ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of Approximately 170 m² on a Narrow 750 m² Plot

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 750 m² (8,072 sq ft), 18 x 42 m (59 x 138 ft)
Slope: no, flat
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.25
Plot ratio: 0.5
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) from all sides
Edge development:
Number of parking spaces: minimum 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable, hip 25-45°
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: no requirement
Maximum heights / limits: 10 m (33 ft) according to development plan
Other specifications

Requirements of the Homeowners
Style, roof type, building type: solid construction, modern, gable roof, single-family home
Basement, floors: no basement, 1.5 floors
Number of occupants, age: currently 2 (both 32)
Space requirements ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF): 90 + 80 m² (970 + 860 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office?: home office upstairs
Occasional overnight guests: rare
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: mix
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, no island planned so far
Number of dining seats: minimum 6 seats
Fireplace: light masonry heater
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: planned, at the rear of the property
Utility garden, greenhouse: preferably a utility garden behind the house
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions:

- Large open living/dining area with southern exposure.
- Large terrace at the front of the house, accessible from kitchen/dining area.
- Garage not in front of the house to preserve sunny space 🙂 — driveway located north beside the house instead.
- Minimum roof pitch on the upper floor.
- Possibility to reduce living room size later to create a bedroom (planned door in front of guest WC).
- TV area rather small, as we’re not typical couch potatoes :-D
- Office with dormer window.

House Design
Designer:
- Do-it-Yourself: based on a prefabricated house provider’s plan template
What do you particularly like? Why?
- House set back 10 m (33 ft) from the street, large living area due to frequent visits from a large family.
What do you dislike? Why?
- Possibly the kitchen is too small.
- Possibly insufficient storage space.
Price estimate from architect/planner: appointment pending
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: 350,000 (planned DIY for electrical, flooring, heating, plumbing)
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat, possibly solar thermal support

If You Have to Give Up Something, which details/features
- can be foregone:
- direct access from living room to outside
- cannot be foregone:
- terrace access

Why has the design turned out as it is? e.g.
- Everything was placed on the ground floor with the option to create an additional room later by adding a wall in today’s living room (door in front of guest WC in living room).
- Large terrace at the front of the house is important and there is enough space.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Are there issues with the size of the utility room if washing machine, dryer, technical equipment, and storage space are included?
Is the guest WC with shower sufficiently large?
Do the room sizes appear reasonable?

I never understand why living rooms are designed so tiny while dining areas are huge. A table for eight people but a sofa for only three? That just doesn’t make sense to me.

Maybe it’s because I dealt with morning sickness for a long time and with kids, stomach bugs visit more often than the in-laws – having the bathroom too far from the bed would be a problem for me. I’d rather plan with an escape route in mind. 🙂

9 sqm (97 sq ft) for the living room and almost 32 sqm (344 sq ft) for the dining area...? Especially during longer dinner parties, everyone ends up on the sofas sooner or later. As a family, we also live in the living room, not at the dining table.

The site plan lacks information about streets and other buildings. Therefore, I cannot visualize how the house and the garage will be accessed.

Myrna_Loy schrieb:

9 m² (97 sq ft) for the living room and almost 32 m² (344 sq ft) for the dining area,...? Especially during longer dinner parties, everyone ends up on the sofas sooner or later. As a family, we also live in the living room, not just around the dining table.

That’s true, the living room is indeed quite small in comparison. I think the open floor plan means you’re not limited to the furniture arrangement shown. The sofa could also be moved closer to the dining table.

Myrna_Loy schrieb:

I never understand why living rooms are planned so tiny while dining areas are huge. A table for eight people but a sofa for a maximum of three? That doesn’t make sense to me.
Maybe it’s because I struggled with morning sickness for a long time, and with kids, gastro bugs visit more often than the in-laws—the toilet would be far too far from the bed for my liking. I prefer to plan an escape route style. 🙂

Very good point about the distance. We will need to rethink that.

Myrna_Loy schrieb:

The site plan lacks information about roads and other developments. So unfortunately, I can’t visualize how the house and garage will be accessed.

Important information I forgot: this is a new development area. It is currently being developed. I have updated the site plan according to the draft plan for the development.

Garage facing the street. Is it allowed to build the garage or carport on the property boundary with the neighbor? Is there a required setback from the street?

The idea of stacking the two bathrooms is commendable, but from a design perspective, the execution doesn't make much sense. It can be done better, at least more advantageously for the living room.

With your square meters, you are quite generous. The budget won’t be enough for that.

It can be done smaller and much better. Then it could also fit within the budget. Are you planning for 2 children?