ᐅ Single-family home ~130 sqm: Balancing the rooms

So, everyone, since the topic of choosing a building partner is slowly reaching its final stage for us, I thought we’d start optimizing the floor plan a bit. Even though the original plan was only intended as a basis for a quote, we actually like it quite a lot. There are two versions of the house: the ground floor is the same in both, but upstairs there is either a half-story or a full story. Since I’m not a fan of sloped ceilings, the price difference is still reasonable, and the flexibility of the full story is greater, we are currently leaning towards building the design with the full story. (The half-story design can be seen in the other thread.)

One somewhat suboptimal aspect of the designs is that the rooms upstairs are relatively large compared to the rooms downstairs. Specifically, the children’s room is only half the size of the open living area, and the bedroom is also very large. Even though the open living area should be fine (I’ve seen one with almost the same dimensions at my cousin’s house), this is obviously not an ideal ratio. Therefore, we will definitely have the wall between the living room and the office constructed as drywall, so it can be removed easily if needed (or if the office is no longer required).

In the other thread, the suggestion was made to move the second study upstairs as well. I tried sketching this out (various pencil drafts, and one computer drawing attached), but none of the designs look really good. The rooms end up very small (~10sqm (108 sq ft)) and have very awkward layouts. I think the upper floor is just a bit too small for that.

I’ve also attached a picture of our rough site plan. The garage location is almost automatically determined by our driveway. We would then place the house slightly behind it in the northeast corner of the plot to leave as much open space as possible towards the south and west. The three plots west of our property are actually one large connected plot, so it is very open to the west.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot 17 on the plan
Plot size: 700sqm (7,535 sq ft)
Slope: no (maximum 50cm (20 inches) over the entire plot)
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Floor space index -
Building envelope, setback lines, and boundary lines: entire plot available considering boundary construction regulations
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: max 2
Roof type: gable roof, hip roof, half-hip roof 30-45°, shed roof 8-20°
Maximum height / limits: building height = 6m (20 ft) eaves height (no problem)

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: gable roof, style “normal house”
Basement, storeys: no basement due to high cost risk from potential arsenic contamination, instead a large attic and a technical room in the extension. 1.5 to 2 storeys
Number of people, age: 3 persons, he 33, she 41, child arriving in about 4 weeks, no further children planned currently
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: living and working downstairs, sleeping and children’s rooms upstairs
Office: 2 workspaces, he works from home 3-4 days per week, she is a teacher and also often works from home
Overnight guests per year: mainly for special occasions like birthdays as there is little space
Open or closed architecture: somewhat open
Conservative or modern design: not old-fashioned but not forcedly modern either. Just a normal house 😉
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes, but the cooktop can also be on the wall
Number of dining seats: max 4 for normal use, room for extended table when guests come
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no, large garden
Garage, carport: currently leaning towards a prefabricated garage with attached carport (she doesn’t like garages). Separate from the house so the driveway remains short
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: a few smaller beds and otherwise simple lawn. The garden area should remain fairly contiguous so it feels like a garden and not just leftover space

Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why something is or isn’t desired:
Second bathroom on ground floor
Space on the property to park a trailer 2 x 6.5m (6.5 x 21 feet)

House Design
Planner: independent engineer working with the general contractor
What do you particularly like? Why?
Lots of large windows. Corner office can be shaded without being dark. Bathroom without a bathtub (please no 15-page discussions about this again)
What don’t you like? Why?
The children’s room and bedroom are relatively large compared to the open living area; the second office/guest room is a bit tight
Price estimate from architect/planner:
Offer from general contractor about €410,000 turnkey including floors, painting, photovoltaics, and most incidental construction costs, excluding kitchen
Personal price limit including equipment: about the same as the offer, so redesign should be cost-neutral
Preferred heating system: ground-source heat pump with underfloor heating

If you had to give up certain details / expansions
What could you live without:
Walk-in closet seems dispensable to us. If we don’t change the walls, one idea was to have it accessible from the bathroom and install a sauna there
What you couldn’t live without:
Sufficient storage space in the attic

What’s the issue with the guest toilet? There’s no space to dry off properly. The niche (hallway) is counterproductive.
Have you considered removing the wall between the stairs and the living room?
There is a lack of accessible, dry storage space.

I do like the large rooms on the upper floor though. At least you have enough space there.
If you redesign it like in the first picture, you will have to rotate the bedroom by 90 degrees, and you can forget about the walk-in closet.

Regarding the ground floor: Why don’t you recess the bathroom door as @ypg already suggested? I think that works better too.

I also think everything fits together really well. The 11-12m² (118-129 sq ft) offices are definitely large enough.

On the ground floor, I would remove the niche in front of the restroom and prefer a real glass enclosure instead of the solid tub. That way, the restroom becomes properly usable.

I would remove the wall and door between the storage and heating rooms; they just take up space, and you always have to close the first door again to get into the heating room.

Did you initially forget the heating system, or is that why it has been added on?

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Thanks in advance for the suggestions. Tomorrow we have an appointment with the engineer, so I’ll bring this up then.

I actually liked the niche in the downstairs bathroom because it means less shower enclosure cleaning 😉
But on second thought, it probably makes sense to move the door to the front and install the enclosure there.

The wall between the living room and hallway is marked as 24cm (9.5 inches), so load-bearing. You would probably need to work with columns to ensure structural stability. I’m still not entirely sure how much space that would really gain. You could place the sofa near the columns and basically look outside from there. Although, of course, you can do that with a wall as well. By the way, the door between the living room and hallway is still planned for removal; we don’t really see the point in using up space for a door and circulation area when there’s another door just 2.5m (8 feet) away.

The wall between the heating room and storage room is also marked as 17cm (6.7 inches), so load-bearing. One possibility would be to replace the door there with a simple archway.

ypg schrieb:

There is a lack of accessible and dry storage space.

Storage for what kind of items? There is the storage room for pasta, drinks, etc., and the vacuum cleaner can be stored either in that room or in the heating room. Since the buffer tank is removed, there should be some space there now. Items that are rarely used can be stored in the attic. At around 32° DN, it’s also relatively large. And for some things, there is also the garden shed.

11ant schrieb:

Did you initially forget the heating system, or why is it attached?

It’s a simple alternative to a basement, which doesn’t take up space inside the house. I also think it nicely closes off the house on the driveway side.