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

Created on: 12 Nov 2020 06:19

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.

Attic floor plan: attic with bathroom, gallery, bedroom, two children's rooms, stairwell, red walls.

Ground floor plan with kitchen, dining area, living room, hallway, office, WC, and terrace.

Detailed plan of building plot: street layout, property boundaries, utility lines.

Modern white two-story house with terrace; one person sitting outside, another on path.

Modern two-story white house with garage, paved driveway, black car and man in front.

Two-story white house with dark roof and separate flat-roof garage on green plot.

Two-story white house with extension, terrace with lounge chairs, green lawn.

Two views of a house: east and north elevations with roof, windows and entrance.

West and south elevations of a house with garage, window layout, and slope line.

Basement floor plan with corridor, technical room, laundry, large cellar room, and green exterior wall.

exto179116 Nov 2020 18:07

#73

Pinkiponk schrieb:

- Even if you have marked “none” for overnight guests, that will probably change once children are involved. As long as the children are small, a babysitter might occasionally stay over, and later on friends might stay. Therefore, it might be beneficial to plan the guest toilet with a shower. Also, having only one bathroom for a household of four no longer seems up to date, as we learned from selling our house this year.

- Although I don’t cook myself, I’m a big fan of having the cook just a step away from the garden, ideally with an elevated herb planter. Maybe you could convert the “tilt window corner” into a patio door. In general, I don’t like windows that aren’t easily accessible, but opinions on that differ.

- The TV wall might be movable with a swivel arm to the opposite corner, so you can look outside from the sofa.

- Wouldn’t daylight from two sides be nicer in the home office? Unless the worker develops computer games, then the room is always dark anyway. ;-)

--> Regarding the bathroom: Well, you can’t have everything... Even if there were a shower on the ground floor, I wouldn’t want to shower or do my morning routine there. Why would you go downstairs to get ready when all the bedrooms are upstairs? So the shower would really only be used by guests. We are not actually planning for overnight guests. If someone stays with us, they can use the upstairs bathroom for a shower. The question is, what exactly does “one bathroom no longer up to date” mean? There is a bathroom, just no shower.

--> Regarding the kitchen: We have a floor-to-ceiling window with access just next to the kitchen. For that, I have to walk 3 meters (10 feet) instead of one step...

--> I actually like the idea with the TV wall—that’s definitely something to consider.

--> The home office won’t be used much for now—maybe later. However, I think one window is completely sufficient for a 10 m² (108 sq ft) room. I can then place a desk or whatever in front of it.

ypg16 Nov 2020 18:15

#74

exto1791 schrieb:

Why would someone go downstairs to get ready, etc., if all the bedrooms are on the upper floor?

Because a child locked themselves in to have some peace?
Or even just to get some quiet time away from the kids? There are plenty of reasons to need to retreat, even if it’s a teenager who wants to spend an hour putting on makeup or someone who wants to take endless showers after a night out 😉

exto179116 Nov 2020 18:20

#75

ypg schrieb:

Because a child locked themselves in to have some peace?
Or even to get a break from the kids themselves? There are plenty of reasons why you sometimes have to give way, whether it’s a teenager wanting to do their makeup for an hour or someone taking a long shower after a night out 😉

But then we’re back to the topic of comfort, or rather what you really need versus what you can do without.

Certainly, 80% of people probably don’t have this option, and it works just fine. Showers last 5-10 minutes – so waiting a bit is usually not a problem. If someone spends an hour getting ready, then you have to wait or ask the young lady to use the guest bathroom for that (which is possible). It’s a luxury issue that will probably annoy me at times, but it’s not worth the space or the cost.

I know this from my own home:

We had three bathrooms with showers – the lower one was never used even once, and the other bathroom was occasionally used by my brother. But we were used to always using the small 6m² (65 sq ft) bathroom of our parents on the ground floor. Why that was, I’m not sure. But nobody ever had a problem with it.

Somehow, I get the impression that people think they need to be prepared for every possible situation. It’s suggested that in some areas there’s only one “right” opinion and everything else is “wrong.” I strongly doubt that. There are surely many homeowners who made the same decision we did and never had any problems with it. It always depends on the living situation and the family itself.

Anyone who installed a guest bathroom with a shower will always say: “Oh, thank goodness we did it, even if it’s rarely used, we’re really glad to have it.”
Anyone who didn’t install a guest bathroom with a shower will always say: “Oh, we haven’t missed it so far, sometimes it would have been nice, but we’ve managed well without it.”

It’s always the same 🙂

Pinkiponk16 Nov 2020 18:25

#76

exto1791 schrieb:

--> Regarding the bathroom: Well, you can't have everything... Even if there was a shower on the ground floor, I wouldn’t want to shower there, let alone go through my morning routine. Why would you go downstairs to get ready when all the bedrooms are upstairs? So the shower would really only be used by guests. We’re actually not planning for overnight guests. If a guest does stay over, they’re welcome to use the upstairs bathroom for a shower. The question is, what does "1 bathroom no longer modern enough" mean? — there is a bathroom, just no shower.

Your thoughts make sense. I can just imagine that, for example, a babysitter might appreciate having a separate shower. Or later on, when children have overnight guests. But fundamentally, I agree with you. It probably only makes sense if you have a sofa bed in the living room. For me, the bathroom is private, and I wouldn’t want anyone there besides my husband. (I don’t have children.)
Maybe one day you’ll come into the house “completely dirty from gardening” and be glad you don’t have to go upstairs first. I repeat, you’re basically right, and I understand your line of thinking well. I just wanted to bring another perspective into the discussion.

exto179116 Nov 2020 18:28

#77

Pinkiponk schrieb:

Your thoughts are valid. I can just imagine that, for example, a babysitter might appreciate having a separate shower. Or later on, children’s overnight guests. But basically, I agree with you. It might only really make sense if you have a sofa bed in the living room. For me, the bathroom is so private that I don’t want anyone there except my husband. (I don’t have children.) Maybe one day you’ll come in “totally dirty from gardening” and be glad you don’t have to go upstairs first. I repeat, you’re basically right, and I understand your reasoning very well. I just wanted to bring another perspective into the discussion.

Absolutely! You’re right in everything you say, please don’t misunderstand me 🙂

It’s just that, thankfully, we’ve moved away from that kind of “what if” planning: “What if someone … and then …”

It’s certainly nice to have, and I’d probably use the shower a few times a year – but as I said, you can’t have everything. We give up some things and allow ourselves others because those are more important to us.

That’s why building a house is always such an individual project.

I’m still grateful for your opinion!

Pinkiponk16 Nov 2020 18:29

#78

exto1791 schrieb:

We had three shower bathrooms – the lower one was never used even once – the other bathroom was occasionally used by my brother. But we were used to always going to the small 6m² (65 sqft) bathroom of our parents, which was on the ground floor.

I find this comment absolutely lovely and it sounds like a wonderful, caring family. I’m happy for you because you will surely pass this on to your future family. In my family, it was rather about separation, and my comments reflect that. Please don’t let that influence you.

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

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