ᐅ Floor Plan for a 150 sqm Single-Family Home – Window and Bathroom Design Planning
Created on: 6 Apr 2022 11:49
R
RIU2807
Dear forum members,
Our detailed planning phase for our new build (solid construction) single-family house for 4 people (2 adults, 2 children) is coming up soon. Since I have followed the forum discussions several times and find every opinion valuable, I would like to share our overall design and describe the details below in the questionnaire. Basically, due to high construction costs and the size of the plot, we tried to keep the total floor area as small as possible. The basic room layout and house dimensions are no longer changeable. However, we are very satisfied with the location of the house and the orientation of the rooms on the plot (a 90° rotation of the house was tested but then discarded). Therefore, our main focus is on the interior and facade design.
From a cost-benefit perspective, the design appears to be a good compromise that addresses the most important aspects for us.
I would like to ask if anyone sees any fundamental issues with the design?
We are aware that on the ground floor, separating the living area from the kitchen and dining area limits movement space; however, this separation is essential for us – we have experience with both open living/dining areas and with separating the kitchen from eating and living areas, and this arrangement suits our lifestyle best.
The straight staircase was originally not a must-have, but it is now the preferred type.
We are particularly unsure about the window planning, which is still completely open – starting with the master bedroom on the upper floor.
Here, we would like the option to place the bed against either the northwest or southwest wall but are uncertain how to plan the windows accordingly, as a symmetrical view of the house from the street side (northwest) is important to us. It is generally acceptable to us if the bed would be under a window in one of the variants. How large would a window need to be, with a sill height of 120cm (47 inches), to provide sufficient light in the room? Or would you definitely plan a window on the other wall as well (which means the bed would be under a window in both options)? How would you design the other windows on the southwest side of the house (dressing room, children’s rooms)? Do you have completely different suggestions?
Currently, on the upper floor, the two children’s rooms on the southeast side have windows with a sill height of 55cm (22 inches) shown – we would probably change these to a standard sill height for better furniture placement. On the upper floor, shading is done using roller shutters.
On the ground floor, in the living area, there is a floor-to-ceiling element next to the terrace door — we would also set this to a standard sill height, as a sofa will likely be placed in front of it. In the kitchen, the window is intended to be positioned differently from the plan — at countertop height, meaning the countertop should integrate into the window.
We are still completely uncertain about the window planning in the dining area. The shading on the ground floor will be with venetian blinds. From our point of view, the lift-and-slide door makes little sense because the opening cannot be fully used. I am attaching two ideas for the dining area’s window design: (1) two terrace doors with window fronts, (2) one terrace door with a window front plus one window with a sill height of 55cm (22 inches) that could be used as a seating window. What do you think of these ideas?
Another point is the bathroom planning:
The architect and two bathroom planners recommend a T-shaped layout with a bathtub on the northwest wall (window above). However, the limited storage space bothers us (no room for a tall cabinet). Do you have any ideas or suggestions regarding storage or even alternative bathroom layouts?
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 490sqm (5270 sq ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Client requirements
Basement, floors: Basement + 2 full floors
Number of people, ages
Space requirements on ground and upper floors
Office: home office for one person
Fireplace: no, but laundry chute
Garage, carport: garage with carport
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be:
In the basement, we want: one mandatory utility room with washing machine and dryer, one workshop and storage room, one additional storage room, and one hobby room (with underfloor heating).
On the ground floor, we want: one office for home office (alternatively usable as a bedroom for one person), kitchen and dining separated from the living area, L-shaped living/dining/kitchen arrangement, kitchen with peninsula, guest toilet with optional shower, and storage room. The final ceiling height on the ground floor will be 2.60m (8ft 6in).
On the upper floor, our wish is: family bathroom (T-shape recommended here by the architect and two bathroom planners), small storage room, two children’s rooms, master bedroom, dressing room (the entrance from the corridor is intentionally chosen and preferred).
House design
Designed by: architect from a construction company
What do you like most? Why?
Basic wishes considered; good use of space; room orientation; small “circular flow” on the ground floor (hallway, kitchen/dining, living); little hallway space on upper floor; equally sized children’s rooms; corner terrace possible; laundry chute.
What do you dislike? Why?
Bathroom layout; concern about too small dining area; current window planning.
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump.
If you had to give up, on which details / extensions
- can you give up: T-shaped bathroom layout, high window sill heights
- cannot give up: separation of living area
Why is the design the way it is?
Good space utilization, good room orientation, the above-mentioned wishes.
What is your key/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What storage solutions or alternatives do you see for the T-shaped bathroom? Any ideas/suggestions/recommendations regarding window planning?
We look forward to your suggestions, recommendations, and opinions!
Our detailed planning phase for our new build (solid construction) single-family house for 4 people (2 adults, 2 children) is coming up soon. Since I have followed the forum discussions several times and find every opinion valuable, I would like to share our overall design and describe the details below in the questionnaire. Basically, due to high construction costs and the size of the plot, we tried to keep the total floor area as small as possible. The basic room layout and house dimensions are no longer changeable. However, we are very satisfied with the location of the house and the orientation of the rooms on the plot (a 90° rotation of the house was tested but then discarded). Therefore, our main focus is on the interior and facade design.
From a cost-benefit perspective, the design appears to be a good compromise that addresses the most important aspects for us.
I would like to ask if anyone sees any fundamental issues with the design?
We are aware that on the ground floor, separating the living area from the kitchen and dining area limits movement space; however, this separation is essential for us – we have experience with both open living/dining areas and with separating the kitchen from eating and living areas, and this arrangement suits our lifestyle best.
The straight staircase was originally not a must-have, but it is now the preferred type.
We are particularly unsure about the window planning, which is still completely open – starting with the master bedroom on the upper floor.
Here, we would like the option to place the bed against either the northwest or southwest wall but are uncertain how to plan the windows accordingly, as a symmetrical view of the house from the street side (northwest) is important to us. It is generally acceptable to us if the bed would be under a window in one of the variants. How large would a window need to be, with a sill height of 120cm (47 inches), to provide sufficient light in the room? Or would you definitely plan a window on the other wall as well (which means the bed would be under a window in both options)? How would you design the other windows on the southwest side of the house (dressing room, children’s rooms)? Do you have completely different suggestions?
Currently, on the upper floor, the two children’s rooms on the southeast side have windows with a sill height of 55cm (22 inches) shown – we would probably change these to a standard sill height for better furniture placement. On the upper floor, shading is done using roller shutters.
On the ground floor, in the living area, there is a floor-to-ceiling element next to the terrace door — we would also set this to a standard sill height, as a sofa will likely be placed in front of it. In the kitchen, the window is intended to be positioned differently from the plan — at countertop height, meaning the countertop should integrate into the window.
We are still completely uncertain about the window planning in the dining area. The shading on the ground floor will be with venetian blinds. From our point of view, the lift-and-slide door makes little sense because the opening cannot be fully used. I am attaching two ideas for the dining area’s window design: (1) two terrace doors with window fronts, (2) one terrace door with a window front plus one window with a sill height of 55cm (22 inches) that could be used as a seating window. What do you think of these ideas?
Another point is the bathroom planning:
The architect and two bathroom planners recommend a T-shaped layout with a bathtub on the northwest wall (window above). However, the limited storage space bothers us (no room for a tall cabinet). Do you have any ideas or suggestions regarding storage or even alternative bathroom layouts?
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 490sqm (5270 sq ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Client requirements
Basement, floors: Basement + 2 full floors
Number of people, ages
Space requirements on ground and upper floors
Office: home office for one person
Fireplace: no, but laundry chute
Garage, carport: garage with carport
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be:
In the basement, we want: one mandatory utility room with washing machine and dryer, one workshop and storage room, one additional storage room, and one hobby room (with underfloor heating).
On the ground floor, we want: one office for home office (alternatively usable as a bedroom for one person), kitchen and dining separated from the living area, L-shaped living/dining/kitchen arrangement, kitchen with peninsula, guest toilet with optional shower, and storage room. The final ceiling height on the ground floor will be 2.60m (8ft 6in).
On the upper floor, our wish is: family bathroom (T-shape recommended here by the architect and two bathroom planners), small storage room, two children’s rooms, master bedroom, dressing room (the entrance from the corridor is intentionally chosen and preferred).
House design
Designed by: architect from a construction company
What do you like most? Why?
Basic wishes considered; good use of space; room orientation; small “circular flow” on the ground floor (hallway, kitchen/dining, living); little hallway space on upper floor; equally sized children’s rooms; corner terrace possible; laundry chute.
What do you dislike? Why?
Bathroom layout; concern about too small dining area; current window planning.
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump.
If you had to give up, on which details / extensions
- can you give up: T-shaped bathroom layout, high window sill heights
- cannot give up: separation of living area
Why is the design the way it is?
Good space utilization, good room orientation, the above-mentioned wishes.
What is your key/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What storage solutions or alternatives do you see for the T-shaped bathroom? Any ideas/suggestions/recommendations regarding window planning?
We look forward to your suggestions, recommendations, and opinions!
RIU2807 schrieb:
What do you think about swapping the entrance and guest bathroom?Then the entrance would be hidden under the carport. Personally, I wouldn’t do that. If you have an old rusty car, be careful with your clothes. I wouldn’t park a new car there.K a t j a schrieb:
At first glance, it looks quite nice. But on closer inspection, I’m not convinced.
Unfortunately, I can’t immediately see the plot dimensions. So the claim that rotating the house wouldn’t be possible seems rather vague to me.
Two things that stand out to me outside:
1. The outdoor unit of the air-to-water heat pump is right next to the terrace. It’s not silent – something to keep in mind. I don’t know how often it runs in summer, but I’d definitely inquire about that.
2. Is the big tree mandatory? So close to the house? I also plant trees wherever I can, but I wouldn’t place them closer than 10m (33 feet) to buildings. It’s not so much about the canopy and shade, but mainly about the roots.
Besides that, I see light wells integrated into the terrace – how do those look? It’s doable, but if it’s not absolutely necessary, I’d avoid it. Expensive and not very practical.
Where will bikes and other items be stored? You might want to consider an external staircase for bikes to the basement. I’d also mark space for trash bins.
Inside, the hallways feel somewhat bleak to me, and it seems the floorplan lacks imagination. On the ground floor, you face a wall when you enter and turn towards the living area. That’s not very welcoming and was already criticized by Yvonne. I’d skip the large TV space and instead plan a double door or glass partition to create a more inviting atmosphere. Who even watches TV nowadays?
Upstairs, the narrow and long stair landing feels even more oppressive. It’s also questionable how much light will come through the narrow window on the “gallery” (the name is almost cheeky). I’d consider adding some skylights for extra light.
Also:
Ground floor: The dining area feels a bit shallow. It’s just about the minimum size. The dining table will constantly be in the way since that’s a main traffic route. That would annoy me. How big is the shower in the guest bathroom? It looks tiny.
Upstairs: The T-shaped bathroom layout is truly unfortunate. But I don’t see enough bathroom measurements on the sketches. Placing a bed under the window is really a last resort – again, just minimum space for furniture here.
Overall, it’s not a disaster but also not very inviting. It would feel too tight for me everywhere because so many minimum dimensions were used. Yes, we share the concern about tightness, but simply don’t have the financial means to build larger, as the land is extremely expensive (Greater Munich area). We have already slightly enlarged the floorplan (hard to believe).
Regarding:
1. The outdoor unit is currently shown only provisionally; we plan to move it to the street side.
2. The tree is mandatory – the architect placed it there, but we will decide on its exact position once the house is built. We haven’t yet selected the design for the light wells. A basement external staircase is being cut to save costs (KfW40 standard, waterproofing). Bikes will partly fit in the garage; most likely there will be a garden shed as well.
We are aware of the hallway issue upstairs. A skylight would probably make the roof structure (storage space) usable for other purposes. Currently, our hallways and stairwell have no windows at all, so we hope it won’t bother us too much – especially since the upstairs hallway is so small that you wouldn’t spend long there anyway...
The living room is its own topic. We appreciate the suggestion and will reconsider it.
Overall, I’d also like to have an extra meter here and there. We have reviewed all the architect’s floorplan proposals again. For around 150sqm (1,615 sq ft), this one still seems the best compromise. At least it’s not a total disaster...
How would you suggest placing the windows in the dining area? We would easily do without the lift-and-slide door. The terrace is planned to wrap around the south corner (so southeast and southwest terraces).
RIU2807 schrieb:
Overall, I would also like to have 1 meter (3 feet) more here and there. RIU2807 schrieb:
Yes, we share the concern about the tightness, but simply don’t have the financial means to build larger, Well, you’re building with a basement. After deducting the cold storage room, you’re investing money in 65 m² (700 sq ft) of storage space, instead of adding 10 to 15 m² (110 to 160 sq ft) to each floor, which would make everything feel a bit more spacious and comfortable.
ypg schrieb:
Well, you’re building with a basement. Minus the utility room, you’re putting money into 65sqm (700 sq ft) of storage space instead of giving each floor 10-15sqm (110-160 sq ft) more, which would make everything a bit more spacious and comfortable. This is the classic basement discussion. For us, a house without a basement would be an absolute last resort for several reasons, as it would strongly limit our hobbies if we can’t replace the full area above ground. That’s why the basement is partly planned with underfloor heating.
We prefer to give up a few square meters upstairs instead.
ypg schrieb:
Then the entrance is hidden under the carport. Personally, I wouldn’t like that. If you have an old rusty car, be careful with your clothes. I wouldn’t park a new car there. May I ask why you don’t like it? From experience? Or have the pros and cons perhaps already been discussed in another thread? We are currently seriously considering this, so I would be interested to know if experience suggests any drawbacks.
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