ᐅ House and Floor Plan Design – Initial Architect’s Draft Available

Created on: 14 Oct 2020 18:29
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Pinkiponk
As previously announced, our old house in Baden-Württemberg has now been sold, we have moved to the Leipzig district, and we can now focus on our new house. Due to our age, we have deliberately downsized both the lot size and the living space. We have a first architect’s draft. I have already noted a few change requests and am now looking forward to your additions, criticism, and suggestions. If further plans or similar are needed, I will gladly provide them as long as I have them available.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to help me.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Lot size: 567sqm (6,105 sqft)
Slope: visually not noticeable; if this is important information, I will look for where to find it
Site occupancy index: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see attached drawing
Edge development: not allowed/desired on our part
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Style: classic, conservative
Orientation: ?
Maximum heights/limits: “Top of raw floor slab of ground floor to ridge height of main roof max. 11.5 meters (38 feet)”; “Top of raw floor slab of ground floor to eave height of main roof max. 7.0 meters (23 feet)”
Further requirements

Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: we are trying to approximate the house shown in the photo below; however, without the gable projection; classic/conservative, hipped roof, town house
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: 1 male, 64 years old – 1 female, 58 years old
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor → kitchen, shower bathroom, living/lounge room, utility room with kitchenette and floor drain, hallway;
Upper floor → bathroom with tub, bedroom, 2 “wardrobe and storage rooms”
Office: family use or home office? Couple without children, no home office
Number of overnight guests per year: 10
Open or closed architecture: open on the outside, closed on the inside
Conservative or modern construction: conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island: no, classical L-shaped kitchen or similar (the plan includes a cooking island that will not be built)
Number of dining seats: 2 in the kitchen, up to 6–8 in the living/lounge room
Fireplace: gas stove chimney
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: both no
Garage, carport: 2 arched carports
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: both no
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be

House Design
Who created the plan:
– Planner from a construction company: yes, in cooperation with the clients
– Architect: unclear
– Do-it-yourself: yes, in cooperation with the prefabricated house manufacturer’s planner
What do you especially like? Why? Many windows and patio doors, lots of natural light and fresh air
What do you not like? Why? The windows on the upper floor are too low in the plan, but this will be changed
Price estimate according to architect/planner: already commissioned offer/order €312,780.00 (without carport, outdoor facilities, additional construction costs, land, ...)
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: €400,000.00
Preferred heating system: gas condensing boiler plus solar thermal (according to legal requirements)

If you have to forgo something, which details/upgrades
– What you can give up: we are already giving up shutters, whirlpool
– What you cannot give up: many windows and patio doors, muntins in the windows and doors

Why is the design as it is? For example:
A mixture of many examples from various magazines…
What do you think makes it good or bad? It generally meets our wishes. On the ground floor, we want access to the garden from every room. We find symmetry more pleasing than asymmetry. Few different window and door formats. No horizontal (“lying”) windows. Each of us has a separate room for clothing and such, so that no wardrobes have to be placed in the bedroom. We do not want a separate dressing room.

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
The roof seems somewhat steep to me. Is a 30-degree roof pitch for a house with a base of 9.40m x 9.40m (31 feet x 31 feet) too steep? The standard according to the provider is 22 degrees. That seemed too flat, or you can hardly see the roof.

The development plan was too large to upload; I will try again in a separate post in this thread.

Garden outlined in red in the center, forest/field on the left, street on the right, building north/south.


Two-story, light beige house with white windows and entrance, surrounded by a garden.


Floor plan of a house with terrace, garden, and carport on the lot.

Floor plan of a residence with interior layout, dimension lines, and property boundaries.

Section AA-AA of a small house with gable roof: interior rooms, stairs, windows, outdoor area.

Architectural drawing: two two-story houses with gable roofs; left with solar thermal, southwest orientation.

Architectural plan: two houses with gable roofs, north and east views, streetscape, car and people.
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Pinkiponk
17 Oct 2020 21:42
Pinky0301 schrieb:

To stick with coats: why would you prefer to hang coats on the door (which is way too high for me and doesn’t really allow much space, especially in winter) instead of having a nice and practical coat rack?

I have simply never seen a really nice coat rack in small hallways. A hallway is usually too small to accommodate a nice, which to me means generously and lavishly designed, coat rack. If I do find a coat rack that appeals to me, I will incorporate it.
Pinky0301 schrieb:

What about shoes and accessories? What do you think about a seating option for putting on shoes?

Everyday shoes are stored in the utility room; accessories, of which I don’t need many on a daily basis, are kept in my bedroom upstairs. That’s also where I get dressed and choose the matching accessories, including jewelry.
Pinky030117 Oct 2020 21:55
Pinkiponk schrieb:

A hallway is usually too small

You still have all options open to make sure it doesn’t end up too small. Personally, I really like a spacious entrance area! Unfortunately, we can’t implement a long coat rack, but I love those where there are tall cabinets on the outside and smaller ones in the middle to sit on. I once borrowed a picture from Pinterest.
I don’t want to convince you otherwise if you feel you don’t need something like that.

White recessed wall with wooden frame, bench with cushions, vases and camera on tripod in the background.
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ypg
17 Oct 2020 22:10
Pinkiponk schrieb:

I have never really seen a nice coat rack in small hallways.

Me neither. That’s why I designed one myself in my new build.
Pinkiponk schrieb:

If I were to find a coat rack,

You don’t find it, you design it and then enjoy it. So this closes the discussion here.
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Snowy36
17 Oct 2020 23:14
I haven’t read all 22 pages, but how can anyone compare this house to Rick’s?

This seems to me like a completely normal house / will be built within a typical budget that hundreds of ordinary people have (except for the kitchen issue)... and not all of them are unhappy with it.

Not everyone here can have a Rick or Climbee house...
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Shiny86
17 Oct 2020 23:16
I’m also really glad to have 2.5m (8 feet 2 inches) for a wardrobe. I don’t regret planning it in at all. I’m going to build something similar to what @Pinky0301 posted with kitchen cabinets! For me, a well-designed wardrobe is one of the highlights of the house. I love having plenty of storage space and everything looking neat and organized.
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ypg
17 Oct 2020 23:17
Snowy36 schrieb:

but to compare this house with Rick
Nobody is doing that! Rick is mentioned in a different context.