ᐅ Floor Plan Evaluation Single-Family Home 147 m² Gable Roof with Extension

Hello everyone,

I have been quietly following along for a while. Since our project is starting to take shape, I wanted to tap into the collective wisdom here and ask for feedback on our early design. Many details are not finalized yet, but the basic structure is becoming clear. Thanks!

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 381 m2 (4100 sq ft)
Slope: No
Site occupancy ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line and boundary: The current design fully uses the building envelope (except for the terrace area) at approx. 13 x 14 m (43 x 46 ft)
Setback: max. 9 m (30 ft) per side (carport/tool shed fills this), 15 m (49 ft) total
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of stories: 2 (according to development plan)
Roof type: Gable roof with 45-50° pitch (design currently planned at 50°)
Architectural style: ?? It would be nice if it looks at least architecturally appealing
Orientation: Terrace faces west
Maximum heights / limits: Max eaves height 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Other requirements: - Red/brown brick is mandatory on the main building; 2 m (6.5 ft) minimum distance of roof structures from gable edge required

Owners’ Requirements
Architectural style: Somewhat modern / appealing
Roof type: Gable roof – no flexibility here
Building type: Single-family house

Basement: No
Number of floors: 2 (formally 1.5?)
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults, 1 child + 1 planned
Space requirements ground floor / upper floor: Standard room needs – 2 children’s bedrooms + master bedroom + office
Office: Family use or home office?: Office mandatory due to significant home office use (1 person)
Overnight guests per year: Few (should be accommodated in the office)
Open or closed floor plan: Basically open but with certain limits (I don’t want to see the kitchen from the sofa, hearing and smelling it is okay)
Conservative or modern construction: Leaning towards modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Both
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: Would be nice but removed due to budget
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony / roof terrace: No
Garage / carport: Carport – possibly upgradable to garage (currently drawn as enclosed and without partition to tool shed; this will likely be changed)
Vegetable garden / greenhouse: Vegetable garden would be great but not relevant here due to space constraints
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons for certain choices:

• We would like to realize an L-shaped layout to create a sheltered garden and find it visually appealing.
• The staircase should be open – depending on costs, as an attractive floating staircase (both of us come from homes with open stairs and find noise and odors acceptable).

House Design
Planner:
-Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?

• Long and narrow design. As a result, the house is clearly lower than the neighbors.
• Floor-to-ceiling windows
• Generally, I like the room layout

What do you dislike? Why?

• Unequal size children’s bedrooms (not ideal but acceptable), and one is borderline small.
• Master bedroom could be slightly smaller. Overall, we haven’t found a better arrangement.
• I don’t like the small utility room next to the pantry as it is. I would lower it and merge it with the utility room. The pantry would then be a bit higher and mirrored so the door can stay the same.
• Window sizes and distribution are not final. The office should get a larger glass door for garden access; the living room possibly a large window instead of two smaller ones. I would like wider dormer windows.
• I don’t like the street-facing elevation yet. It needs lighting near the entrance and the large blank area bothers me.
• Guest bathroom still needs natural light, possibly from above.

Price estimate according to architect/planner: Still too early. We have rough numbers that seem to be within budget.
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment:
Preferred heating technology: Ground-source heat pump with deep borehole, possibly a ventilation system with heat recovery. (I still need to research to decide my stance in the discussion)

If you have to give up on something, which details or extras
-Can you give up: Facade design. Currently an expensive clinker brick is planned and the wood cladding isn’t cheap either. Windows could be replaced with fixed glazing.
-Can’t give up: It shouldn’t be smaller.

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
I’m interested in a basic assessment. Please don’t hold back on pointing out mistakes/problems. It’s still early enough to make changes.

KED1234 schrieb:

Guests per year: few (they are supposed to stay in the office

• I don’t like the mini utility room next to the pantry as it is. I would extend it downwards and merge it with the boiler/storage room (HAR). The pantry would then be slightly higher and mirrored, so the door could stay the same.

I only partly agree.

If you have only a few overnight guests—why have a shower downstairs?
Ground floor: toilet near the entrance, then you could combine the boiler/storage room with the utility room further upstairs. And by removing the shower, you gain about 90cm (35 inches).

Is the walk-in closet in the bedroom enough for you? Even if towels and bed linen are stored in the hallway closet, it looks quite tight.

I like the idea of sitting in the living room without seeing the kitchen, but the passage by the staircase side looks like you might soon bump your head—at least I think it would be uncomfortable having to duck to pass under the stairs.
Also, the hallway to the office seems like wasted space. There’s no room for a shelf or a chair in a quiet corner.

Ten square meters (about 108 square feet) is quite small for a child’s bedroom—especially if the office is larger and you’re not building a small house.
At age 12, the child will likely want to swap rooms and move downstairs.

I like your house.
In my opinion, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it, quite the opposite. Someone clearly put thought into it.

Ideensucher schrieb:

10sqm (108 sq ft) for a kids’ room seems quite small to me—especially if the home office is bigger and you’re not actually building a small house.
The child will insist on swapping rooms and want to move downstairs by the time they’re 12.

That’s enough space. And I would explain to a 12-year-old what I think about their wishes. It’s all a matter of upbringing. 😉

Besides, let’s be honest, there’s probably nothing against them moving downstairs anyway.

KED1234 schrieb:

Floors: 2 (1.5 formally?)

There is no 1.5. That is 2 floors.

KED1234 schrieb:

Plot size: 381 m2 (4097 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6

You almost fully maximized everything up to the last square meter. I hope the increased site coverage allowance II (exceeding the site coverage ratio by 50% for ancillary buildings) is not excluded in your case?!
Otherwise, it will be too much… I just roughly calculated everything.

About the design
My first impression: I like it. Generally a nice idea, also the slim silhouette… Living room at the end — I planned like that once and found that having two entrances to the living room burns a lot of valuable space.
The space you lose could really be used well in the kitchen.
With a light switch there you get a kitchen run of about 2.60/2.70 m (8.5/8.9 ft). That already becomes tight for an eye-level oven and fridge. A side-by-side fridge will never fit. There is hardly any countertop space on the run for taller items, electrical appliances, or opened beverage bottles. The breadboard for jam will be placed centrally in the house… that then goes on the island, which on the other hand is rather in the way. At least for small children and distracted parents.

If you want to combine the utility room with the annex, I would place the door into the annex.
The northwest is the large window: that means you will have a pitch-dark dining room and kitchen. In summer, you get a few rays into the house in the evening.
The only positive is the additional corridor and the living room are on the sunny side of the house. And you tend to spend less time in the living room during summer… so the overall orientation is not that great.

Also, I noticed the roof orientation: the ridge direction should be parallel to the street for you. The neighbors have the orientation according to the site development plan.
So there is still a lot to do.
Nevertheless, I am adding my objections in the form of sketches.
(Toilet quite far from the entrance… that can backfire 😉 and you will accidentally knock over bottles on the kitchen island… I don’t want to be negative… but it is impractical for daily routines.)

Edit? The 63e windows are really too narrow… the frame is thicker than the glass there.

Ideensucher schrieb:

I’m only partly convinced.

Hello Ideensucher, thank you for your feedback nonetheless.

Ideensucher schrieb:

If there are only a few overnight guests – why have a shower downstairs?

There are different considerations. Upstairs, adding a second bathroom with a shower just doesn’t fit, but I believe having a second shower is useful in the long run. So the kids (or dad…) would just have to go downstairs – not ideal, but manageable. Also, this setup would allow the option of relocating the bedroom downstairs to live on one level.

Ideensucher schrieb:

Downstairs: toilet near the entrance, then you can combine the utility room with the HAR upstairs. And by leaving out the shower you gain 90cm (35 inches).

The HAR and utility room are planned to be combined. The idea is to swap the utility room and the pantry, and connect the pantry with the HAR, so the distance from pantry to kitchen won’t increase. Shower: see above. We want to keep it if possible.

Ideensucher schrieb:

Does the walk-in closet in the bedroom provide enough space? Even if towels and bed linens are stored in the hallway closet, that seems tight.

Currently, we manage with just under 2 meters (about 79 inches) of closet space, including towels and bed linens. Maybe we’re a bit unusual. We could also fit a dresser or two.

Ideensucher schrieb:

I like sitting in the living room without seeing the kitchen, but I think you’d soon bump your head near the stairs in the passageway – at least I’d find it awkward having to duck to go under the stairs.

Good point. According to the architect, it should be possible to walk through there comfortably. I need to look at that more closely. I’m also leaning toward shortening the wall between the living room and dining area to 3 meters (about 10 feet). That would make the passage around 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) wide.

Ideensucher schrieb:

And somehow I find the hallway to the office wasted space. No room for a shelf or an armchair in a quiet corner.

True, it’s currently basically just a hallway. For us that’s intentional, as it helps create separation between work and private life – the office is far away. Trying to fit an armchair there doesn’t fit my habits – I would never use it. Shelf space might be interesting though. I’ll have to consider that.

Ideensucher schrieb:

10 square meters (108 square feet) for a child’s room seems quite small – especially if the office is bigger and you aren’t really building a small house.
That kid will insist on swapping rooms at age 12 and want to move downstairs.

Yes, as mentioned above, this is a point we’re not entirely happy with. The floor area is just under 11.5 meters² (124 square feet) and due to the fairly steep roof, it is reasonably usable (e.g. for a bed). So the office wouldn’t offer significantly more space. To be honest, I could imagine a swap if necessary. It’s not forever.

PhiIipp schrieb:

I like your house.
In my opinion, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with it; on the contrary, someone clearly put a lot of thought into it.

That’s sufficient. And I would explain to the 12-year-old what I think about his wishes. It’s all a matter of upbringing. 😉

Besides, let’s be honest, there’s probably nothing against him moving downstairs.

Thanks, I’m glad you like it. I see it the same way. In our design, we mainly tried to make the shared living areas spacious.