ᐅ Feedback on Single-Family Home Floor Plan, 222 sqm Requested

Hello everyone,

After you helped us so much with planning our bathroom, we would now appreciate your feedback on the overall floor plan of our house. We have to mention that with this version (except for the layout of the bathroom on the upper floor and the corner windows in the office and the bedroom above, which will each be replaced by two regular windows), we have almost reached the final version. This means a complete redesign is no longer possible and also not something we want.

Building Regulations / Restrictions
Plot size: 5 ares
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: ?
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: Building envelope has already been exceeded and approved. Building boundaries were fully used except for the boundary to the neighbor in the southwest (max 3 meters (10 feet)).
Edge development: Garage on the boundary
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: hipped roof
Style: urban villa
Orientation: living rooms facing south, front door in the northeast
Maximum heights / limits
Other requirements: /

Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof type, building type
Basement, floors: classic-modern, preferably simple/symmetrical roof shape, urban villa, 2 full stories, no basement
Number of occupants, age: 3 persons (adults in mid-30s, 1-year-old child)
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor: see plan
Office: home office
Guests per year (estimated): about 10
Open or closed architecture: partly open, partly closed
Conservative or modern construction: rather modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes, U-shaped kitchen
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony
Garage, carport: garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be: /

House Design
Who created the plan:
- Planner from a construction company

What do you particularly like? Why?
The floor plan is very practical (for example, the pantry is close to the kitchen and garage, utility room on the upper floor where most laundry accumulates), our corner windows in the "garage gap," which provide a great view over the fields, our light-filled dining area overlooking the garden, the parents’ area because we find the bathroom-dressing-bedroom layout very nice and practical, location of the coat closet: hidden but easily accessible from both the front door and the garage

What do you dislike? Why?
The roof shape, which unfortunately cannot be designed differently. Due to the “garage gap” (our basement replacement that was added later, making optimal use of the building envelope and taking up little garden space), the roof is not symmetrical but somewhat "bumpy."

Cost estimate according to architect/planner: still in progress
Personal cost limit for the house, including fixtures: should be within budget
Preferred heating technology: air/water heat pump + fireplace in the living room

If you had to do without certain details or expansions
- Can you do without: possibly the fireplace
- Cannot do without: garage gap, office, garage, 3 children’s rooms, photovoltaic panels on the roof

Why is the design the way it is now? Many of our own considerations, discussions with others, gathering inspiration from the internet and prefab house centers, personal living experience, restrictions due to the shape of the plot and soil conditions
Is this a standard design from the planner? No
Which requests were implemented by the architect? Basically all (except for the complicated roof shape)
What do you consider particularly good or bad? See above.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What do you like about our floor plan? Do you see any potential problems or disadvantages we have not considered? Do you have ideas for a different roof design with minimal changes to the floor plan?

I am lost for words looking at the designs and the statement

*Sterntaler* schrieb:

that they have almost reached the final version. This means a complete redesign is no longer possible / and we wouldn’t want that either.

leaves me speechless.

Sorry, but this really needs to be said: huge utility room on the ground floor with no real purpose, double hallway, kitchen is rather small, narrow dining area, oversized living room, staircase located where you definitely wouldn’t want it anymore, no proper bedroom... I’m not trying to be harsh, but this is a floor plan that feels like it’s from the 1960s, without any modern living comfort.

ypg schrieb:

I’m at a loss for words regarding the designs and the statement

I’m speechless.

Sorry, but this needs to be said: huge useless storage room on the ground floor, double hallway, kitchen quite small, narrow dining area, oversized living room, staircase located where no one would want it, no proper bedroom... I’m not trying to be harsh, but this floor plan feels like it’s from the 1960s without any modern living comfort.

Here are a few questions regarding your comment:
Did you carefully read my questions and respond to them?
Do you think your comment is actually helpful?
Are the (one-sided) negative remarks all justified and understandable?
Do you really think that just because a room’s function isn’t immediately obvious, we are planning a space without any function? (By the way, the function becomes clear if you read the answers requested in the introduction text.)
Do you believe that a highly experienced architect from a local construction company, which has built an excellent reputation over 20 years, would design and approve a floor plan that, according to your statements, is a total failure?

*Sterntaler* schrieb:

Do you think a very experienced architect from a local construction company, with over 20 years of an excellent reputation, would design and approve a floor plan that, according to your statements, is a complete failure?

At least I would confidently answer that question with "yes." Just as there is bad literature, bad music, poorly designed city centers, and cars that still have fans, the same applies to house construction. You can see that here; otherwise, you would already be quite satisfied, and the architect wouldn’t have released this design as anything less than semi-finished.

You requested feedback and received it from me. Others are free to share their opinions as well, which often happens quickly when small, obvious changes can be made that immediately stand out as "minor mistakes."

I could go into much more detail and provide reasons. However, since I honestly don’t know where to start, I have summarized many points. Others are welcome to do the same, because criticism from only one person, myself in this case, is often not seen as credible that this is actually the situation.

And yes: there are architects who either cannot assert themselves against the wishes of clients, they design what is possible but would not want to live in themselves, and there are architects who take employment because they are not good enough to work freelance.

In this case, it may be that the architect has been working for a construction company for a while and has lost any independent momentum, as the company wants to keep planning and the construction project simple and cost-effective. That’s how it is, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

If you want to cover half the plot with usable floor area and walk through a basement substitute room daily—that is, a storage room with an adjacent pantry—facing the best and most suitable garden side, then do so. And I think I speak for many when I say this is not usually what people want for their own home, especially when they spend a lot of money on it.

The hallway is also divided; there are two parallel corridors leading to the storage room path… meanwhile, the kitchen is tiny and doesn’t even offer enough tall cabinet space. The “open walk-through pantry” doesn’t provide storage space for freshly baked goods either. So, the storage room will have to serve that purpose. More likely, the pantry will be used as a cloakroom, since there is no space planned for a wardrobe in the hallway itself.

The idea of a utility room (household utility room) upstairs probably stems from this, and here I see that the concept may have become somewhat tangled. See also the utility equipment upstairs: are contractors meant to constantly pass through your private area? -> Bedroom: at 3.69 meters (12 feet) minus plaster and door frame, there are 2.9 meters (9.5 feet) left for bed and bedside tables… I wouldn’t want to sleep next to a door either. With a mattress length of 2 meters (6.5 feet), the bed is about 2.2 meters (7.2 feet) long, leaving a 70cm (28 inches) walkway beside the bed.

Yesterday it was only the bathroom that could have been straightened out, since the space was still quite generous. But when you see everything as a whole, I would simply say: start over with a new approach, make the room facing the garden a living space, plan a proper kitchen, create a spacious hallway, and provide the bay window with a width that actually gives space—not just a place for a dining table or double bed.

Everything that you like, in my eyes, has not succeeded. The roof is the least of the problems—you barely notice it.

*Sterntaler* schrieb:

Are the (one-sided) negative comments all justified and understandable?

I don’t know if this would be ypg’s reasoning, but it’s definitely understandable to me:

ypg schrieb:

Kitchen quite small, narrow dining area, oversized living area, staircase placed where you wouldn’t want it anymore, bedroom is not really one

Kitchen: The square U-shape is very inefficient, there are almost more corners than cabinets/counter space.
Dining area: The doors in the glass walls almost hit the chairs in the drawing.
Staircase: Does the staircase have to be right next to the front door for a house this size? It tends to get dirtier there (especially with kids), and every time you use the stairs you track dirt into the house or upstairs. Also, the space taken up by the staircase and hallway on the ground floor is actually huge.
Bedroom: Practically no space around the bed, more like a sleeping cubicle. Also unnecessary given the size of the house...