Hello everyone,
We have the opportunity to start a house construction project soon, and as complete beginners, we are not entirely sure about the most sensible next steps.
Background:
My parents have offered to provide us (my wife and me) with the plot of land shown below to build a single-family house.
Currently, we live in a cozy older apartment. Children are planned in the foreseeable future, so a single-family house with a small garden and proximity to my parents would be ideal.
Development plan / restrictions:
Plot size: 415 sqm (approximately 4465 sq ft), details below
Slope: yes, north-facing slope, details below
Old building area, no formal development plan / §34 Federal Building Code, in the neighborhood there is a mix of buildings (e.g., 1-3 stories, monopitch roof, flat roof, gabled roof)
Homeowners’ requirements:
Style, roof shape, building type: simple building form, clear structure, roof shape e.g. shallow gabled roof
Basement, floors: with or without basement (see question below), in any case 2 full stories
Number of occupants: 2 adults (28, 27), no children yet, 2 children’s rooms planned
Space requirements: optimized for family life, e.g., we particularly like this design from the forum: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundriss-efh-140-qm-mit-keller.18255/
Office: 1 person home office
Overnight guests per year: few to none
Open or closed architecture: mix
Conservative or modern design: the house should ideally fit into the slope; otherwise, we are flexible
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: not essential
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: wooden terrace in the garden (we like to be outside), possibly a roof terrace for the view
Garage, carport: 2 vehicle parking spaces, indoors or outdoors / carport
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no vegetable garden
Here are our questions:
1) Do you consider the plot generally suitable to build a single-family house roughly as described above?
What kind of budget would you estimate for this (“standard quality”)?
2) The slope and side access are somewhat challenging. Where would you place the building area and main house entrance?
3) Does the slope necessarily argue for a basement / partially underground basement, or would you recommend leveling the site and building on a slab foundation without a basement?
4) Friends of ours recently built a solid wood house, which we like very much.
Is it possible to build a solid wood house on a concrete basement? Are there construction materials or wall systems you would especially recommend for a sloping site?
5) What is the best approach to start this project? In our opinion, the result will only be really good if the house is ideally integrated into the relatively small plot and slope. Therefore, we would now look for an independent architect and have them design freely based on the rough framework given above.
The general contractor’s planner or prefabricated house manufacturer is, in our view, only partly suitable because they tend to adapt their house types to the customer or plot, which does not necessarily lead to an optimal result. What do you think?
Many thanks and regards!
Andy
We have the opportunity to start a house construction project soon, and as complete beginners, we are not entirely sure about the most sensible next steps.
Background:
My parents have offered to provide us (my wife and me) with the plot of land shown below to build a single-family house.
Currently, we live in a cozy older apartment. Children are planned in the foreseeable future, so a single-family house with a small garden and proximity to my parents would be ideal.
Development plan / restrictions:
Plot size: 415 sqm (approximately 4465 sq ft), details below
Slope: yes, north-facing slope, details below
Old building area, no formal development plan / §34 Federal Building Code, in the neighborhood there is a mix of buildings (e.g., 1-3 stories, monopitch roof, flat roof, gabled roof)
Homeowners’ requirements:
Style, roof shape, building type: simple building form, clear structure, roof shape e.g. shallow gabled roof
Basement, floors: with or without basement (see question below), in any case 2 full stories
Number of occupants: 2 adults (28, 27), no children yet, 2 children’s rooms planned
Space requirements: optimized for family life, e.g., we particularly like this design from the forum: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundriss-efh-140-qm-mit-keller.18255/
Office: 1 person home office
Overnight guests per year: few to none
Open or closed architecture: mix
Conservative or modern design: the house should ideally fit into the slope; otherwise, we are flexible
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: not essential
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: wooden terrace in the garden (we like to be outside), possibly a roof terrace for the view
Garage, carport: 2 vehicle parking spaces, indoors or outdoors / carport
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no vegetable garden
Here are our questions:
1) Do you consider the plot generally suitable to build a single-family house roughly as described above?
What kind of budget would you estimate for this (“standard quality”)?
2) The slope and side access are somewhat challenging. Where would you place the building area and main house entrance?
3) Does the slope necessarily argue for a basement / partially underground basement, or would you recommend leveling the site and building on a slab foundation without a basement?
4) Friends of ours recently built a solid wood house, which we like very much.
Is it possible to build a solid wood house on a concrete basement? Are there construction materials or wall systems you would especially recommend for a sloping site?
5) What is the best approach to start this project? In our opinion, the result will only be really good if the house is ideally integrated into the relatively small plot and slope. Therefore, we would now look for an independent architect and have them design freely based on the rough framework given above.
The general contractor’s planner or prefabricated house manufacturer is, in our view, only partly suitable because they tend to adapt their house types to the customer or plot, which does not necessarily lead to an optimal result. What do you think?
Many thanks and regards!
Andy
Thank you all for your comments!
@ ypg:
Thanks for the tip, we will do that next weekend.
We already have a few ideas about possible building envelopes.
@11ant:
We found the timber construction and the wood scent inside to be very warm and cozy.
No right-of-way easements need to be granted; each neighboring property has its own access paths.
@icandoit:
Exactly, my parents live in the house to the north.
The plot slopes by 16 meters (52 feet) between 2.8 meters (9 feet) at the southwest corner and 1.8 meters (6 feet) at the southeast corner, with the given values in between at 4-meter (13 feet) intervals.
@hampshire:
Glad to hear that you generally see the site as suitable for a single-family home.
We plan to spend some extended time on the plot this weekend to consider the building envelopes and levels, terrace, and parking space.
In particular, the sightlines over my parents’ house down into the valley are very interesting and should be made best use of in our home.
How and with what “scope of services” would you initially commission a freelance architect?
Is it absolutely necessary to formally commission HOAI service phases 1-3 right away (which would be 24%), or can you also agree on a preliminary design based on our ideas with a fixed fee?
With the preliminary design, one could probably quickly assess how well the architect can adapt to the slope and possibly change the architect if it becomes clear they have difficulties.
Have a good evening.
Andy
@ ypg:
Thanks for the tip, we will do that next weekend.
We already have a few ideas about possible building envelopes.
@11ant:
We found the timber construction and the wood scent inside to be very warm and cozy.
No right-of-way easements need to be granted; each neighboring property has its own access paths.
@icandoit:
Exactly, my parents live in the house to the north.
The plot slopes by 16 meters (52 feet) between 2.8 meters (9 feet) at the southwest corner and 1.8 meters (6 feet) at the southeast corner, with the given values in between at 4-meter (13 feet) intervals.
@hampshire:
Glad to hear that you generally see the site as suitable for a single-family home.
We plan to spend some extended time on the plot this weekend to consider the building envelopes and levels, terrace, and parking space.
In particular, the sightlines over my parents’ house down into the valley are very interesting and should be made best use of in our home.
How and with what “scope of services” would you initially commission a freelance architect?
Is it absolutely necessary to formally commission HOAI service phases 1-3 right away (which would be 24%), or can you also agree on a preliminary design based on our ideas with a fixed fee?
With the preliminary design, one could probably quickly assess how well the architect can adapt to the slope and possibly change the architect if it becomes clear they have difficulties.
Have a good evening.
Andy
Sloped site, waterproof concrete, and solid wood construction works. We have that too.
We don’t have exposed wood inside. For me, that’s too much wood. Wood flooring, wooden doors, and wooden furniture is enough.
The painter regretted it. Usually, the wooden walls and partly the ceilings show variations within the first 5 years.
I would plan the living area on the lower floor and the bedrooms upstairs.
Driveway and entrance, if possible, on the side.
We don’t have exposed wood inside. For me, that’s too much wood. Wood flooring, wooden doors, and wooden furniture is enough.
The painter regretted it. Usually, the wooden walls and partly the ceilings show variations within the first 5 years.
I would plan the living area on the lower floor and the bedrooms upstairs.
Driveway and entrance, if possible, on the side.
AndyM92 schrieb:
No easements need to be granted; each neighboring property has its own access routes. According to your map section, two of these plots would actually be helicopter lots.
AndyM92 schrieb:
You can probably tell from the preliminary design how well the architect can work with the slope, and if necessary, change the architect if you notice they are struggling. I recently explained the topic of preliminary designs here: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/erstgespraech-auswahl-architekt.38070/page-2#post-471120
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
H
hampshire16 Feb 2021 09:07AndyM92 schrieb:
How or with what "scope of services" would you initially hire an independent architect?First of all, choose the right person before commissioning anyone. Clarifying mutual expectations will make everything clear. Don’t just go with the first one unless you’re sure they are an excellent fit.If anything, I would always hire phases 1–4 from a colleague, since the building permit planning itself is often a minor effort, but everything beforehand must be compliant with the building permit requirements. You can design a lot otherwise, as long as the day is long... that can also be done here on the forum.
The starting point is primarily a space program, not details or how things will be executed. Thoughts about the construction start can be made at the latest at that stage. The way the construction process is structured definitely has its charm 🙂
The starting point is primarily a space program, not details or how things will be executed. Thoughts about the construction start can be made at the latest at that stage. The way the construction process is structured definitely has its charm 🙂
AndyM92 schrieb:
@icandoit:
Yes, exactly, my parents live in the house in the north.
The land slopes from 2.8 meters (southwest corner) down to 1.8 meters (southeast corner) over a length of 16 meters (52.5 feet), with the values in between given in 4-meter (13 feet) increments.
That’s how I understood it. But then there are arrows afterwards that indicate something different. A contour line map is easier to understand than the grid boxes. There are topographic maps available, preferably including the surrounding area—especially the parents’ property.
If I were living in your parents’ house, I wouldn’t want the southern part of the land to be developed. I would consider subdividing my property and offering a building plot to the kids on the west side.
Otherwise, the land is suitable for building.
@11ant The lots down below will probably be accessed from down there. No helicopter involved.
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