Hello everyone,
I’ve finally registered and would like to ask for your advice, tips, and feedback on our floor plan.
We started looking for a plot about 4 years ago and, of course, had a dream house in mind (urban villa, basement, double garage…). Now we’re considering a semi-detached house if we can afford it at the current prices. We have basically scaled back to the minimum – it should just be a regular house for ordinary people ♀️ no frills. We currently live in a 3-room apartment of about 80 sqm (860 sq ft) and in a few years it will definitely be too small. The plot is offered by the city and not overpriced – so we hope we can manage to plan something decent on it. We have already received several offers:
The house is now planned with dimensions of about 8.5x13 m (28x43 ft) (I am not allowed to post the detailed drawing). The garage is planned on the wall between the kitchen and the study.
We’re very curious about your input!
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 529 sqm (5695 sq ft)
No slope
Plot ratio (floor area ratio): 0.4
Building coverage ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary approx. 12x15 m (39x49 ft) (garage must be inside the building envelope due to regulations)
Edge development: semi-detached property
Number of parking spaces: 2 if possible
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic
Orientation: north/west
Maximum heights/limits: 4.5 m eaves height (14.75 ft)
Other requirements: private green area in the west, street in front of house is a dead end and only 3 m wide (10 ft)
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: classic, gable roof, semi-detached house
Basement, floors: no basement (too expensive), 1 full floor allowed according to the development plan = 1.5 floors
Number of residents, age: currently 3 (ages 35, 33, 1), grandparents will stay with us about 4 months a year (spread out), older, grandfather has mobility issues
Room requirements ground floor / upper floor:
- Ground floor: kitchen, living/dining room, pantry, utility/technical room, home office/guest room, shower toilet
- Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms about 15 sqm (160 sq ft) each, bedroom (there should still be enough space next to the bed for a child’s cot), bathroom with bathtub and shower
Office: family use or home office? Both (actually a home office, the second children’s room is initially an office, and the home office downstairs doubles as a guest room for the grandparents so they don’t have to climb stairs. My grandfather would also sleep on the couch, but a) that’s bad for his back and b) he should have privacy and a place to retreat).
Guests per year: frequent, about 12–20
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: still open, but solid construction is planned
Open kitchen, island: open kitchen, if possible without direct line of sight to the living room, no kitchen island but space for a French door refrigerator
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: would prefer a garage, but somehow couldn’t plan it on the plot without blocking light on the west side, so we switched to a carport ♀️♀️ the builder then added a garage again; we’re not sure yet how we feel about it
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: vegetable garden, dining table with 8 seats, play area for the kids
Other wishes/particularities/daily routine, including explanations why certain things are or are not desired:
House design
Who designed it: regional builder
What do you particularly like? Why? Utility room and stairs on a shared wall, better use of daylight
What do you dislike? Why? Bathroom arrangement (I’d prefer windows on the west side for the children’s rooms, bathroom ideally with double-wing windows); long narrow hallway; kitchen is too small/too little workspace for cooking and baking a lot; maybe pantry under the stairs or integrate storage in the kitchen? We hardly have any drink crates but currently have a well-stocked 1.5 sqm (16 sq ft) pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 375k without photovoltaic, 360k if built simultaneously with the other half
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 340k (new kitchen included; we take it with us and will rebuild)
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump with underfloor heating
If you had to give up, which features/expansions?
- Could give up: third children’s room (he included it because the ground floor is so large), pantry, open kitchen (although reluctantly ♀️ we have already rationalized down from our “dream house”)
- Cannot give up: guest room/office and shower toilet on the ground floor
Why is the design the way it is now? For example:
Design by the builder’s planner; we have already spoken with several companies and sometimes received standard designs that did not fit at all. Now we get to add our input. Initially, I wanted just 3 rooms plus bath upstairs (he designed the house much bigger so everything fits downstairs), but I’m confused because one company told us the technical room must be on an exterior wall and take up at least 3 m (10 ft) of wall length … ♀️
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can we arrange the rooms on the ground floor sensibly and large enough to get good light & enough storage? How does the garage fit on the plot?
I’ve finally registered and would like to ask for your advice, tips, and feedback on our floor plan.
We started looking for a plot about 4 years ago and, of course, had a dream house in mind (urban villa, basement, double garage…). Now we’re considering a semi-detached house if we can afford it at the current prices. We have basically scaled back to the minimum – it should just be a regular house for ordinary people ♀️ no frills. We currently live in a 3-room apartment of about 80 sqm (860 sq ft) and in a few years it will definitely be too small. The plot is offered by the city and not overpriced – so we hope we can manage to plan something decent on it. We have already received several offers:
- Architect, 290k for the house (calculated with 1300 €/sqm…)
- Nationwide prefab house supplier 390k
- Regional company, solid construction 375k
The house is now planned with dimensions of about 8.5x13 m (28x43 ft) (I am not allowed to post the detailed drawing). The garage is planned on the wall between the kitchen and the study.
We’re very curious about your input!
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 529 sqm (5695 sq ft)
No slope
Plot ratio (floor area ratio): 0.4
Building coverage ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary approx. 12x15 m (39x49 ft) (garage must be inside the building envelope due to regulations)
Edge development: semi-detached property
Number of parking spaces: 2 if possible
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic
Orientation: north/west
Maximum heights/limits: 4.5 m eaves height (14.75 ft)
Other requirements: private green area in the west, street in front of house is a dead end and only 3 m wide (10 ft)
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: classic, gable roof, semi-detached house
Basement, floors: no basement (too expensive), 1 full floor allowed according to the development plan = 1.5 floors
Number of residents, age: currently 3 (ages 35, 33, 1), grandparents will stay with us about 4 months a year (spread out), older, grandfather has mobility issues
Room requirements ground floor / upper floor:
- Ground floor: kitchen, living/dining room, pantry, utility/technical room, home office/guest room, shower toilet
- Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms about 15 sqm (160 sq ft) each, bedroom (there should still be enough space next to the bed for a child’s cot), bathroom with bathtub and shower
Office: family use or home office? Both (actually a home office, the second children’s room is initially an office, and the home office downstairs doubles as a guest room for the grandparents so they don’t have to climb stairs. My grandfather would also sleep on the couch, but a) that’s bad for his back and b) he should have privacy and a place to retreat).
Guests per year: frequent, about 12–20
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: still open, but solid construction is planned
Open kitchen, island: open kitchen, if possible without direct line of sight to the living room, no kitchen island but space for a French door refrigerator
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: would prefer a garage, but somehow couldn’t plan it on the plot without blocking light on the west side, so we switched to a carport ♀️♀️ the builder then added a garage again; we’re not sure yet how we feel about it
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: vegetable garden, dining table with 8 seats, play area for the kids
Other wishes/particularities/daily routine, including explanations why certain things are or are not desired:
- We have to build to KfW40 standard, and if photovoltaic panels are installed, 40% of the roof area must be photovoltaic (city requirement)
- Need space for a deep freezer in the utility room
- Showers should be walk-in or at least have a low bathtub
- We are not allowed to build a separate apartment on the plot
House design
Who designed it: regional builder
What do you particularly like? Why? Utility room and stairs on a shared wall, better use of daylight
What do you dislike? Why? Bathroom arrangement (I’d prefer windows on the west side for the children’s rooms, bathroom ideally with double-wing windows); long narrow hallway; kitchen is too small/too little workspace for cooking and baking a lot; maybe pantry under the stairs or integrate storage in the kitchen? We hardly have any drink crates but currently have a well-stocked 1.5 sqm (16 sq ft) pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 375k without photovoltaic, 360k if built simultaneously with the other half
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 340k (new kitchen included; we take it with us and will rebuild)
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump with underfloor heating
If you had to give up, which features/expansions?
- Could give up: third children’s room (he included it because the ground floor is so large), pantry, open kitchen (although reluctantly ♀️ we have already rationalized down from our “dream house”)
- Cannot give up: guest room/office and shower toilet on the ground floor
Why is the design the way it is now? For example:
Design by the builder’s planner; we have already spoken with several companies and sometimes received standard designs that did not fit at all. Now we get to add our input. Initially, I wanted just 3 rooms plus bath upstairs (he designed the house much bigger so everything fits downstairs), but I’m confused because one company told us the technical room must be on an exterior wall and take up at least 3 m (10 ft) of wall length … ♀️
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can we arrange the rooms on the ground floor sensibly and large enough to get good light & enough storage? How does the garage fit on the plot?
ypg schrieb:
Edit: The OP has restricted their profile as a newcomer. I guess we won’t hear from them anymore 😳Yeah, those are always my favorite forum members. 🙄H
hausbau23inHE29 Apr 2022 20:30ypg schrieb:
Edit: The original poster has restricted their profile as a new member. So I guess we won’t hear from them anymore 😳 I’m not sure what the privacy settings have to do with my activity here, but you have to give me some time to respond 😳 I’m not online all day...
The room on the ground floor is also used as a home office. The grandparents say that they will stay with us when they need to, but right now they have an apartment on the fourth floor, and grandpa has difficulties—honestly, it’s family, and if they need care, they will stay with us longer. If that doesn’t work out in the house, then we’ll have to look for a rental apartment on the ground floor. But since the rent for a 4-room apartment is currently around 1800 (USD/GBP/AUD/CAD/EUR) (depending on the country) per month, you might as well use that money to pay off a mortgage for a house. Still, thanks for the advice, it makes sense if you don’t know the family situation.
H
hausbau23inHE29 Apr 2022 20:34ypg schrieb:
I have now also seen the additional construction costs. €80,000 is very well planned for a flat plot.
Could it be that everything is calculated completely differently? Is a lot mixed up?
How does the architect calculate? Like an independent architect or like a general contractor?
Maybe the €1300/sqm are raw construction costs? 😳No, the architect had calculated the €1300 as turnkey costs.. :/ he calculates as an independent architect.
The €360 come from the general contractor (GC).
For additional construction costs, we have so far €30 (prefabricated house), €50 (architect, including phases 1-9…), and €80 (solid construction; including garage). We prefer to calculate with €80 to have a buffer for selections, price increases, etc.
H
hausbau23inHE29 Apr 2022 20:38ypg schrieb:
A small family had big dreams.
What do you mean by that? We are not planning a house with a garage for several cars, a pool, or a basement for parties. We are planning a house with two children’s bedrooms and a “multifunctional” home office, since we work from home 60:40. Do you think that is dreaming “big”? Maybe I am reading the sentence too harshly and you did not mean it that way 😕
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
But thanks anyway for the advice; it’s understandable since the family situation is unknown. Maybe you can clarify things for us.
From your #38, it sounds like everyone wants to move in with you at some point.
I can’t make any suggestions if these questions remain unanswered… for example, there was the building window (building envelope / construction window) and more. My questions in #35 weren’t answered at all.
hausbau23inHE schrieb:
We are planning a house with 2 children's bedrooms and a "multipurpose" home office, since we work from home 60:40. Do you think that is dreaming "big"?You are currently planning a 180 sqm (1,938 sq ft) house with 3 children's bedrooms (plus the multipurpose room) and about 50 sqm (538 sq ft) of additional usable space in the attic.Similar topics