ᐅ Are doors necessary on the ground floor? Floor plan attached.

Kreisrund schrieb:

Is that still the case in modern houses? I often read that with underfloor heating, all rooms are kept at the same temperature. But what about the basement?

It depends on how it is designed. If you set the heating for the living areas at 22°C (72°F) — I consider the standard 20°C (68°F) as too low for everywhere — the basement, which is within the building’s thermal envelope, likely won’t be heated that high. Maybe around 18°C (64°F). So, you do notice a difference. Also, the house should not have drafts, especially not cold air coming up strongly from the basement.

Elias_dee schrieb:

and built up to the same height towards the basement

I’m not quite sure what you mean by that. In the picture, it looks like only the back wall is built up? Are you planning to close off the basement stairs and place the upper floor stairs on the "zigzag wall"? In that case, you might consider turning the basement stairs by a quarter and accessing them from the hallway. But would the closed-off “block” then look good?

Regarding heat: cold air doesn’t rise, but it still lowers the living room temperature because the air mixes. A small heated basement hallway might help here. The cold rooms in the basement should be closed off with doors.

Overall, I would swap the kitchen and living room. I find the kitchen too large and impractical, and the living room too small and uncomfortable. A sofa with its back to the garden and facing the front yard, stairs, and hallway is not really my preference. But if so, please make sure there is a door. Otherwise, you’ll also be looking at the (sometimes possibly messy) coat area and the restroom door.

Why do you always have issues with downpipes in living areas? We have one from the upper floor shower in the open-plan living space and had it wrapped with some kind of insulation, and that’s it.

Würfel* schrieb:

Then you could consider (just) making a quarter turn in the basement stairs and accessing them from the hallway.

I also came across this obvious idea.
But such suggestions are not desired. On the contrary, further discussion is no longer welcome.

Würfel* schrieb:

But would the closed "block" actually look good?

There is potential in the design. After all, they want an eye-catcher.

Regarding the living room and kitchen: our architect initially designed them differently – with the living room facing south and the kitchen to the north. We disagreed. Why? Because we actually spend a lot more time in the kitchen and very little in the living room. We mainly use the living room to watch TV (and that’s pretty rare). We both spend most of our time in the kitchen (which is why we wanted a large kitchen), and when we have guests, we almost always sit around the large dining table.

In our current rental apartment, we also have a large L-shaped area combining the kitchen, living room, and dining room, so this layout has naturally become our routine over the years.

We really like this setup, and while it might not be entirely “standard,” it is tailored to our lifestyle. The view of the garden matters to us mainly from the kitchen and dining area. We only spend about 2 hours in the living room at night watching TV... usually when the blinds are already down.

Since we also don’t plan to have children, the living room will never play a major role in our lives, neither for family nor for visitors.

This house isn’t a catalog home but is customized to fit our life.

ypg schrieb:

The problem is that such suggestions are not welcome. On the contrary, further discussion is no longer desired.

Oh, someone clearly feels offended. Next time, I’ll send you my floor plan before starting construction and have you approve it.