ᐅ Floor Plan – Design of a Single-Family Home with Two Full Stories – Urban Villa

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 550m² (0.14 acres)
Slope: approximately 1 meter (3.3 feet) incline from the street to the back of the property
Floor area ratio: Garage on boundary line, terrace 2.5m (8 feet) from neighbor - otherwise unrestricted, see attached plot plan
Plot coverage ratio: 2 full stories
Building envelope, building line and boundary: very flexible, see attached plot plan
Number of parking spaces: 1 large garage
Number of stories: 2 full stories
Roof type: hipped roof
Architectural style: modern urban villa

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa with hipped roof
Basement, floors: with basement and 2 full stories
Number of occupants: 2 persons, mid/late 20s, planning for 2 children
Room requirements on ground floor and upper floor: see floor plans
Office: family use or home office? office/home office
Guest bedrooms per year: -
Open or closed layout: -
Conservative or modern construction: 70% conservative - 30% modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen without island
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: none
Music / stereo wall: none
Balcony, roof terrace: none
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: ornamental garden
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions

House Design
Planner:
-General contractor (GC): general contractor of a construction company
-Architect: none
-Do-it-yourself: floor plan partially self-designed according to personal preferences
What do you like most? Currently nothing to criticize
What do you dislike? Front canopy not flush with hallway window upstairs - unfortunately not feasible otherwise
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: fixed price $450,000 (excluding land and additional construction costs)
Personal budget limit for house including fixtures: $450,000 (excluding land and additional construction costs)
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump + controlled mechanical ventilation

If you have to give up something, which details or add-ons
-Can give up: budget reached, no further cutbacks or simplifications needed
-Can’t give up: see above

Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
Standard design from the planner? Compared roughly 100 floor plans and, in coordination with our current GC, created the dream layout ourselves
Which requests were implemented by the architect? all
A mix of many examples from various magazines: yes 🙂
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes? very practical and conservatively executed, child-friendly, enough parking/storage space inside, yet modern

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

As I am very active here in the forum and like to help others with topics like floor plans, financing, etc., I would now like to share our project here and hear your opinions. I hope you like it too. Perhaps there is still a serious flaw or something that could be quickly improved, if it appeals to us.
We have invested a lot of time in planning. Since March/April 2020 we have been actively planning—from a prefab home supplier with about 120m² (1,292 sq ft) to a current regional solid builder with 160m² (1,722 sq ft). A lot of effort went into our planning and we hope it pays off during construction and upon completion.

We will sign the contract in the next 2-3 weeks and will release the offer as well as the floor plan and our revised building and service specification to prepare everything for contract signing.
We are building with solid construction through a regional general contractor. Construction start: May 2021.

Good morning!

Regarding the kitchen planning, I would like to direct you to the appropriate forum again 🙂 I’m not completely satisfied with it yet. Also, I would prefer not to have to walk all the way around the block with the groceries. Maybe a practical shortcut could be added, and the coat closet should perhaps not be placed at the far end of the hallway?

I like the upper floor.

Ysop*** schrieb:

Good morning!

Regarding the kitchen layout, I would recommend you post in the relevant forum again 🙂 I’m not quite happy with it yet. Also, I would prefer not to have to walk around the block to access the shopping bags. Maybe a practical shortcut could be integrated, and the wardrobe cupboard doesn’t necessarily need to be placed at the end of the hallway?


I like the upper floor plan

Yes, thanks for the suggestion.

The kitchen is still far from what we want. The kitchen planning will continue over the next weeks/months. We need to sit down with a kitchen studio and see what we can come up with 🙂

Wardrobe: Unfortunately, the hallway is not wide enough to install a wardrobe cupboard conveniently at the beginning of the hall. We have space by the staircase railing for a large shoe cabinet with a bench. We considered creating a niche with concrete walls instead of the railing, but that made the hallway feel very dark and cramped, so we decided on a niche at the end of the hallway. There we have enough room for all our coats, hats, and so on – if the hallway were wider, it definitely would have made more sense! Otherwise, a niche could only be planned in the kitchen area, but that would make the kitchen shape awkward, which we don’t like.

We might still plan a door from the hallway to the kitchen to have more direct access. However, that will be part of the upcoming kitchen planning 🙂

Thanks for the input!

exto1791 schrieb:

We might also consider adding a door from the hallway to the kitchen to have direct access. However, this will depend on the kitchen layout, which is still to be planned 🙂

I would definitely go for that. When you carry in groceries or cases of drinks, you don’t want to have to “put things down – take off shoes – walk further – put shoes back on – get more” — but you probably also don’t want to walk across the nice hardwood floors in the living room with wet street shoes...

The corner window from the kitchen could also work well in the upstairs bathroom; it would make the facade look more harmonious. The bathtub could then be placed at a slight angle, which might open up the space a bit. There is enough room for that.

RomeoZwo schrieb:

I would definitely do that. When you carry in your shopping or beverage crates, you don’t want to “put them down – take off shoes – walk through – put shoes back on – go get the next load,” but you probably also don’t want to walk over the nice living room hardwood floor with wet street shoes...

The corner window from the kitchen would actually also work well in the upstairs bathroom, which would make the facade look a bit more harmonious. The bathtub could then be placed slightly diagonally, which might also open up the space a bit — there’s enough room available.

You’re absolutely right! It’s definitely something to consider. One advantage we have is that we tiled the hallway and the entire open-plan living-dining-kitchen area. Still, it’s definitely more practical to plan with a door there!

Regarding the corner windows: this was a last-minute solution in the kitchen 😀 Originally, the stove was planned in the “island area.” Because the cooktop was moved to the west side, we had to change our panoramic window (stove not under a window) and decided on this corner solution, which we really like visually! For the bathroom, however, we’re concerned it might be too dark, especially in the shower area. Also, these windows are only available with a tilt function. That would mean choosing a two-part window, which wouldn’t match the windows downstairs. We prefer a bright bathroom and hope to get more natural light with the “standard” windows. That’s why we made this decision.

I thought the kitchen planning was still in progress? ;-) As I said, before finalizing the floor plan, I would at least plan the kitchen together with the forum. You don't want to regret it afterward.