ᐅ Single-family house, gentle slope, rocky path to the initial design
Created on: 9 Dec 2020 22:02
G
Gerddieter
Hello dear forum,
First of all, a big compliment to everyone participating in this forum. I have been reading along for a while, only occasionally posting a small comment, and I am repeatedly impressed by the expertise some of you have and how willingly you share it with other forum members.
Thank you for that!!!
I’m really excited to finally present our plan:
About us: a family with two small children. We live a little south of Karlsruhe. We have been looking for an existing property for a while, but 12 months ago we were able to buy a plot of land in a nice residential area. So now we want to build, and we are really excited about the chance to design our home from scratch according to our own wishes and needs—a chance most people get only once in a lifetime at most.
At the beginning, things didn’t go very well—we looked for an architect, but we were naive and inexperienced. We thought that if we said what we wanted, it would just work, and the professional would plan and advise us. But we received no advice at all; the plan was double our budget—and probably the classic mistake—we wanted something normal (okay, one room more than usual) but otherwise standard. The house shouldn’t cost seven figures without a basement or basement-equivalent space, etc. The architect said we could only move forward if we reduced our wish for five rooms—we then thought maybe we don’t even need to build. That’s when I started researching, here in the forum, and then parted ways with the architect 😡. Now we have found a very experienced and creative architect who drew up a draft for us—we are supposed to refine it and think about it, he said, and then come back to him... 😉
Here we go—please share your opinions. Our wishes and ideas are in the questionnaire. We definitely want five rooms; that is our luxury. We like the house; there will be a great terrace in front of the attic floor—only unfortunately it seems quite narrow to us. Is the living area really open and spacious?
Unrelenting opinions? Criticism? Bring it on—we want to improve and optimize it to the perfect little dream design. 🙂
Thanks, GD
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft)
Slope: yes – see elevation measurements
No formal development plan available. Building is guided by the surrounding buildings. Nearby buildings have up to 3 stories and flat or pitched roofs...
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3.50
Edge development: garage/carport
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: § 34 / 2 or 3 (context)
Roof type: according to local buildings
Style: modern, open, bright
Orientation: south (small street)
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern, glass, bright, open
Basement, floors: 2.5 plus basement
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults (37/38), 2 children (3/5)
Space requirements on ground floor – living/dining/kitchen/terrace/guest toilet
Space requirements upstairs – child 1, child 2, guest/office 1, small bathroom
Space requirements attic – parents’ bedroom, office 2
Overnight guests per year: 10 times
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open, island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: optional
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace on ground floor, roof terrace on attic floor
Garage, carport: garage for 2 cars
Additional wishes/special features:
The plot is narrow. The architect recommends a house set back to the rear, so we have a large garden on the south side in front of the house and are not so close to the street. This makes the house very narrow (8.5 m (28 ft)), which makes us uncertain; the set-back dining area—we would prefer it more forward in the living room, but is it possibly too narrow there? Can it be widened?
House Design
Planning by: architect
What do you particularly like? Why? Attic floor, roof terrace
What don’t you like?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: not yet available
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: completely without land, including additional costs, 650-700 k
Preferred heating technology: open to all, gas and solar thermal hybrid?
If you had to give up something, which features/extras
- Can give up: basement – but need a replacement room. The basement mainly serves technical equipment and storage – so it should be about half the size.
- Cannot give up: number of rooms, as my wife and I each want our own office.
Why has the design ended up as it is? For example:
We worked it out with the architect, who clearly knows what he wants. We have looked at magazines and formed our ideas. I have already talked to [Gus from the region], no concrete offer yet, but their initial estimate was around 500-600 k plus additional costs.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?Good: attic, south orientation, garden; bad: too narrow?, we may not need a basement, but we have already spoken with two general contractors who said the plot requires a basement... What is the most important/fundamental question about the layout, summarized in 130 characters? Is the house too narrow on the south side for an open living-dining area? Only make it 1 m (3 ft) wider at the front, keep rear narrow? Does the budget work? What do you think of the design? Can it be smaller? Or without a basement?
First of all, a big compliment to everyone participating in this forum. I have been reading along for a while, only occasionally posting a small comment, and I am repeatedly impressed by the expertise some of you have and how willingly you share it with other forum members.
Thank you for that!!!
I’m really excited to finally present our plan:
About us: a family with two small children. We live a little south of Karlsruhe. We have been looking for an existing property for a while, but 12 months ago we were able to buy a plot of land in a nice residential area. So now we want to build, and we are really excited about the chance to design our home from scratch according to our own wishes and needs—a chance most people get only once in a lifetime at most.
At the beginning, things didn’t go very well—we looked for an architect, but we were naive and inexperienced. We thought that if we said what we wanted, it would just work, and the professional would plan and advise us. But we received no advice at all; the plan was double our budget—and probably the classic mistake—we wanted something normal (okay, one room more than usual) but otherwise standard. The house shouldn’t cost seven figures without a basement or basement-equivalent space, etc. The architect said we could only move forward if we reduced our wish for five rooms—we then thought maybe we don’t even need to build. That’s when I started researching, here in the forum, and then parted ways with the architect 😡. Now we have found a very experienced and creative architect who drew up a draft for us—we are supposed to refine it and think about it, he said, and then come back to him... 😉
Here we go—please share your opinions. Our wishes and ideas are in the questionnaire. We definitely want five rooms; that is our luxury. We like the house; there will be a great terrace in front of the attic floor—only unfortunately it seems quite narrow to us. Is the living area really open and spacious?
Unrelenting opinions? Criticism? Bring it on—we want to improve and optimize it to the perfect little dream design. 🙂
Thanks, GD
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 750 sqm (8,073 sq ft)
Slope: yes – see elevation measurements
No formal development plan available. Building is guided by the surrounding buildings. Nearby buildings have up to 3 stories and flat or pitched roofs...
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3.50
Edge development: garage/carport
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: § 34 / 2 or 3 (context)
Roof type: according to local buildings
Style: modern, open, bright
Orientation: south (small street)
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern, glass, bright, open
Basement, floors: 2.5 plus basement
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults (37/38), 2 children (3/5)
Space requirements on ground floor – living/dining/kitchen/terrace/guest toilet
Space requirements upstairs – child 1, child 2, guest/office 1, small bathroom
Space requirements attic – parents’ bedroom, office 2
Overnight guests per year: 10 times
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open, island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: optional
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace on ground floor, roof terrace on attic floor
Garage, carport: garage for 2 cars
Additional wishes/special features:
The plot is narrow. The architect recommends a house set back to the rear, so we have a large garden on the south side in front of the house and are not so close to the street. This makes the house very narrow (8.5 m (28 ft)), which makes us uncertain; the set-back dining area—we would prefer it more forward in the living room, but is it possibly too narrow there? Can it be widened?
House Design
Planning by: architect
What do you particularly like? Why? Attic floor, roof terrace
What don’t you like?
- Room layout in the attic – we need two rooms with a south-facing orientation here; I think this only works with a different staircase.
- Narrow house
Price estimate according to architect/planner: not yet available
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: completely without land, including additional costs, 650-700 k
Preferred heating technology: open to all, gas and solar thermal hybrid?
If you had to give up something, which features/extras
- Can give up: basement – but need a replacement room. The basement mainly serves technical equipment and storage – so it should be about half the size.
- Cannot give up: number of rooms, as my wife and I each want our own office.
Why has the design ended up as it is? For example:
We worked it out with the architect, who clearly knows what he wants. We have looked at magazines and formed our ideas. I have already talked to [Gus from the region], no concrete offer yet, but their initial estimate was around 500-600 k plus additional costs.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
Living spaces in basements have nothing to do with cellars.
They are not dark, musty, or damp.
Cellars without windows, which are not suitable for living, are hardly needed anymore. Who still lives self-sufficiently and needs oil tanks? I agree with you there.
Adding an unnecessary floor beneath a house or extensive backfilling is just throwing money away.
I don’t understand why the architect refuses to design the front of the house. You don’t like the layout of the open-plan area—I don’t either.
The long walk between the car and the house. Day after day, in wind and weather, every year the kilo of flour feels heavier.
The outdoor area needs to be planned as well. Terraces built, retaining walls, etc. The house might be able to support part of this.
If you want level areas for a playground, dining, utility garden, etc., plan on spending $100k for landscaping—or call in a favor from Hermann, who’s a mason and can operate an excavator.
They are not dark, musty, or damp.
Cellars without windows, which are not suitable for living, are hardly needed anymore. Who still lives self-sufficiently and needs oil tanks? I agree with you there.
Adding an unnecessary floor beneath a house or extensive backfilling is just throwing money away.
I don’t understand why the architect refuses to design the front of the house. You don’t like the layout of the open-plan area—I don’t either.
The long walk between the car and the house. Day after day, in wind and weather, every year the kilo of flour feels heavier.
The outdoor area needs to be planned as well. Terraces built, retaining walls, etc. The house might be able to support part of this.
If you want level areas for a playground, dining, utility garden, etc., plan on spending $100k for landscaping—or call in a favor from Hermann, who’s a mason and can operate an excavator.
We have a space of 8 x 13 m (26 x 43 feet), so it’s 50 cm (20 inches) narrower and features a similar L-shaped open-plan living area – combining the living, dining, and kitchen spaces. Still, the dining and living areas are side by side, with the kitchen arranged lengthwise around the corner. This layout works very well even with 8 m (26 feet) width, so your 8.5 m (28 feet) should be more than enough, in my opinion. If the nice view is to the south, I WOULD keep the house at the back. But I’m also comfortable walking and a big garden lover. 😉
Wow, I would have guessed it was wider based on the pictures.
I mean the show home by Hanse Haus in Bad Vilbel is similarly wide.
The problem isn’t with the driveway between the garage and the house now, but when you get older. Not everyone who is still fit at 70 wants to change their living space.
I mean the show home by Hanse Haus in Bad Vilbel is similarly wide.
The problem isn’t with the driveway between the garage and the house now, but when you get older. Not everyone who is still fit at 70 wants to change their living space.
G
Gerddieter11 Dec 2020 21:28@Würfel* - wow!!! Great help – and wonderful open-plan living area!!!
Thank you!
Thank you!
G
Gerddieter11 Dec 2020 23:32Würfel* schrieb:
Are there any exterior views of the house? It looks like there are a lot of windows. Overall, I think it’s quite well designed. I’m just wondering where the closets will go at the very top in the bedroom?Hello The facade hasn't been planned yet. But you’re right, in many areas there isn’t enough wall space for our belongings.
Oh man, the open space is amazing!!!
I’m a bit hesitant to tackle that because of the budget and so on...
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