Hello, we are currently planning the construction of our future home. We have a fairly clear idea of how the house should look and have already presented our plans to four construction companies. They all basically accepted our ideas without much criticism, gave a few minor suggestions here and there, and provided initial cost estimates. Since the companies all took our ideas quite quietly, we assume we are on the right track 🙂
We would like to hear your opinions on the floor plan before we hand over the fine-tuned plans to the construction companies for detailed pricing.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 1,150 sqm (12,379 sq ft) - Parcels 19 + 19a - (plot contractually reserved, buildability likely from Jan 22)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: at least 3 m (10 ft) must be left free for landscaping along the street
Edge development: I found nothing further about edge development in the development plan, so I assume 3 meters (10 ft)
Number of parking spaces: parking spaces must be created for our own cars
Number of storeys: max 2 full storeys
Roof style
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum height/limitations: max ridge height 9.5 m (31 ft)
Further regulations: garages must be at least 3 m (10 ft) away from public traffic areas
Requirements from the Homeowners
Architectural style, roof style, building type: urban villa with flat gable roof (KfW55 standard)
Basement, storeys: no basement, 2 storeys
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults, 1 child (29, 29, 2 years), another child planned
Space requirements on ground and upper floors:
Ground floor: guest room/office + shower bathroom
Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms, master bedroom, dressing room, children’s bathroom, master bathroom
Office: family use or home office? Home office possibility + overnight guests
Guest stays per year: at least 10 times a year for 2 guests, possibly more
Open or closed architecture
Conservative or modern design: rather modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: we plan a carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: some use planned
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons for choices: We definitely wanted a storage room, which one company then added upstairs. The last company we spoke with suggested this: concrete stairs with a separate storage room under the stairs behind a door (unfortunately not included in the floor plan as my "Sweet Home 3D" skills ended there). The stairwell would then face the entrance door rather than the living room. We like this idea but wonder if we could give up the second storage room upstairs in favor of more space for the children’s rooms.
House Design
Who designed the plan: mainly our ideas, digitalized by the construction company
What do you like? Why?:
1. The living room-kitchen area was taken 1:1 from a model home where we liked the feeling of space very much.
2. Bedroom and master bathroom are accessed via the dressing room.
3. The master bathroom is also taken almost exactly from a model home.
What do you not like? Why?: We wonder if the hallway is sufficient. It will definitely not be spacious, just functional, but is there enough space?
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings:
Preferred heating technology: heat pump, possibly photovoltaic with battery storage (consultation still needed)
If you had to give up details or expansions
- what could you give up: a storage room?
- what couldn’t you give up:
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
A mix of house catalogs, model home visits, and ideas from the construction companies
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Due to my limited "Sweet Home 3D" skills, the ground floor plan looks a bit odd. I superimposed an earlier floor plan as a reference under the new one. Please only pay attention to the stronger outlines for the sofa and dining table. Sorry about that, but it’s the best I could do.
Let me know if we forgot any relevant information. Sorry in advance if my responses are not immediate; I will try to reply as soon as possible.
So, we look forward to your feedback.
We would like to hear your opinions on the floor plan before we hand over the fine-tuned plans to the construction companies for detailed pricing.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 1,150 sqm (12,379 sq ft) - Parcels 19 + 19a - (plot contractually reserved, buildability likely from Jan 22)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: at least 3 m (10 ft) must be left free for landscaping along the street
Edge development: I found nothing further about edge development in the development plan, so I assume 3 meters (10 ft)
Number of parking spaces: parking spaces must be created for our own cars
Number of storeys: max 2 full storeys
Roof style
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum height/limitations: max ridge height 9.5 m (31 ft)
Further regulations: garages must be at least 3 m (10 ft) away from public traffic areas
Requirements from the Homeowners
Architectural style, roof style, building type: urban villa with flat gable roof (KfW55 standard)
Basement, storeys: no basement, 2 storeys
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults, 1 child (29, 29, 2 years), another child planned
Space requirements on ground and upper floors:
Ground floor: guest room/office + shower bathroom
Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms, master bedroom, dressing room, children’s bathroom, master bathroom
Office: family use or home office? Home office possibility + overnight guests
Guest stays per year: at least 10 times a year for 2 guests, possibly more
Open or closed architecture
Conservative or modern design: rather modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: we plan a carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: some use planned
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons for choices: We definitely wanted a storage room, which one company then added upstairs. The last company we spoke with suggested this: concrete stairs with a separate storage room under the stairs behind a door (unfortunately not included in the floor plan as my "Sweet Home 3D" skills ended there). The stairwell would then face the entrance door rather than the living room. We like this idea but wonder if we could give up the second storage room upstairs in favor of more space for the children’s rooms.
House Design
Who designed the plan: mainly our ideas, digitalized by the construction company
What do you like? Why?:
1. The living room-kitchen area was taken 1:1 from a model home where we liked the feeling of space very much.
2. Bedroom and master bathroom are accessed via the dressing room.
3. The master bathroom is also taken almost exactly from a model home.
What do you not like? Why?: We wonder if the hallway is sufficient. It will definitely not be spacious, just functional, but is there enough space?
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings:
Preferred heating technology: heat pump, possibly photovoltaic with battery storage (consultation still needed)
If you had to give up details or expansions
- what could you give up: a storage room?
- what couldn’t you give up:
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
A mix of house catalogs, model home visits, and ideas from the construction companies
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
- Positioning/orientation on the plot: we are still unsure about what looks good or unusual and how the room orientation toward cardinal directions makes sense. We also have photovoltaic with a corresponding south-facing roof in mind. (I attached 2 orientation ideas)
- Does an additional window near the couch in the living room make sense?
- Can the stairwell/gallery window be smaller, will the light be sufficient?
- What are your general thoughts on the floor plan?
Due to my limited "Sweet Home 3D" skills, the ground floor plan looks a bit odd. I superimposed an earlier floor plan as a reference under the new one. Please only pay attention to the stronger outlines for the sofa and dining table. Sorry about that, but it’s the best I could do.
Let me know if we forgot any relevant information. Sorry in advance if my responses are not immediate; I will try to reply as soon as possible.
So, we look forward to your feedback.
P
pagoni202013 Sep 2021 11:28RiQu2020 schrieb:
The house still needs a proper roof, but the software can’t do that. In my opinion, the problem starts with relying mostly on software that offers fancy visualization features. It can be helpful and interesting, but in the end, I often miss pencil sketches on graph paper with an eraser or correction fluid.
What I also don’t quite understand is that nowadays you can find countless floor plans online, and most are designed for the typical family size, similar age groups, and comparable budgets. So why don’t you find a floor plan that generally fits your plot? Such a plan can always be fine-tuned in detail later.
Yes, the exterior view and façade — I would completely leave these out at first, even though it’s tempting with software tools. First and foremost, it’s all about YOUR INDIVIDUAL floor plan, which should not be limited by external appearances! Right now, it seems like you’ve seen various things and want to throw them all together into one “house.” I say this without disrespect, because the same happened to me when building my first house!
If you enter exact wall thicknesses, facing walls, pipe routes, and actual furniture dimensions, many questions will resolve themselves or reveal potential bottlenecks. By the way, I would place the windows exactly where you need them, thinking from the inside out. A nice exterior view or façade can then be designed in many different ways afterward.
Currently, the living room windows are right next to each other, and the bar is positioned with the back to the guest drinking cocktails. The upper floor including the staircase looks like a Tetris puzzle rather than a planned layout. Unfortunately, these software tools often give the impression that they can replace the work of a professional designer — but they cannot.
These things may seem easy nowadays, but they really are not, because a good floor plan depends on countless parameters such as location, sunlight, elevation, individual use, future planning, costs, taste, and personal preferences...
I also recommend completely letting go of the current plan (and the computer) for a while...
pagoni2020 schrieb:
What I also don’t quite understand is that nowadays you can find trillions of floor plans online, most of which are designed for the needs of the "typical" family size, of similar age and with a similar budget.
So why don’t you just choose a floor plan that more or less fits your plot of land. [...]
If you enter exact wall thicknesses, facing walls, pipe routes, original furniture dimensions, many concerns resolve themselves or highlight bottlenecks. I agree with your post except for the exact wall thicknesses: no, you don’t need those!
Exterior walls can generally be assumed to be 40 cm (16 inches) thick, and interior walls 20 cm (8 inches). Where interior walls are non-load-bearing, the structural engineer will advise you, and you gain a few centimeters (inches) of usable space. You won’t gain individual centimeters (inches) during construction anyway: a design that only “fits” under the condition of exact centimeter (inch) precision simply does not fit.
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P
pagoni202013 Sep 2021 14:0811ant schrieb:
I agree with your post except for the exact wall thicknesses: no, those are not necessary!
Exterior walls can generally be around 40 cm (16 inches) thick, and interior walls around 20 cm (8 inches) as well. Where they are not load-bearing, the structural engineer will advise, and you can gain a few centimeters (inches) of room width. In construction, you don’t work with single centimeters (inches) anyway: a design that would only "fit" if executed with exact centimeter (inch) precision simply does not fit. Clear.
What I wanted to express, though not exhaustively listed, is that considerable attention should be paid to dimensional details inside the building. I often see attractive images and visualizations but unfortunately miss important dimensional specifications.
It’s evident that today’s homeowner focuses more on the computer and its appealing features but tends to neglect the, in my opinion, important yet possibly tedious "manual work".
pagoni2020 schrieb:
In my opinion, an important but possibly tedious “manual work” is being overlooked. I would rather call it thoughtful work combined with planning expertise. It always surprises me that someone inexperienced can change the entire design within half an hour and think, “now I've got it.”
I haven’t changed the design within an hour but have been trying out new ideas almost daily for the past two weeks. I never start from scratch but always use existing floor plans from catalogs or homebuilders’ websites as a template or base.
However, we definitely want a bathroom for the children and also want the master bathroom and bedroom to be accessible through the walk-in closet. (Assuming the "naked mom scenario" mentioned by Motorradsilke won’t happen 😉 )
The walk-in closet described by K1300S sounds good, but wouldn’t it be quite narrow? Early on in this thread, a narrow walk-in closet was discouraged.
I have no problem trying out floor plans on paper. But if I had tested all the layouts from the last two weeks on paper instead of on the computer, it would probably have taken me about eight weeks...
Oh, and I realized very early on that a (practical) floor plan is not something I, as an amateur, can just create easily. That’s why I’m trying to get feedback here.
However, we definitely want a bathroom for the children and also want the master bathroom and bedroom to be accessible through the walk-in closet. (Assuming the "naked mom scenario" mentioned by Motorradsilke won’t happen 😉 )
The walk-in closet described by K1300S sounds good, but wouldn’t it be quite narrow? Early on in this thread, a narrow walk-in closet was discouraged.
I have no problem trying out floor plans on paper. But if I had tested all the layouts from the last two weeks on paper instead of on the computer, it would probably have taken me about eight weeks...
Oh, and I realized very early on that a (practical) floor plan is not something I, as an amateur, can just create easily. That’s why I’m trying to get feedback here.
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