ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Join Us on Our Journey!
Created on: 4 Aug 2022 16:13
G
gregman22
Dear community,
We are finally getting a step closer to realizing our dream of building a single-family home.
The plot has been purchased, building plans have been reviewed, construction method decided, and so on. We have now commissioned the architect of the general contractor (GC) of our choice with the planning task and are currently fine-tuning the house design. I would love to take you along on this journey and incorporate your valuable feedback.
At this stage, the focus is on the house design.
Basic data:
Plot: 1062m2 (11,433 sq ft); approx. 25.5m x 41.64m (84 ft x 137 ft)
Orientation: Northwest -> The arrow in the screenshot of the 3D view points south
Desired room layout:
Ground floor:
First floor:
Attic:
Note: I am still discussing this with the architect. Due to the hipped roof shape, the actual living area has shrunk too much. Therefore, further discussion is needed to accommodate the other rooms. I had underestimated the ratio of gross floor area to usable living space.
Basement:
Additional plans:
Now to my first questions for you:
My biggest construction challenge at the moment is the layout of the attic. There are two alternatives:
- Change the roof type, which would increase costs but provide more usable living space in the attic
- Give up the playroom on the first floor, convert it into a guest room, and build only the two offices in the attic (no guest room or bathroom)
Thank you in advance for your comments.
We are finally getting a step closer to realizing our dream of building a single-family home.
The plot has been purchased, building plans have been reviewed, construction method decided, and so on. We have now commissioned the architect of the general contractor (GC) of our choice with the planning task and are currently fine-tuning the house design. I would love to take you along on this journey and incorporate your valuable feedback.
At this stage, the focus is on the house design.
Basic data:
Plot: 1062m2 (11,433 sq ft); approx. 25.5m x 41.64m (84 ft x 137 ft)
Orientation: Northwest -> The arrow in the screenshot of the 3D view points south
Desired room layout:
Ground floor:
- Large living/dining area with adjacent (but separable) kitchen at the bottom left, plus a gallery overlooking the first floor
- Utility room
- Guest toilet
- Garage
- Separate apartment at the top right with its own entrance for parents-in-law
First floor:
- Gallery overlooking the ground floor
- 2 children’s bedrooms with a shared bathroom
- 1 playroom (initially a home cinema room, later to be repurposed) above the garage
- Master wing with main bedroom, dressing room, and bathroom
Attic:
Note: I am still discussing this with the architect. Due to the hipped roof shape, the actual living area has shrunk too much. Therefore, further discussion is needed to accommodate the other rooms. I had underestimated the ratio of gross floor area to usable living space.
- 2 separate offices
- 1 guest bedroom
- 1 small guest bathroom
Basement:
- 1 technical room
- 1 laundry room
- 1 storage room
- Large fitness room
- Wellness room with sauna
Additional plans:
- Air-to-air heat pump or air-to-water heat pump
- Photovoltaic system with/without battery storage
- Possible pool (3.5/4m x 8m or 3.5/4m x 12m) with heat pump (and countercurrent system)
- Sauna in the basement room
- Air conditioning for various rooms
- Smart home system – most likely via KNX
- Garden: Currently planning 2 terraces – one to the left, slightly more to the south, and one facing the main part of the plot further north
Now to my first questions for you:
- How do the floor plans strike you? Do they make sense in terms of the dynamics of family life?
- The location of the separate apartment was chosen based on our wish. We wanted a strict, clearly defined spatial separation with a separate entrance. Do you have any comments on this?
- Do you consider the utility rooms in the basement to be adequately sized (considering KNX, heat pump, etc.)?
My biggest construction challenge at the moment is the layout of the attic. There are two alternatives:
- Change the roof type, which would increase costs but provide more usable living space in the attic
- Give up the playroom on the first floor, convert it into a guest room, and build only the two offices in the attic (no guest room or bathroom)
Thank you in advance for your comments.
G
gregman2219 Aug 2022 09:20Quite a lot has happened here during my absence. Interesting discussions about the basics 🙂
Overall, I plan to involve a qualified system integrator during the planning phase who will work with me in detail on KNX and lighting.
Additionally, I will soon engage an energy consultant.
No, I am 22 years old and yes, I already own things. However, I will be moving from a significantly smaller apartment and won’t be taking all furniture pieces with me. That’s why I think it’s meaningful to make assumptions early on.
Of course, the new furniture won’t be in the house and set up on day one. It will be a gradual process. It is important to me, however, that enough budget remains reserved.
k-man2021 schrieb:Good to know that you started with a similar benchmark here.
We are calculating with $4,000 per square meter as well.
k-man2021 schrieb:Wow, that is quite a bit higher than my estimate. Let’s see how it looks later when the first offers come in.
Photovoltaics: $45,000 (just a rough budget, nothing planned)
k-man2021 schrieb:Yes, lighting design is quite the topic. In my furnishing and furniture costs, I have already included a certain budget for lighting.
Lighting design and lighting (I wouldn’t want to do without that, it’s more important to us than furniture)
Overall, I plan to involve a qualified system integrator during the planning phase who will work with me in detail on KNX and lighting.
Additionally, I will soon engage an energy consultant.
k-man2021 schrieb:I already have the electrical planner on board.
Specialist planning HVAC
Specialist planning electrical
ypg schrieb:Maybe strange, but still understandable to me.
Strange explanation. For us, it was always: we have everything. We move in with that, and if the wardrobe can no longer be assembled, we buy a new one. The gaps in the bigger home get filled with enthusiasm over the months/years.
Or does your "22" in the name refer to your age? ... that you don’t own anything yet?
No, I am 22 years old and yes, I already own things. However, I will be moving from a significantly smaller apartment and won’t be taking all furniture pieces with me. That’s why I think it’s meaningful to make assumptions early on.
Of course, the new furniture won’t be in the house and set up on day one. It will be a gradual process. It is important to me, however, that enough budget remains reserved.
G
gregman2219 Aug 2022 09:28ypg schrieb:
With 4000 per square meter (4000/sq m), you can build a 65 square meter (65 sq m) granny flat and a main house of 285 square meters (285 sq m). Thanks for the back-of-the-envelope calculation. Can you confirm that in your square meter (m²) calculations you are referring to both living area and auxiliary areas, rather than just living space? If it were pure living space, I would agree with you. However, since we are calculating with net floor area (NFA) in square meters, our space concept does not quite fit within this total size.
G
gregman2219 Aug 2022 09:32soneva2012 schrieb:
For the photovoltaics, I would still budget an extra 10,000 due to the pool. We ordered a large battery storage system to heat the pool and are now around 40,000.
Lighting consultation and planning also cost something for a project like this – easily 15,000 to 20,000 if you want quality spotlights and fixtures (not the 11-euro spotlights from the hardware store). I’m curious what overall quote my electrical planner will come up with. With KNX and lighting, it will be quite a large project for him, so there might potentially be some small flexibility – we’ll see.
Elokine schrieb:
I also think that around 4,000 per square meter could be a good estimate. Apart from interior and exterior painters, we’ve outsourced everything and are landing at about 3,400.
Northern Bavaria, 220 sqm (2,368 sq ft), a few extras like mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, a double-height space, large dormer.
At least those three extras you mentioned should already be included in the 4,000. Except for mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, I’m confident the extras will be included. Looking at our architect’s references, part of the price premium definitely goes toward the distinctive exterior design.
Tolentino schrieb:
Ground source heat pump boreholes can vary widely in cost.
And I think with such a large building, ventilation with air conditioning will probably be more expensive too.
So it’s better to budget a bit more than to come up short later.
I think overall your estimate is fine. Even if some items might be slightly higher, others are already priced quite high, so it should balance out more or less. Unless something crazy happens again at the building supply markets, which is quite possible considering the last three years. Understood – thanks!
G
gregman2219 Aug 2022 09:34Würfel* schrieb:
In the current floor plan, you have 40 sqm (430 sq ft) for the bedroom/dressing area plus a 25.04 sqm (269 sq ft) guest room. If you make the bedroom smaller and eliminate the 25 sqm (270 sq ft) room, wouldn’t you have space for 2 offices?I am very curious to see what result the architect will come up with here.K
k-man202119 Aug 2022 15:03gregman22 schrieb:
Yes, lighting design is quite a topic. I have already included a certain lighting budget in my equipment and furniture costs.
In general, I plan to involve a competent system integrator during my planning phase to look more closely at KNX and lighting with me.
Additionally, I will soon consult an energy advisor. I meant lighting design more on the interior design side... For example, our architect suggested from the start to design the lighting in a way that includes the outdoor area/terrace, so that in the evening you don’t look into a black window (if you want to keep the outside lights on for energy reasons)... also a lot of indirect lighting. The KNX specialist can then implement this, but will not plan the lighting for us.
G
gregman2219 Aug 2022 17:45k-man2021 schrieb:
By lighting design, I meant more the interior architectural aspect... For example, our architect suggested from the start to plan the lighting in a way that includes the outdoor area/terrace, so that in the evening you’re not looking at a black window (if you want to keep the outside lights on for energy reasons)… plus a lot of indirect lighting. The KNX technician will implement it, but won’t be responsible for the lighting design in our case. Understood. Thank you! I will bring this up with the architect during the planning stages.