ᐅ Home Construction 2.0 – Initial Floor Plan Draft

Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size – approx. 1000m² (0.25 acres)
Slope – yes, about one full story along the length of the house
Number of parking spaces – 4 (2 of which are carport or garage)
Number of floors – no restrictions
Roof style – anything except flat roof
Architectural style – rural, classic

Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type – no Bauhaus, rather country house style
Basement, stories – 2 full stories
Number of occupants, ages – currently 3: 37, 30, 2
Space needs on ground and upper floors
Office: family use or home office? Both fully remote: Home office is a permanent workplace for both
Occasional guests per year – 4-6?
Conservative or modern construction – conservative
Open kitchen, island – open but L-shaped, with an island
Number of dining seats – at least 8, with room for more
Fireplace – no
Music/stereo wall – no
Balcony, roof terrace – no
Garage, carport – yes
Utility garden, greenhouse – possibly, no major importance
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are preferred or avoided:
- Space for a Christmas tree in the living/dining area
- “Nerd cave”: a larger hobby room for retro games, preferably without windows -> no UV exposure
- Home gym – room for at least one rack and some additional equipment
- Cooking, dining, and living areas open and arranged in a corner layout
- Pantry desired
- Cloakroom area near the entrance for jackets and shoes
- 2 children’s bedrooms plus guest room
- Parents’ bedroom with walk-in closet
- Utility/laundry room on the sleeping floor

House Design
Designed by:
- Architect
What do you especially like? Why?
- All the wishes we sent over two pages of text have been perfectly incorporated
- Large, symmetrical pantry
- Very open, spacious living area
- Option to convert the gym into a second office if needed for work
- All children’s bedrooms are the same size

What don’t you like? Why?
- It is simply very large – pricing is at the upper limit of what we can afford
- Posts (presumably for structural reasons) in the living/dining area
- Office could possibly be a bit bigger, but the house is already huge

Price estimate according to architect/planner: Fixed-price turnkey offers from two providers so far likely to be in the range of 490,000–520,000 (currency not specified)
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 500,000
Preferred heating system: Heat pump, central ventilation system, air conditioning

If you had to give up something, which details/expansions
- Could give up: maybe one room, open areas in the hallway
- Cannot give up: ventilation system, air conditioning, pantry, basically almost everything else 😀

Why did the design turn out the way it is? For example:
Which wishes were fulfilled by the architect? Simply all of them. We had communicated our wishes in writing, and the design fully reflects our complete “wish list.”

What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
Everything we need is included; it’s large, inviting, open, bright, and leaves no wishes unfulfilled. However, the price is close to the maximum monthly financial burden we want to accept.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
My husband is completely thrilled with this floor plan, and he’s usually not so easily enthusiastic. 😀
I also find it very well done. But it’s clearly the fact that all our wishes are included that makes it great for us.
I’m just curious to hear your opinion.
Here, @Pinkiponk – I just went ahead and posted it. 🙂

Your budget is somewhat tight for the project. Take into account the high costs for the exterior landscaping, a buffer until the structural engineer’s requirements are included, the preparations, slope retention, etc.

A 60 sqm (645 sq ft) hallway says it all, I think.
On the ground floor, I don’t find the hallway too disruptive, especially since it separates the entrance area—public—from the private space.
In the basement, however, I find the very large hallway disturbing, especially compared to the relatively small open living area.

I would start over and plan everything to reduce circulation space.
Swap the hobby room and storage room.

haydee schrieb:

In the basement, I’m bothered by the extremely large hallway and the living area, which seems small compared to the rest of the house.

I agree, but since you have already built before, I assume you know your needs well and maybe a large living area or big kitchen simply isn’t important to you?
However, I would at least extend the kitchen peninsula all the way to the support beam.

haydee schrieb:

Swap hobby room and pantry

I definitely wouldn’t do that. You don’t have any tall cabinets in the kitchen, if I’m seeing that correctly? Then having the pantry (and likely the place for most appliances) within a very short distance would be very important to me.

The bathroom wouldn’t work for me either… the shower right behind the door is far too small, but as I said, you probably know that it works well enough for you…

In addition to Haydee:
I would omit the external corners in the bathroom/pantry for cost reasons. They are very expensive and, in my opinion, do not provide equivalent additional space.

haydee schrieb:

In the basement, I’m bothered by the extremely large hallway and the comparatively small multipurpose room.

It doesn’t really bother me, but considering the costs, I had the same thought. However, my husband likes the spacious hallways. It reminds him of his brother’s house in New Zealand, which was also very open and not as compactly designed as is common here.

haydee schrieb:

I would start again from scratch and plan everything so that the circulation area is reduced.

I think that’s what we’ll do. We have another construction company we like. We might have them do a new drawing, starting completely fresh based on our requirements, and maybe limit it to around 190 sqm (2,045 sq ft) or so. Let’s see what their architects come up with.

haydee schrieb:

Swap hobby and storage.

That’s not an option for various reasons.

Tamstar schrieb:

I agree, but since you have already built before, I assume you know your priorities well, and maybe a large living area or big kitchen really isn’t important to you?

Exactly. Or rather—I find the combined living and dining area quite generous. I actually like the cozy TV corner as it is; it doesn’t need to be bigger. We have something similar in our current home, and I find it very comfortable. Most of the time, you spend that space with just the closest family or a few friends.

I think the kitchen is big enough, considering the large pantry. We would keep only everyday items in the main kitchen and store all the occasional-use appliances (air fryer, bread maker, food processor, baking utensils, etc.) in the pantry. There will also be a second fridge in the pantry for drinks, guests, and parties. You can turn it off when it’s not needed to save energy.

Tamstar schrieb:

But I would at least extend the kitchen peninsula up to the support column.

Funny, that’s exactly what my husband suggested too. I actually like that you can still walk through there.

Tamstar schrieb:

I definitely wouldn’t do that. You have no tall cabinets in the kitchen, if I’m not mistaken? Then I’d want the shortest possible path to the pantry (and most of the appliances’ location, presumably).

We do plan to fit at least two tall cabinets in the kitchen line—for the fridge and the integrated dishwasher placed at a higher level.

Tamstar schrieb:

The bathroom wouldn’t work for me either... the shower directly behind the door would be way too small, but as you said, you know what’s sufficient for you...

I agree about the shower—I don’t think it’s quite optimal yet. But I’m reluctant to make the bathroom any bigger, and I really like the position of the bathtub by the window. So far, I haven’t come up with a better shower location than this.

Osnabruecker schrieb:

I would omit the external corners in the bathroom/pantry to save costs. That’s very expensive and in my opinion doesn’t provide equivalent additional space.

Do you really think so? I believe the bathroom would become quite cramped without that extra space.

So this is the first floor plan here in the forum that I personally do not like at all.

Huge living area, but not even a second shower option for possibly two children someday. The children's rooms are also too small in relation to the living area. The guest room, on the other hand, is large. The open-plan area and bathroom are no bigger than in our house, but overall they do not quite match the total living space.

The slope probably has not been adequately considered in the budget either.