ᐅ Floor plan designs for a single-family house on a 640 m² plot with a low eaves height
Created on: 22 Sep 2020 10:43
D
derschwax
Good morning!
My girlfriend and I have reserved a plot of land in between other properties, which is being sold privately through a real estate agent, and we already had an initial meeting with an architect. A second meeting with another architect is scheduled for tomorrow. During the first meeting, our needs and wishes were recorded, and at the end, a rather steep price was given. We reluctantly accepted it for the time being and then silently drove home for 30 minutes. We continued researching construction costs and found out that—no matter how you look at it—building significantly cheaper is hardly possible without compromises.
Since then, my mind has been spinning about what the house’s floor plan on the plot could even look like. My girlfriend is dreaming of two full floors and is looking at nice floor plans on Instagram. That is not practical at all in my opinion because a solution deviating from the "standard" is needed to meet our requirements. So these are daydreams that are likely to burst soon. Arguments and conflict are inevitable. I’m trying to prevent that by reading up and educating myself.
I hope for honest assessments, advice, and perhaps some links to helpful threads.
Questionnaire about Your Floor Plan
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: approximately 640 m² (7,000 sq ft)
Slope: yes
Site occupancy index (floor area ratio): 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.7
Setback from property boundary: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof (24–30° pitch)
Orientation: ridge parallel to street
Eaves height on valley side: 3 m (10 feet)
Eaves height on hillside side: 6 m (20 feet)
I will attach the zoning plan including the section to locate the plot, as well as aerial photos later.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Living space: 160–180 m² (1,700–1,940 sq ft)
Basement and floors: maximize floor space index, basement with double garage and office on hillside side
2 (4) persons: ages 32 and 30, 2 children planned
Room needs on ground floor: cloakroom, guest toilet, open living-dining area, additional room (playroom, office for family use, guest room)
Room needs on upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms with bathroom for children, 1 master bedroom with dressing room and private bathroom
Office: family use on ground floor, home office in basement
Guests overnight per year: 4
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative style
Open kitchen with island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony: not necessary—if it fits the floor plan, OK, but not essential
Garage, carport: double garage in basement with parking spaces in front
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
So far, we’ve considered pushing the basement forward so that a terrace could be extended like a kind of balcony in front of the house at this offset. We enjoy the evening sun. Otherwise, I’m holding back ideas and waiting to see what the architect will answer tomorrow to the questions that have come up during the planning process.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you know floor plan designs with similar restrictions (slope, floor space index 0.7, eaves heights 3 m/6 m)? Or any other useful tips? The zoning plan is from 1978—can we negotiate with the city about these requirements?
My girlfriend and I have reserved a plot of land in between other properties, which is being sold privately through a real estate agent, and we already had an initial meeting with an architect. A second meeting with another architect is scheduled for tomorrow. During the first meeting, our needs and wishes were recorded, and at the end, a rather steep price was given. We reluctantly accepted it for the time being and then silently drove home for 30 minutes. We continued researching construction costs and found out that—no matter how you look at it—building significantly cheaper is hardly possible without compromises.
Since then, my mind has been spinning about what the house’s floor plan on the plot could even look like. My girlfriend is dreaming of two full floors and is looking at nice floor plans on Instagram. That is not practical at all in my opinion because a solution deviating from the "standard" is needed to meet our requirements. So these are daydreams that are likely to burst soon. Arguments and conflict are inevitable. I’m trying to prevent that by reading up and educating myself.
I hope for honest assessments, advice, and perhaps some links to helpful threads.
Questionnaire about Your Floor Plan
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: approximately 640 m² (7,000 sq ft)
Slope: yes
Site occupancy index (floor area ratio): 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.7
Setback from property boundary: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof (24–30° pitch)
Orientation: ridge parallel to street
Eaves height on valley side: 3 m (10 feet)
Eaves height on hillside side: 6 m (20 feet)
I will attach the zoning plan including the section to locate the plot, as well as aerial photos later.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Living space: 160–180 m² (1,700–1,940 sq ft)
Basement and floors: maximize floor space index, basement with double garage and office on hillside side
2 (4) persons: ages 32 and 30, 2 children planned
Room needs on ground floor: cloakroom, guest toilet, open living-dining area, additional room (playroom, office for family use, guest room)
Room needs on upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms with bathroom for children, 1 master bedroom with dressing room and private bathroom
Office: family use on ground floor, home office in basement
Guests overnight per year: 4
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative style
Open kitchen with island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony: not necessary—if it fits the floor plan, OK, but not essential
Garage, carport: double garage in basement with parking spaces in front
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
So far, we’ve considered pushing the basement forward so that a terrace could be extended like a kind of balcony in front of the house at this offset. We enjoy the evening sun. Otherwise, I’m holding back ideas and waiting to see what the architect will answer tomorrow to the questions that have come up during the planning process.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you know floor plan designs with similar restrictions (slope, floor space index 0.7, eaves heights 3 m/6 m)? Or any other useful tips? The zoning plan is from 1978—can we negotiate with the city about these requirements?
Escroda schrieb:
The land-use plan specifies one full storey.
That doesn’t exist.
No, the slope faces east.
Exactly the opposite. The basement would then be exposed towards the northwest and southwest. Northwest is not ideal for living rooms, and southwest is problematic because of the street.
Sorry to disappoint you. The land-use plan dates from 1979, which means the definition of the building code valid at that time applies, and back then it was two-thirds, furthermore referring to the building’s own footprint, not the floor below.
There aren’t actually that many here, as the reference points, although not clearly described in the land-use plan, are obviously not related to the site. In my opinion, knee wall height = 0.Thanks. I based it on the eave heights and ignored the reference points and such.
Southwest and northwest aren’t necessarily bad for living spaces—we have both: south-southwest street side and northwest garden side. South-southwest is usually too warm for me personally, except during transitional seasons, when it’s very pleasant. We also tend to spend more time there then. Northwest living rooms with large windows and no covered terrace get quite good light. It also has the advantage of being comfortable in summer.
Whether a street is a problem depends on traffic volume and times. In our case, it gets noticeably quieter after 6 p.m. So I’d prefer the street to having five neighbors all in their gardens at the same time. The street also helped maintain friendships during lockdown—having a beer at the fence was never forbidden in Bavaria.
We have seating areas to the south, northwest, and soon also to the north. The northwest garden is the play area, with a pool and lounge space.
@derschwax
Slope properties have potential. Check out our house (probably the dullest in the lineup), the one from @hampshire, @sichtbeton82, or @rick2018, or who was it again with the great split-level design?
And we hope to have, next year, our completely private north-facing terrace next to the sauna.
In summary, this is basically a bungalow (knee wall height zero and due to the roof pitch also a lot of restricted headroom, so only weakly efficient for expansion) with the basement not fully exposed to avoid it becoming a full story, thus not resembling a traditional villa on the downhill side. An experienced architect needs to be involved to ensure that maximizing the floor area ratio does not conflict with avoiding the basement being counted as a full story. This means the expansion will likely take place more in width than in depth...
... which is why you cannot use "the one with the great split-level" (@matte1987) as a model, since in that example the house crosses the slope. @rick2018 doesn’t have a split-level at all, but rather "the one with the buried submarine."
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
haydee schrieb:
Sloped lots have potential. Take a look at our house (the most boring in the list), the one from @hampshire, @sichtbeton82, or @rick2018, or who was it again with the great split-level design?
... which is why you cannot use "the one with the great split-level" (@matte1987) as a model, since in that example the house crosses the slope. @rick2018 doesn’t have a split-level at all, but rather "the one with the buried submarine."
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Rick2018 has hardly any neighbors who can see into his property. The fact that he sank a submarine is another matter.
I just wanted to show the variety that sloping plots offer. Whether it fits the original poster’s needs exactly or not, sloping plots are not a burden or a disaster.
I just wanted to show the variety that sloping plots offer. Whether it fits the original poster’s needs exactly or not, sloping plots are not a burden or a disaster.
matte1987 schrieb:
Haha, "Super Split Level"One could envy you just for the kitchen TV nook. The only (minor) downside I see with your house is the shape of the roof access, if I remember correctly caused by the building inspector. But during the Rococo period, the ladies also had their own kind of "blemish."https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
One could envy you just for the kitchen TV nook. The only (minor) downside I see with your house is, if I remember correctly, the shape of the roof access caused by the building official. But then again, in the Rococo era, ladies also had their "blemishes." Yes, but now that the large plot next to us has been sold, the absurd interpretation of a full floor by the building official actually works in our favor. We have come to terms with it, and everything always has two sides.
Sorry for going off-topic.
Similar topics