ᐅ Feedback on Single-Family Home Floor Plan, 222 sqm Requested
Created on: 6 Jun 2021 22:25
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*Sterntaler*
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?
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?
Since modifying the layout—or playing a kind of Tetris—turns out to be quite a challenge, it’s necessary to ask where the price limit is. After all, it makes a difference whether that results in 10 sqm (108 sq ft) more or less floor area. Unfortunately, there is no zoning plan (building plan / development plan) to refer to.
One user already pointed out that so many extras were added to the house—Pinterest ideas and model home inspirations—that this is what made it so overloaded. Maybe it’s worth reconsidering what is really necessary? Many things are just “nice to have,” but sometimes you have to accept certain compromises to make the house actually work.
One user already pointed out that so many extras were added to the house—Pinterest ideas and model home inspirations—that this is what made it so overloaded. Maybe it’s worth reconsidering what is really necessary? Many things are just “nice to have,” but sometimes you have to accept certain compromises to make the house actually work.
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*Sterntaler*7 Jun 2021 20:06ypg schrieb:
Since the "modifying" or playing Tetris turned out to be a bit of a challenge, we really need to ask where the price limit is. There is a difference whether that results in 10 sqm (100 sq ft) more or less living space. Unfortunately, the building permit / planning permission is missing as well, which would serve as a guideline.
One user already pointed out: so many Pinterest ideas and model home concepts were packed into the house that it ended up the way it is. Overloaded.
Maybe it’s time to reconsider what is really necessary? Much of it is just a "nice-to-have," but sometimes you have to make compromises for the house to function properly. Let’s leave the price aside for now. Unless you are planning a mansion, I don’t think your proposed changes will increase the costs to a worrying extent 😉
I don’t have the building permit / planning permission on hand at the moment. As I already mentioned, the building boundaries to the northwest (where the office and living room are) and northeast (the main entrance side) are fully utilized. Only a few centimeters (inches) on the northeast side could still be built on. This is visible on the attached plan. Toward the southwest, we could probably extend the dining room by about one meter (3 feet).
I’m not sure what you mean by "Pinterest ideas," but we don’t see our house as overloaded. Only the storage room on the upper floor we consider a bit of a luxury.
My hand sketch has been erased 🙂
Here’s a quick version... but I wouldn’t be satisfied with it myself, and I’m only sharing it because I probably won’t have time for more right now. The staircase wouldn’t have worked.
The upper floor would have a window above the entrance door. Rooms 1, 4, and 5 are recessed this way, so they’re smaller than on the ground floor.
Here’s a quick version... but I wouldn’t be satisfied with it myself, and I’m only sharing it because I probably won’t have time for more right now. The staircase wouldn’t have worked.
The upper floor would have a window above the entrance door. Rooms 1, 4, and 5 are recessed this way, so they’re smaller than on the ground floor.
*Sterntaler* schrieb:
Are all the (one-sided) negative comments justified and understandable?Yes, they are all understandable. The house is a disaster, but hey, if it makes you happy (then better not ask here!).*
*Sterntaler*7 Jun 2021 21:07ypg schrieb:
My hand sketch has been erased 🙂
Here is a quick draft... but I wouldn’t be satisfied with it myself and am only sharing it because I probably won’t have time for more right now. The staircase wouldn’t have worked.
The upper floor (first floor) would have a window above the front door. Rooms 1, 4, and 5 are recessed like this, so smaller than the ground floor.
[ATTACH alt="Bildschirmfoto 2021-06-07 um 20.28.36.png"]62239[/ATTACH] Thank you very much for your efforts!! This plan would solve some problems. I also imagine the living and dining area to be very nice.
On the other hand, in my opinion, other problems arise: where would we have storage space for the lawn mower, gardening tools, bicycles, children’s riding toys, strollers, etc.? Building a garden shed for this purpose wouldn’t be practical in my opinion, as it would take away valuable garden space.
*Sterntaler* schrieb:
Where would we have storage space for the lawnmower, gardening tools, bicycles, children’s ride-on toys, stroller, etc.? It’s just a sketch.
I haven’t promised you or anyone a well-thought-out design here, nor have I said that it will work. On the contrary:
ypg schrieb:
Just a quick draft... but I wouldn’t be satisfied with it myself You could theoretically halve the size of both the freezer room and the utility room to gain more storage space in the garage in the form of a small recess, for example.
Apart from that, I’m not a fan of these vestibule rooms because they waste unnecessary space.
In my opinion, these don’t really make sense for this plot/house because a long building creates so much artificial circulation space and unnecessary doors everywhere that interfere and take up room.
Personally, I would connect the garage and house entrance with a covered walkway along the house (for example, an overhang from the upper floor). That would be enough. Then you could have a storage room with an outside door in a space between house and garage.
But actually, the mower and bicycles would be more space-efficient if stored in a shed built on the plot boundary behind the garage.
In my view, a 20-meter (65 feet) long building is a real garden eater on this lot. The entire boundary area is lost for useful purposes, at least in the northwest.
And it’s visible, too.
Another issue is the angled property boundary in the northeast, which means you either lose space there or have to create a “stepped” façade.
It might be smarter to set the northeast boundary as a straight building limit and angle the house accordingly.
Or
Perhaps arrange the driveway from the northwest with a boundary building on the west side to get a more pleasing house design.
But putting any more thought into it right now isn’t worthwhile without a development plan, site plan, and budget! Time is too valuable for pipe dreams.
If you insist on filling half the house with unnecessary space just to meet the floor area ratio, then you should buy a bigger plot.
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