ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home – Initial Draft

Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size = 545 sqm (5865 sq ft)
Slope = minimal, almost flat
Site occupancy index = 0.4
Floor area ratio = 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary = see photo
Number of parking spaces = 2
Number of floors = maximum 2 full stories (II or I+D)
Roof type = hip roof / gable roof / pitched roof
Architectural style = open
Orientation = see photo

Homeowner Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type = hip roof, townhouse with bay window
Basement, floors = basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of occupants, ages = 2 adults (30 / 30) and 2 children (2 / <1)
Room requirements on ground floor, upper floor
Office: family use or home office = office in basement for home office
Guests per year = maximum once
Open or closed design = partly open (living/dining area open)
Conservative or modern style = modern style
Open kitchen, kitchen island = open kitchen, kitchen island if feasible (no appointment at kitchen showroom yet)
Number of dining seats = 6 (extendable table for about 8 people)
Fireplace = yes, in living room, acting as a kind of “small” room divider between living and dining areas
Music/sound wall = no
Balcony, roof terrace = terrace on ground floor, to be roofed over / option for roof terrace above bay window (cost issue)
Garage, carport = garage with direct access to house (pantry), separate carport (see aerial photo)
Utility garden, greenhouse
Other wishes = sauna in upper floor bathroom / larger wardrobe area / terrace roofing (type of terrace roofing still to be decided)

House Design
Design by: building technician from a construction company and our own ideas
What do you particularly like? Why?

• Basically the open layout on the ground floor
• Upper floor with relatively large children’s rooms
• Bay window extension on ground floor

What do you not like? Why?

• Entrance area > looking for new ideas for a “large” wardrobe due to 2 children and many shoes
• Bathroom layout on upper floor > the planner just sketched a rough idea, nothing concrete yet. However, I want to try to fit a 2-person sauna. Any ideas from the forum?
• Basement layout > what room sizes do you recommend for the basement? How much space is needed, e.g., for technical equipment? Ideas for basement layout?
• Windows > In the current plan, window placement/type has not been a main focus. We want a floor-to-ceiling corner window with a patio door in the ground floor living room.

Cost estimate according to architect/planner = not yet specified
Personal budget for the house, including fittings = 600,000 €
Preferred heating technology = ground source heat pump (GSHP), photovoltaic, optional battery storage
Home automation = KNX (programming and planning by father)

If you had to give up certain details/extensions:
- can give up: roof terrace above bay window / lots of space in the master bedroom / straight staircase (initially planned but currently replaced by a staircase with landing)
- cannot give up: space for children / office

Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by planner? No
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect? Office (initially wanted on ground floor, now in basement with light well due to space constraints)
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?

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

Plot approximately 550 sqm (5920 sq ft), not very large, so trying to get as much living space as possible on a small footprint. That’s why there is a basement, but we didn’t want a “standardized,” square townhouse with a hip roof, instead adding a personal touch with the bay window on the ground floor.

We look forward to input from the forum (so far I have mainly been a silent reader) and thank you in advance.
Regards
JoHa

Entrance area and hallway together almost 24 sqm (260 sq ft), wow, that’s quite a lot, just like the kitchen with nearly 20 sqm (215 sq ft). From what I estimate, the living room is a bit smaller than the dining room and would therefore probably be less than 18 sqm (195 sq ft) (while the kitchen is 20 sqm / 215 sq ft)?? So far, there seems to be too much wasted space.
Why should a bay window represent a “personal touch”? Does your personality stand for bay windows? 😀

A sauna with 2 sqm (22 sq ft) in my opinion is not really a sauna. Of course, space in the bathroom is limited, so I would rather put the sauna in the basement (or on the lawn) to get at least 1.5 x 2 meters (5 x 6.5 feet) interior dimensions there. Also, the main bathroom is occupied for hours whenever someone saunas. In the basement, you can implement a simpler solution, maybe a DIY option or buy one of the many used modular systems. In the bathroom, it has to fit down to the millimeter, otherwise it looks bad. Because of the sauna in the bathroom, the shower is also not very large.

Hello pagoni2020,

thank you first of all for your initial assessment 🙂 At first, the kitchen also seemed a bit large to us, but for now, we want to take it to the kitchen planner. So far, we haven’t found a better solution for the spacious vestibule and hallway area. Do you have any suggestions?

The idea of placing the sauna in the basement is definitely worth considering. However, I don’t think the main bathroom is occupied when someone is using the sauna. Using the sauna and brushing teeth can happen at the same time. That said, as mentioned, I wouldn’t want to place the sauna in a niche where it would have to fit with millimeter precision.

Best regards

JoHa1987 schrieb:

Hello pagoni2020,
Thanks first of all for your initial assessment 🙂 The kitchen seemed a bit large to us at first as well, but for now, we just want to take it to the kitchen planner. So far, we haven’t found a better solution for the generous entrance area + hallway. Do you have any suggestions?
The idea of the sauna is definitely worth considering—placing the sauna in the basement. However, I don’t think the main bathroom is occupied when someone is using the sauna. You can brush your teeth while someone else is sauna-ing. Still, as I mentioned, I wouldn’t want to place the sauna in a niche where it would have to fit precisely by the millimeter.
Best regards

Sorry for those silly typos again!
You will surely get good and necessary ideas regarding the floor plan here. Redesigning is not really my thing, but I can see the need for it.

JoHa1987 schrieb:

You can brush your teeth in parallel

Yes, now you can, and brushing teeth as well, but family life and habits will also change significantly as the kids grow older. 2 square meters (21.5 square feet) would be too small for me anyway, and as I said, it’s easier to implement in the basement. That way, there will also be a nice shower upstairs.
Therefore, I would at least include a simple shower/WC in the basement for the sauna. And who knows how the office down there might be used in 10 years...

Pantry door to the garage painted. Takes up parking space.
The door between pantry and family room often bangs shut.
The kitchen in the bay window looks like a makeshift solution. Lots of wasted space, inconvenient path to the dining room. I would swap the living area and kitchen.
Possibly a different staircase. Cloakroom, vestibule, and hallway are very large.
I also wouldn’t squeeze the sauna into the bathroom.
Why is the carport completely separated to the south from the driveway, garage, and entrance?

JoHa1987 schrieb:

A plot of about 550 sqm (5,920 sq ft) is not overly large, so the goal was to maximize living space using as little ground area as possible. Therefore, a basement was included, but we didn’t want just a “standardized” square townhouse with a hipped roof; rather, with the bay window on the ground floor, we wanted to add a bit more personal character.

With 550 sqm (5,920 sq ft) of land, you are definitely among the modestly sized plots nowadays 🙂
But if you yourself don’t consider it “overly large,” it contradicts the use of a square footprint, which is actually not efficient (unless you prefer nominal square meters over usable floor area, but that is more typical of multi-unit residential developers). Also, personal character and a standard bay window typical of substitution villas seem contradictory to me. At least here, the general contractor’s draftsman is not mistakenly called an “architect” 🙂

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