ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of 230-235 m² on Two Full Stories

By now, we have put quite a lot of thought into a practical, well-usable, and hopefully attractive floor plan, and we would like to reach a final decision fairly soon. We look forward to your feedback and thank you in advance for any tips or suggestions. 🙂

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 2,600 m² (approximately 0.64 acres), completely flat
Site coverage ratio / floor area ratio: 0.4 / 0.8
Number of floors: two full stories
Roof type: hip roof or pyramid roof with 22-25° pitch
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: the floor plans are always aligned with north at the top; the street side is on the east
Maximum heights / limits: the eave height is somewhat tight at 6 meters (approximately 20 feet), otherwise there is plenty of space. Building envelope and setbacks are sufficiently large, so we do not need to apply for any exceptions from the development plan.

Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: “urban villa,” hip or pyramid roof with 22-25°
No basement, two full stories
Two adults, three children currently under 3 years old
Room needs on ground floor and upper floor: three children’s bedrooms with a children’s shower bathroom, guest room and office as two separate rooms
Ground floor with rather open architecture
A gas fireplace is an option, but we are likely to forgo it due to the effort of connecting gas and chimney costs
Both garage and carport planned (approx. 6x9 m (20x30 feet) garage and carport about 4x7 m (13x23 feet) located between the house and garage)

House Design
Planning origin: self-designed based on a discussed external dimension of about 12x12 meters (approximately 39x39 feet)
What do you particularly like and why? The house is relatively large and accommodates all room concepts (3 children’s bedrooms with children’s shower bathroom, separate guest room and office, etc.). We like the orientation by cardinal directions (living room southwest, children’s rooms south or southwest, master and guest bedrooms west facing the garden, bathrooms to the east, and front door facing north).
What do you dislike and why? The design focuses primarily on usability rather than aesthetics. For example, representative hallways with little practical use were avoided. However, it is difficult for us to achieve symmetrical and visually pleasing window alignment between the ground and upper floors. This is visible, for example, in the window of the children’s shower bathroom and the utility room below it.
Preferred heating technology: ground source heat pump, but for cost reasons, it will probably be an air-to-water heat pump.

If you have to give up, which features or additions could you do without
- What can you give up: KfW40+ with large photovoltaic system (instead opting for KfW55 with medium photovoltaic system), brick cladding, underfloor cooling, en-suite guest bathroom, showers could possibly be smaller if costs get too high
- What you cannot do without: children’s shower bathroom, (preferably) controlled ventilation system (mechanical supply and exhaust)

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Are we overlooking anything in this floor plan that would annoy us daily later because it is poorly or very impractically planned? Can we find a visual trick to achieve exterior symmetry?

Many thanks!