ᐅ Floor Plan Design Single-Family House approximately 170 m² plus Attic as a Modern Brick-Faced Home

Created on: 3 Jan 2022 18:41
V
Varrader
Good evening,

as previously silent readers, we (a young family with 2 children) are now slowly reaching the point where we would like to ask for help, critique, and ideas here.
We plan to build a single-family house in early 2023 and have already been working with an architect on the design for some time (so far commissioned for phases 1–4).

Here is the forum questionnaire filled out to the best of our knowledge:

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 560m² (6027 sq ft), cul-de-sac location; parking spaces on the west side, wide pedestrian path on the east side, followed by a field (likely to become building land in 10–15 years)
Slope: none
Site occupancy index (Grundflächenzahl): 0.4
Floor area ratio (Geschossflächenzahl): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 3m (10 ft) all around
Border grouping: no
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full floors + attic
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style: modern brick construction with a simple building shape, no roof overhangs
Orientation: east-west
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height 6.5m (21 ft 4 in), eaves height 10m (33 ft)
Additional requirements: hedge on the left side limited to 1m (3 ft) height, distance from first parking space to street at least 5m (16 ft)

Rooms:
Ground floor: living/dining area with open kitchen, small workspace “corner,” utility/storage room, guest toilet
First floor: 2 children’s rooms, master bedroom (preferably with a separate closet area, main room oriented to the east side of the house!), master bathroom with shower and bathtub, children’s bathroom with shower, small laundry room for washing machine and drying rack
Attic: third children’s room, storage room, hobby/office room

Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type: single-family house with gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, two full floors, attic to be used as living space
Number of people, age: 2 adults, 2 children (2 & 4 years old, another child planned)
Space needs on ground and first floor
Office: family use or home office? Home office space on the ground floor “close to the main activities,” additional more secluded space in the attic
Guests per year: none expected
Open or closed architecture: open living/dining area
Conservative or modern construction: modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, kitchen island optional
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: no
Music/sound system wall: space for a large TV (about 1.9m (6 ft 3 in) wide expected, no additional equipment like speakers planned)
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for one parking space plus storage for garden tools and equipment inside
Utility garden, greenhouse: decorative garden
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not chosen: Our current house has very small windows (timber-frame house), so we especially want more light in the house and attractive sightlines into the garden

House design
Who created the plan:
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
The arrangement of the south-facing rooms on the ground floor and the small study, which can feel connected to the living area when the door is open.
We also like that the staircase on the ground floor faces the living areas rather than the front door.

What do you dislike? Why?
We want to enjoy as much of our garden as possible, so our basic desire was to build a narrow but long house. In this design, however, the current platform staircase is very large and feels overwhelming in the hallway area.
On the practical side, this staircase also allows direct access to the attic with the same stair flight.

Price estimate according to architect/planner: €500,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €550,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat pump

If you have to give up anything, which details/finishes
- can you do without:
- can you not do without:

Why is the design as it is now? For example:
Which wishes from the architect have been implemented: spatial plan discussed with the architect
A mix of many examples from various magazines...

What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
We are worried about missing a good idea; we sometimes lack the creative input to find solutions that are a bit outside the box.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
The arrangement of the staircase and the spatial feeling when entering the house are our main concerns. The staircase shapes the entire concept upstairs.
I’ve attached an alternative ground floor plan, where we try to reach the upper floor with an L-shaped staircase. However, this requires a second stair flight to access the attic, which also takes up space...

We look forward to your critique and suggestions!

Best regards,
Stefan

View of a two-story brick house with wooden ground floor extension, large windows and garage.


Two-story brick house with gable roof, left garage and glass facades.


Floor plan of a residential house: garage, terrace, garden, open kitchen/living area.


Floor plan of a residential house: hallway, master bedroom, two children’s rooms, bathroom, children’s bath, laundry room.


3D floor plan of open living and dining area with kitchen, dining table, TV and staircase.


Floor plan: hallway leads to storage, toilet and home office; open living/dining area with table and sofa.


Modern entrance area with wooden steps, vase with dried flowers, LED light strips and wall art.


Upper floor: two children’s rooms, master bathroom, children’s bathroom, laundry room, hallway and stairs.
11ant4 Feb 2022 20:27
K a t j a schrieb:

In my opinion, these zigzag walls don’t create a zoning effect yet; they just appear restless.
No zigzag wall without a piano! – right, @chrisw81?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
K a t j a4 Feb 2022 23:42
Are you familiar with the Toronto model from Rensch-Haus? Maybe it could be an option for you. Here is a compact version of it:
(I haven’t added any windows yet – that’s a lot of work if it’s not going to be considered anyway.) The top right on the plan is south.


Floor plan of a house: entrance hall, utility room, guest toilet, guest/office, living room and dining area.


Floor plan of a house: bedroom, bathroom, laundry, hallway and staircase.
V
Varrader
5 Feb 2022 09:08
@K a t j a Thank you very much for your work. Seeing the basic dimensions planned so differently is really helpful.
We really like the solution for the upper floor.
On the ground floor, we find it uncomfortable that you enter the kitchen immediately after the front door. The guest toilet and office could be significantly smaller, and we would omit the partition from the living room. With the sofa arrangement shown there, we would wonder where to place a TV on the wall; we would definitely have a large south-facing window overlooking the garden.
Regarding a straight staircase, that would mean long walking distances to the upper floor for us; in our view, a half-turn staircase or a staircase with a landing is clearly more advantageous.

We tried docking the dining table to the kitchen. In the current floor plan (we removed the recess in the dining area and slightly reduced the hallway towards the top of the plan).
In our opinion, this benefits the room layout very well; however, you no longer approach the window from the hallway, but the dining table instead. And people sitting with their backs to the window now face the hallway.

Alternatively, there is the Baufritz version where the sofa is placed on the left. The “problem” with the walking path from the hallway toward the window is solved here, but the staircase must be moved further to the right so that when coming down the stairs, you enter the living room and not face a wall.
The room divider by the sofa should be half-height and provide space for the TV.

Floor plan of a house: kitchen/dining, living room, entrance hall, toilet and storage room.


Floor plan of a house with living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, hallway, and stairs.
askforafriend5 Feb 2022 09:45
I still think the first draft you used to start the thread is the best! Everything else has somehow been a case of trying to fix it but making it worse.
11ant5 Feb 2022 12:32
askforafriend schrieb:

I still think the first draft you started the thread with is the best!
The one you made yourself or the one from the designer?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
askforafriend5 Feb 2022 12:42
The very first one, I think, from Archibald