ᐅ Location of a city villa or detached single-family house on a 500 m² rectangular plot
Created on: 17 Jan 2020 18:03
T
Tolentino
Dear all,
after sharing the floor plans of my possible hamster cage with you in the other thread , here comes the next thread (thanks again for all the constructive suggestions there).
Just so you know, the semi-detached house is not off the table yet, as this plot of land is highly sought after and it’s not clear whether it will work out. But this one would be my favorite.
Now to this plot. For now, I’m mainly concerned with where and roughly how the house should be positioned on this plot.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 500 m² (5400 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from neighbors
Edge development: allowed for garages and sheds, none existing on the plot
Number of parking spaces: 1-2
Number of floors: 1.5–2.5
Roof shape: no preference
Architectural style: no preference
Orientation: aligned parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (30 ft)
Below are the site plans I created myself based on the details from the listing.
This is a rough overview of the plot with building boundaries and dimensions.
My question is: where to put the house?
The broker suggests placing it towards the back, since you already have the 5 m (16 ft) setback at the front and would “gain” about 3 m (10 ft) of garden. My partner doesn’t like this because of the visibility from the street. I say: privacy screen! But I also think, a fence too high might create a prison-yard feel.
But even if you follow this suggestion, I wonder if a more square floor plan (-> town villa style) would be better?
Like this, for example:
Then parking space might be tricky, right?
Or upright like this?
I really want as much of a west-facing view and garden as possible. I tend to be an evening person and that side is less built up, due to the road. So I think more light comes through.
But the narrow floor plan caused lots of problems with the semi-detached house already. Well, here you could build longer instead.
What do you think?
Best regards
Tolentino
after sharing the floor plans of my possible hamster cage with you in the other thread , here comes the next thread (thanks again for all the constructive suggestions there).
Just so you know, the semi-detached house is not off the table yet, as this plot of land is highly sought after and it’s not clear whether it will work out. But this one would be my favorite.
Now to this plot. For now, I’m mainly concerned with where and roughly how the house should be positioned on this plot.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 500 m² (5400 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from neighbors
Edge development: allowed for garages and sheds, none existing on the plot
Number of parking spaces: 1-2
Number of floors: 1.5–2.5
Roof shape: no preference
Architectural style: no preference
Orientation: aligned parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (30 ft)
Below are the site plans I created myself based on the details from the listing.
This is a rough overview of the plot with building boundaries and dimensions.
My question is: where to put the house?
The broker suggests placing it towards the back, since you already have the 5 m (16 ft) setback at the front and would “gain” about 3 m (10 ft) of garden. My partner doesn’t like this because of the visibility from the street. I say: privacy screen! But I also think, a fence too high might create a prison-yard feel.
But even if you follow this suggestion, I wonder if a more square floor plan (-> town villa style) would be better?
Like this, for example:
Then parking space might be tricky, right?
Or upright like this?
I really want as much of a west-facing view and garden as possible. I tend to be an evening person and that side is less built up, due to the road. So I think more light comes through.
But the narrow floor plan caused lots of problems with the semi-detached house already. Well, here you could build longer instead.
What do you think?
Best regards
Tolentino
11ant schrieb:
I tend to be quite meticulous, but my immediate thought when reading your thread about the heating pipes was that there are still details even I might forget to scrutinize closely. By the way, my business partner is a trained watchmaker and lives in an apartment with underfloor heating, and even if he had been the first occupant, he wouldn’t have asked about the installation plans. Every year he just complains that he has to move a cabinet to access the meters.
How do you usually communicate with the tradespeople (or do you only email)? – I know the feeling of being misunderstood: for me, it often happens because you can’t hear the Berlin accent when writing. Maybe your heating engineer has developed an allergy against Prenzlauer Berg residents. Then you probably don’t visit the heating section of the forum very often, do you? I found my thread quite mild compared to, for example, the Brötje thread or others...
But yes, I strongly suspect that the heating engineer simply doesn’t want interested laypeople involved and just wants to push through his scheme.
I did mostly communicate via email. Basically, there were two reasons for that:
1. The guy was almost never reachable by phone.
2. I’ve gotten used to that in business relationships because I tend to forget things I wanted to mention during conversations. When I write, I can always re-read what I’ve written before sending it and check if everything is complete.
I always try to phrase things very politely, even to the point of being overly friendly, because I’m aware of the limited non-verbal communication ability of this medium due to my professional experience.
Do you think that might have backfired? So instead of writing, “Would you please...”, I should have said, “Just do it this way, now!”?
11ant schrieb:
Unfortunately, that’s a statement only the general contractor (GC) can make. In the case of a shell construction GC or a so-called mailbox GC, you always have to expect that this statement does not necessarily apply to each of their subcontractors. That’s true, but on the other hand, I would expect a GC or main contractor who prides themselves on this to communicate that to their subs and select their subs accordingly.
Regarding work ethic in general: I really find it a bit surprising to see such a reaction toward a client who is interested in their own project. When I worked in customer service, I was always happy when a customer asked me lots of questions. That’s when I could really express my passion for my job and the industry. Consulting appointments, planning drafts, etc., were what I enjoyed most— I even liked handling complaints because it often involved finding the root cause. Taking orders and providing delivery information just bored me.
It’s a shame.
P.S.
The heating engineer has met me personally, and I think, even though I’m not a true Berliner, he didn’t put me in the Prenzlauer Berg category (I’m not a Swabian or Bavarian either). The chemistry during the conversation was actually quite good.
As a heating installer working for a general contractor, you have clear guidelines regarding time and payment for a house. Whoever wants something different or better pays an additional fee or removes the trade entirely. Even if your approach is more modern or efficient, the heating installer's goal is a functioning heating system according to DIN standards, with a margin for themselves.
Tolentino schrieb:
So instead of writing "Would you please," should I have said "Just do it like this, now!"? For dialects, it’s better to use voice calls rather than email, and of course in the form of a voice message. As someone new to the area, however, you should definitely avoid using the local dialect of the builder. Instead, use your own dialect or standard language, but avoid writing it down. Naturally, you wouldn’t speak Kölsch with someone from Düsseldorf, but using Bönnsch is more acceptable. You need to develop a sense for this, which unfortunately is often lost when writing.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I will try this approach more often in the future. I was advised not to use dialect. No matter which one, unfortunately, I don’t have an original one (moved too often).
Therefore, I always use standard German. Maybe that unintentionally comes across as a bit snobbish.
I just caught myself thinking about offering the general contractor a termination agreement. Crazy idea, isn’t it?
Therefore, I always use standard German. Maybe that unintentionally comes across as a bit snobbish.
I just caught myself thinking about offering the general contractor a termination agreement. Crazy idea, isn’t it?
Tolentino schrieb:
I was told not to use any dialect. Doesn’t matter which, I don’t really have an original one (moved too often). Doesn’t that inevitably result in a universal mix that everyone understands and that clearly isn’t standard German?
Tolentino schrieb:
So I always stick to standard German. Maybe that unintentionally makes me sound a bit snobbish. Only if you combine perfectly formal written German with a lecturing tone, like Chief Inspector Detlev Grün in the series Heldt 🙂
Tolentino schrieb:
I’m seriously considering offering the general contractor a termination agreement now. Crazy idea, right? Highly potent, even home-distilled. Isn’t yours actually pretty good? I think the one from @goalkeeper is too far away...
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/