ᐅ Floor plan for a 200 m² hillside house with a granny flat / secondary unit

Created on: 25 Jan 2022 11:00
M
moooooo32
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot Size: 388sqm (4179 sqft)
Slope: Yes, facing northwest
Site Coverage Ratio, Floor Area Ratio: The architect has not provided details yet; we are building according to Paragraph 34
Building Envelope, Building Line and Boundary: Maximum house width 8.80m (29 ft), former house length of existing building 14m (46 ft)
Number of Parking Spaces:
Number of Floors:

Roof Style: Gable roof
Orientation: According to the slope, ridge also facing northwest

Client Requirements
Architectural Style, Roof Type, Building Type: Gable roof
Basement, Number of Floors: 2 levels,[/I]5 plus attic space
Number of Occupants, Ages: 5 persons (family members aged 32, 32, 5, and 2) plus 1 person (85) in an apartment unit
Space Requirements on Ground Floor, Upper Floor: Apartment approximately 50sqm (538 sqft), remainder about 150sqm (1615 sqft)
Office Use: Family use or home office? Office, since the occupants are teachers
Guest Stay Frequency per Year: Varies, but frequently family and friends from across Germany
Open Kitchen, Cooking Island: Open, preferably with a cooking island but not essential
Number of Dining Seats: 6-8
Fireplace: Not planned initially, possibly reconsidered due to KFW funding changes
Balcony, Roof Terrace: Potentially a small “roof terrace” above the apartment terrace would be nice, but not planned due to budget (great view)
Garage, Carport: There is an existing garage (built 1995) in an inconvenient location, which will remain for now
Additional Wishes / Special Features / Daily Routine, including reasons for decisions
The plot is heavily built up, so we have tried to identify spots with good views, which involved a lot of planning on my part. Good views are towards northeast and west

House Design
Who designed the plans:
Architect and do-it-yourself: Mainly my own design; the architect made changes, some of which we did not like (e.g., U-shaped staircase, arrangement of rooms difficult), so currently it is essentially a drawing based on my drafts with useful improvements from the architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Staircase, integration of WC on the upper floor, loft door to the open space as a connection to the “stairwell.”
Entrance to the utility room to be placed under the stairs on the ground floor, shifting the wall of the apartment unit accordingly.
Children’s rooms are the same size, space-saving staircase to the attic (amazing view from there), use of attic as playroom and possibly guest accommodation.
Living room ceiling height increased to 2.70m (8 ft 10 in) planned on the upper floor.

What do you dislike? Why?
Entrance to the utility room still needs to be placed under the stairs on the ground floor, requiring adjustment to the apartment’s wall.
Windows generally need revision; in the living room facing west, possibly an “imitation corner window” (with support pillar) to maximize the view.
The kitchen window facing northeast should definitely be a seating window.
Price Estimate According to Architect/Planner:
Including groundwork, €540,000 (approximately $600,000), but originally planned with KFW 55 energy standard, which we missed submitting on time. Now we need to reconsider, as we actually wanted KFW 40 standard for the two residential units. 😡
Personal Price Limit for the House, Including Fixtures:
€540,000 would be ideal; preliminary estimates from contractors roughly match this.
Preferred Heating Technology: Planned heat pump with underfloor heating

If you have to give up on which details / expansions
-could you give up:[/I]
Attic later, glass door/loft door to living room later, no planned lift-and-slide doors or other fancy features
-cannot give up:
Wooden flooring, sufficient windows, wheelchair accessibility on the ground floor

Why is the design the way it is now?
Long iteration process on my part, partly inspired by Pinterest, but overall the external envelope is quite predetermined

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is there anything that doesn’t work? Have we missed anything? How about the window layout (still to be revised)? Does it make sense as the architect suggested? We even want to remove some windows (e.g., in the bedroom).

Ground floor plan with living, dining, and kitchen areas, bedroom and bathroom


Upper floor plan: kitchen, dining, living, work area, WC, corridor, terrace.


Attic floor plan: corridor, bathroom, bedroom, two children’s rooms, staircase.
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moooooo32
25 Jan 2022 12:10
haydee schrieb:

Is the structural engineering already included and priced?

Depending on how the rear wall needs to be constructed, as well as possibly the ceiling between the basement and ground floor and the slab, your additional construction costs budget might be almost used up.
I’ll check the offer again; the rear wall is priced as a waterproof concrete wall, as far as I know.
However, a detailed structural engineering report is almost certainly not available. We are still waiting for the soil investigation report, which was supposed to arrive last week. The slab is included in the offer.
Regarding the ceiling, it states: it will be installed as a concrete ceiling according to structural calculations. There is no mention of additional costs there (although there are some mentioned elsewhere).
Ibdk1425 Jan 2022 12:13
What doesn’t appeal to me at first glance is the distance from the bedroom to the bathroom for the 85-year-old. Seeing how often my parents get up at night!
The shower located in the stairwell area is also a bit unusual. How does the drainage work there?
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moooooo32
25 Jan 2022 12:17
Ibdk14 schrieb:

What I don’t like at first glance is the distance from the bedroom to the bathroom for the 85-year-old. Just thinking about how often my parents get up at night!
The shower in the stairwell area is also a bit unusual. How does the drainage work there?

Yes, I understand, it’s the same with my grandma, but I don’t have a creative idea on how to solve it. I’ll bring it up again though. They intentionally stacked the bathrooms on top of each other in the planning.
No idea about the drainage, I just thought it was cool that the hallway isn’t wasted space. There is another version where the door and hallway are where the shower is now, and the shower is in a niche along the bedroom wall. Then the hallway would be brighter too.
The shower would be smaller, but I don’t mind that.

Floor plan of an upper floor with two children’s rooms, hallway, bathroom, dressing room, and bedroom.
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Myrna_Loy
25 Jan 2022 12:40
moooooo32 schrieb:

Yes, I understand, it’s the same with my grandmother, but I don’t have a creative idea on how to solve it. I will bring it up again. They had planned the bathrooms directly above each other.
Drainage, no idea. I liked that the hallway is not wasted space. There’s another option where the door and hallway are where the shower is now, and the shower would be in an alcove against the bedroom wall. Would the hallway also be brighter then?
The shower would be smaller, but I don’t mind that.

What about swapping the sofa corner and the sleeping area?
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haydee
25 Jan 2022 13:03
Check the reinforcement and concrete thickness in the wall and floor.
In our case, the structural engineer specified so much reinforcement that the contractor became somewhat upset — and this was for soil class 5/6.
Additionally, the ceiling was reinforced again. It was a large five-figure amount.
Then, have a look at everything declared as provided by the client and also consider missing costs such as temporary construction power.
The contractor’s price sounds reasonable for current times.

Secondary apartment
If the doors are 1 meter (3.3 feet) wide, it should work quite well. Arrange the bedroom (bed position) as it will actually be later. I would move the door so that from the bed you can reach the bathroom without bumping into the kitchen.
Reinforce the pre-wall installation at the toilet so that a grab bar can be installed.
I would plan a direct passage between your apartment and grandma’s. She will need help more often, and a direct route in slippers is better. It can be locked later if needed.

If the dining table in your area is 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) long, the space may become a bit narrow for the seating place along the wall next to the hallway.
PhiIipp25 Jan 2022 13:28
At first glance, I don’t think the floor plan is bad. I can quite well imagine living with it.
However, a few things bother me.

The situation at the staircase on the upper floor. In most cases, when coming up from the basement, you first enter the living area. Here, you have to squeeze past the glass wall through the door.
That whole area ends up being difficult to use. For example, space for sideboards, cabinets, pictures... In the entire living area, I would miss usable wall space.

The exterior door to the utility room. Why is there access from the outside? With a bit of clever planning, it might be possible to reach it from corridor 1. Interior doors are much cheaper than exterior doors.

Like the previous commenters, I don’t like the narrow layout in the basement. It’s not a pleasant living space. The living room becomes a thoroughfare, and when I come out of the shower, I have to pass through the “dirty” entrance area.
The original floor plan has potential for better arrangements.