ᐅ Floor plan single-family house, 2 full stories, approximately 180 m² living area – 760 m² plot size

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 760m² (8,180 sq ft)
Slope - No
Site coverage ratio -
Floor area ratio -
Building window, building line, and boundary -
Edge development - surrounding mostly 2 to 2.5 full stories; gable roofs
Number of parking spaces - 2 spaces in front of garage + possibly additional parking in front of the house
Number of stories - 2 full stories
Roof type - double shed roof / staggered shed roof
Architectural style -
Orientation
Maximum heights / limits - unknown
Further requirements - NO development plan -> §34 Federal Building Code

Owners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type -
Basement, stories: basement yes, 2 full stories
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults + 2 children planned
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor -
Office: home office; possibly as bedroom in old age
Annual guest sleepers: <5
Open or closed architecture: preferably open on ground floor/living area, closed areas upstairs
Conservative or modern construction - currently planned as solid timber construction (is this what is meant by construction method)
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both yes
Number of dining seats: 8+
Fireplace: no / not planned
Music/stereo wall: just a media wall 🙂
Balcony, roof terrace: no, only a terrace on the ground floor
Garage, carport: double garage

Current plan should allow for a separate living unit upstairs (granny flat / separate apartment) and living on the ground floor in old age.

House Design
Planning by:
-planner from a construction company based on our ideas

Price estimate according to architect/planner: not yet known
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings:
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump

What do you especially like? Why?
We really like the setback in the house design visually, but we are quite unsure whether this might make the kitchen/dining area too cramped and small. We tend to “expand” it again to simply have a rectangular house with a bit more space.

Why is the design the way it is now?
Draft by the house planner based on our sketches/ideas

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

Does the plan function as we imagine? We worry the kitchen/dining/living area feels cramped. We want an open/spacious living area with bright rooms.

Some opinions / assessments of the plan would be appreciated 🙂

PS: The latest attached plans lack a north arrow, so I’ve also included an earlier version with a north arrow.

Welcome!

Humpfrey schrieb:

We want an open and spacious living area with bright rooms.

Hmm, the dining area already feels too small on the plan, and the access to the living room through the "foyer"/kitchen/dining area is not ideal.
(I didn’t look at the rest in detail for that reason…)
Addition: The upper floor looks quite okay at first glance. 😉

Humpfrey schrieb:

Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings:

Could you please provide that? After all, you’re building with a basement... the budget can quickly become tight. Then something will have to be cut.

Humpfrey schrieb:

We want an open/spacious living area with bright rooms.

I assume you will get that feeling through the large window surfaces. Still, the dining/kitchen area is not really spacious, but it’s sufficient.

Overall, the floor plan will work well. The hallway situation is a bit unfortunate with so many corners. Hardly any space for furniture (upper floor). But it could be worse. Also, the direct sightline from the dining area to the guest toilet is not ideal, but the distance is sufficient.
Will the shower on the upper floor have a door? Otherwise, the toilet will get too wet.

However…

Humpfrey schrieb:

Office: Home office; possibly a bedroom in old age

...the office is not suitable as a bedroom in old age. It’s practically not furnished with wardrobes, or it becomes very cramped… at best, only for one person.

Humpfrey schrieb:

The plan is currently intended to allow a separate residential unit on the upper floor (granny flat / separate apartment) as well as living on the ground floor in old age.

...also, the shower toilet is very small, therefore not suitable for aging in place. I would accept this bathroom size in a student apartment, but not otherwise.
In contrast, the upper floor apartment has a comparatively oversized bathroom for a single or couple’s unit (?), which doesn’t seem very appealing without an exit.
Apparently, you like placing storage rooms right in the heart of the layouts, so somewhere there will always be a zigzag through corridors and corners, leading to unnecessary circulation areas. The floor space competes with the desired spaciousness.

I would reconsider without later apartment separation, move more toward a rectangular layout, and avoid placing storage rooms in the “energy flow zone.”

YPG has already covered everything.

Who are you building with?

If children are only being planned, you are probably still young? So why plan for old age already, which will mostly involve compromises? For example, plumbing lines would need to be installed upstairs, and it would be a gamble on the future that one of the children will move into the upper floor. In such situations, I usually see fewer unrelated people living in the upstairs apartment.

First of all, thank you very much for your feedback!

ypg schrieb:

Could you please add more details?

Our budget planning is set below 600,000 (approximately 600k).

driver55 schrieb:

Hmm, the dining area already looks too small on the plan.

As mentioned in the original post, we are also leaning towards removing the recess in the house to better separate the kitchen and dining areas.

ypg schrieb:

Will the shower upstairs have a shower door?

Definitely yes 🙂

ypg schrieb:

… the office won’t work as a bedroom in old age. It’s practically not possible to furnish it with wardrobes, or it will just be very cramped… at best, it would work for a single person.
… also, the shower toilet is very small, so it is not age-appropriate. I would accept this size for a main bathroom in a student apartment, but not otherwise.

Okay, thanks a lot for these two points, they definitely make sense. We’ll have to rethink those areas.

ypg schrieb:

Apparently, you all like placing storage rooms right in the heart of the layouts, which means you’ll always have to navigate awkwardly around corners and hallways, creating unnecessary circulation space.

From our perspective, the "storage rooms" resulted from the need to separate living units and provide a lockable staircase, making better use of the large circulation spaces created by this design.

On the ground floor, we also intentionally planned the living area "around the corner," rather than aligned in one row with the kitchen and dining area, as in the houses we have visited so far, this often gave the feeling of being in a long corridor.

Ysop*** schrieb:

Why plan for old age now, with what will mostly be a compromise?

We would like to plan ahead or together with the needs of old age, as we are currently not inclined to build multiple houses over time 🙂

haydee schrieb:

Who are you building with?

The current planning was done with a regional family-run company from the western Augsburg area; however, it is not yet finalized whether we will actually build with this company.

Thanks again for your constructive criticism and suggestions!