s room
- ideally no hallway obstruction on the upper floor
[AQUOTE="ECE-2021, post: 418365, member: 51755"]
A straight staircase would be visually less obstructive and would later allow for an elevator.
So your statement @11ant basically means:
1) Either leave it as is and accept the compromise, or
2) Redesign everything so that the straight staircase fits differently?
[/AQUOTE]
Either 3) leave it as the contractor suggested, or 4) not just redesign, but plan anew with a straight staircase. I am against option 4) but also not in favor of 3), because unfortunately @Alessandro is right.
An elevator would also need clearance at both ends, which you don’t have here at the bottom of the stairs. What an elevator does not require, however, is a perfectly straight run—more width is preferable. But preparing for aging in place is always a question of the age when building—the settings in your profile unfortunately don’t allow me to check that.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
A straight staircase would be visually less obstructive and would later allow for an elevator.
So your statement @11ant basically means:
1) Either leave it as is and accept the compromise, or
2) Redesign everything so that the straight staircase fits differently?
[/AQUOTE]
Either 3) leave it as the contractor suggested, or 4) not just redesign, but plan anew with a straight staircase. I am against option 4) but also not in favor of 3), because unfortunately @Alessandro is right.
An elevator would also need clearance at both ends, which you don’t have here at the bottom of the stairs. What an elevator does not require, however, is a perfectly straight run—more width is preferable. But preparing for aging in place is always a question of the age when building—the settings in your profile unfortunately don’t allow me to check that.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
No cat litter box needs a 9 sqm (97 sq ft) bathroom. And I know how much space a large litter box requires. I had a small 8 kg (18 lb) cat myself, and almost every litter box was too small for him.
The entire floor plan feels unbalanced. I’ll refer to your design now. Size isn’t everything. Huge bathroom, cramped hallway, cramped coat storage only after the bathroom and the staircase. This means that dirt is already spread around, and you walk with socks or slippers through snow water, street dirt, etc.
The kitchen is simply large but unergonomic, with a cat table. I don’t know anyone who uses a table in the kitchen for eating. For most people, it’s cluttered. You have a large table in the open-plan living area. The times of a formal living room are basically over. In my opinion, the bay window doesn’t add anything. It just unnecessarily divides the terrace. The kitchen belongs to the terrace where people usually spend a lot of time and it serves as the dining and living area in the warmer months.
Upstairs
Is the bathroom the one with the sauna? It also contains space without added value.
The children’s room is cut awkwardly by the bay window, looking a bit like Tetris.
Why is the staircase edged so narrowly?
You have so much space. Remove the bay window, have a straight staircase.
Parents’ area: access through the dressing room. Get up, grab clothes, and go. If you forget something, it doesn’t bother anyone; turning on the light absentmindedly doesn’t bother anyone.
Office—wow, very large.
Basement: don’t forget the light well for the second office.
I see the 550,000 as insufficient. The basement meets living space standards, and the bathroom probably won’t be top quality.
I would remove the bay window at the entrance. Use a straight staircase, a generous hallway (yours feels cramped), coat storage near the entrance, possibly reduce the bathroom size a bit. The kitchen should open to the terrace and be more ergonomic, which will likely reduce its size.
Upstairs, straighten the children’s room wall and create more space near the stairs. It’s still quite large. Remove the wall in the children’s room. The kids’ room will be rearranged and redesigned many times.
Design the parents’ area differently and add a window to the dressing room.
The entire floor plan feels unbalanced. I’ll refer to your design now. Size isn’t everything. Huge bathroom, cramped hallway, cramped coat storage only after the bathroom and the staircase. This means that dirt is already spread around, and you walk with socks or slippers through snow water, street dirt, etc.
The kitchen is simply large but unergonomic, with a cat table. I don’t know anyone who uses a table in the kitchen for eating. For most people, it’s cluttered. You have a large table in the open-plan living area. The times of a formal living room are basically over. In my opinion, the bay window doesn’t add anything. It just unnecessarily divides the terrace. The kitchen belongs to the terrace where people usually spend a lot of time and it serves as the dining and living area in the warmer months.
Upstairs
Is the bathroom the one with the sauna? It also contains space without added value.
The children’s room is cut awkwardly by the bay window, looking a bit like Tetris.
Why is the staircase edged so narrowly?
You have so much space. Remove the bay window, have a straight staircase.
Parents’ area: access through the dressing room. Get up, grab clothes, and go. If you forget something, it doesn’t bother anyone; turning on the light absentmindedly doesn’t bother anyone.
Office—wow, very large.
Basement: don’t forget the light well for the second office.
I see the 550,000 as insufficient. The basement meets living space standards, and the bathroom probably won’t be top quality.
I would remove the bay window at the entrance. Use a straight staircase, a generous hallway (yours feels cramped), coat storage near the entrance, possibly reduce the bathroom size a bit. The kitchen should open to the terrace and be more ergonomic, which will likely reduce its size.
Upstairs, straighten the children’s room wall and create more space near the stairs. It’s still quite large. Remove the wall in the children’s room. The kids’ room will be rearranged and redesigned many times.
Design the parents’ area differently and add a window to the dressing room.
A
Alessandro13 Jul 2020 15:30I also have 200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) of living space with a straight staircase, but no basement.
It can definitely be done more harmoniously, with smaller rooms that still feel spacious.
The designer’s draft is clearly a joke! No direct access from the kitchen to the dining room?!
It can definitely be done more harmoniously, with smaller rooms that still feel spacious.
The designer’s draft is clearly a joke! No direct access from the kitchen to the dining room?!
Alessandro schrieb:
Your rooms are completely oversized.
200 square meters (2,153 square feet) is certainly spacious, but nobody really needs a guest bathroom of 9 square meters (97 square feet), a kitchen of 28 square meters (301 square feet), a child’s bedroom of 25 square meters (269 square feet), and a main bathroom of 23 square meters (248 square feet).
Once you furnish the rooms, it looks like it was just thrown together. Yes, I also think the guest bathroom is quite large.
Reducing its size won’t really help with the straight staircase for now.
The main bathroom was originally designed to include a sauna. In my opinion, given our current plan, it’s actually far from “large.” Since there’s a lot included in that space, the sauna itself has to be quite small, otherwise the bathroom will feel too cramped. Or we might end up leaving out the sauna altogether.
Until I was 11 years old, I had a similarly sized child’s room and loved it. After that, the room was only 11 square meters (118 square feet), which is still manageable. If it fits, we would of course be happy to provide that space, as it’s quite special for a child.
A quick note about the kitchen:
Our current kitchen is 22 square meters (237 square feet). It is not meant to be an open kitchen but includes a dining area. Our current kitchen does not have a proper dining nook, only two bar stools at the island, and it definitely does not look “empty.”
I understand what you mean, but our experience with our current home tells a different story.
11ant schrieb:
But planning for aging in place is always a question of your age at the time of building – unfortunately, your settings do not allow me to view your profile.What exactly would you like to know? I need to check what I need to adjust in my profile.
We are both in our early 30s, but of course, you want to be able to live in such a house as long as possible.
haydee schrieb:
That means the dirt is already spread around, and you walk through snow water, street dirt, etc., wearing socks or house slippers.You’re probably right about that.
haydee schrieb:
The kitchen is simply large. Not ergonomic, with a small table. I don’t know anyone who actually uses the kitchen table for eating. Usually, it’s just cluttered. You have a big table in the open-plan living area. The era of the formal dining room is basically over.What exactly do you mean by “not ergonomic”?
Do you find the workflows uncomfortable?
Oh, actually, we always used our dining area in the kitchen (for breakfast and dinner) as long as our daughter could sit next to us in a separate chair with her own small table.
Unfortunately, that no longer works since she now sits directly at the table, which is too high for her at our kitchen island.
I do find it much more practical not to have to carry everything from the kitchen to the dining table all the time.
haydee schrieb:
Upstairs
Bathroom with sauna? Also includes a room without added value.Do you mean that the sauna doesn’t add value? Or what exactly do you mean by that sentence?
haydee schrieb:
Stairs – what is that narrow edge for?That is an open space above (void).
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