ᐅ House Floor Plan with a Separate Apartment – Suggestions for Improvement?
Created on: 31 Aug 2022 12:31
M
MarlenP
Hello everyone,
we plan to build a house with two residential units on a 472m2 (5,079 sq ft) plot of land (Unit 1: 143.39m2 (1,543 sq ft) / Unit 2: 69.57m2 (749 sq ft)).
The second unit is intended for my parents, while the main unit is for my family, which includes my spouse and three children (ages 7, 13, and 17).
Since our plot is relatively small, we want to build a compact house to maximize the garden space.
We are currently in the final planning stage and would appreciate your feedback on our project.
We have a feeling that we might have overlooked some important aspects or not paid enough attention to certain details because our planning focus was mainly on the compactness of the house.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 472m2 (5,079 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Perimeter development: south and east
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Architectural style:
Orientation: south/west
Maximum heights / limits: 10m (33 ft)
Additional requirements
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, number of storeys: no basement
Number of occupants and ages: Unit 1 – 5 people (ages 43, 38, 17, 13, 7); Unit 2 – 2 people, both over 60
Space needs on ground floor / upper floor:
Office: family use or home office? -
Number of guest stays per year: 2-3 times per year
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern build style: modern
Open kitchen, with or without island: open kitchen, no island
Number of dining seats: 5
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony or roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routines, also reasons why certain features are included or excluded
The house should be compact but still feel spacious.
House Design
Planning by:
- planner from a construction company
- architect: by the architect
- do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why? It is a relatively small house with two residential units.
What do you dislike? Why? Maybe some rooms (children’s rooms and the rooms in the secondary unit) are too small?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approx. 600,000€
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: 650,000€
Preferred heating system: district heating
If you had to give up something, which details or expansions
- could you do without: basically nothing – we have already minimized everything.
- could you not do without: the planned number of rooms
Why did the design end up like it is? For example:
Standard design from the planner?
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Yes
A mix of many examples from various magazines…
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
We wanted the house to be as compact as possible. Maybe we focused too much on compactness and neglected other important aspects.
What do you like about the house, what do you not like so much, and what would be unacceptable?
we plan to build a house with two residential units on a 472m2 (5,079 sq ft) plot of land (Unit 1: 143.39m2 (1,543 sq ft) / Unit 2: 69.57m2 (749 sq ft)).
The second unit is intended for my parents, while the main unit is for my family, which includes my spouse and three children (ages 7, 13, and 17).
Since our plot is relatively small, we want to build a compact house to maximize the garden space.
We are currently in the final planning stage and would appreciate your feedback on our project.
We have a feeling that we might have overlooked some important aspects or not paid enough attention to certain details because our planning focus was mainly on the compactness of the house.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 472m2 (5,079 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Perimeter development: south and east
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Architectural style:
Orientation: south/west
Maximum heights / limits: 10m (33 ft)
Additional requirements
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, number of storeys: no basement
Number of occupants and ages: Unit 1 – 5 people (ages 43, 38, 17, 13, 7); Unit 2 – 2 people, both over 60
Space needs on ground floor / upper floor:
Office: family use or home office? -
Number of guest stays per year: 2-3 times per year
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern build style: modern
Open kitchen, with or without island: open kitchen, no island
Number of dining seats: 5
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony or roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routines, also reasons why certain features are included or excluded
The house should be compact but still feel spacious.
House Design
Planning by:
- planner from a construction company
- architect: by the architect
- do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why? It is a relatively small house with two residential units.
What do you dislike? Why? Maybe some rooms (children’s rooms and the rooms in the secondary unit) are too small?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approx. 600,000€
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: 650,000€
Preferred heating system: district heating
If you had to give up something, which details or expansions
- could you do without: basically nothing – we have already minimized everything.
- could you not do without: the planned number of rooms
Why did the design end up like it is? For example:
Standard design from the planner?
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Yes
A mix of many examples from various magazines…
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
We wanted the house to be as compact as possible. Maybe we focused too much on compactness and neglected other important aspects.
What do you like about the house, what do you not like so much, and what would be unacceptable?
K a t j a schrieb:
This was an initial idea. However, there are still several unclear points. The bathroom, the distance from the carport to the street, and also the entrance area for five people who need a place to put down their bags and jackets when they arrive. Is it reasonable to expect the parents-in-law to have to navigate through this before entering their own apartment? My sister has a similar setup. It works there. But how is it in general? Since it involves family, the shared hallway does not bother the parents. It’s not ideal, but we have to be willing to compromise here.
ypg schrieb:
Wow! That’s really bold of you!Let’s see where this journey takes us.
ypg schrieb:
You should probably go through all your threads to check for questions from us and also comment on the ideas mentioned… like whether you could imagine having the living room upstairs or a separate accessible guest area. Then age/bond with the student, etc… how many cars will there actually be after moving in, and so on…I can basically imagine the living room on the first floor (1. OG). That would probably require one or two children's bedrooms to be moved to the attic, which would inevitably mean finishing the attic, making the building project more expensive. The big advantage of this option would be more space for the granny flat on the ground floor, and the house could be somewhat narrower overall. We only have two cars; one belongs to us and the other to my parents. No more cars are planned in the near future. The student plans to stay in town after finishing studies (he also has a job prospect). Of course, we can’t rule out that he might change his mind after graduation. Then the parents will simply live alone in the flat, and if they eventually decide they no longer want or are able to live there, we could rent the flat out or move in ourselves, with one of our children taking the main residence.
But it’s difficult to speculate about what will happen in 10 to 15 years.
MarlenP schrieb:
Garages/carports must be at least 5m (16 feet) away from the street, at least in our building area.
Deal breaker. So the first design is off the table. To save it, we’ll rotate the layout, which isn’t as disadvantageous as one might think:Here you can clearly see how tight the distances really are – including for the terraces.
Garden? That’s only a distant dream, quite literally.
Maybe you could get permission to build a covered area for bicycles within the setback zone along the street as shown – that’s worth asking about. On the upper floor, I would like to bring natural light into the hallway from above through the roof. That depends on the roof shape, though. A flat roof is probably too expensive but would be perfect for skylights.
Other than that, I think this design could be approved.
ypg schrieb:
Then you should search through all your threads for questions from us and also comment on the ideas mentioned… Exactly.
MarlenP schrieb:
Since this concerns the immediate family, the shared corridor does not bother the parents. It’s not ideal, but we need to be willing to compromise here. Regarding a shared entrance area, I believe this exceptionally. Otherwise, I am somewhat uncertain whether the parents’ presumed limits for compromise are not being overestimated.
MarlenP schrieb:
which would inevitably mean that the attic would have to be converted, which in turn would increase the cost of the construction project. It would also be possible to use the attic only for storage and plan the utility room there—so non-living spaces—thus avoiding complex fire escape regulations. We discussed this with @Golfi90 in https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/gedaemmten-technikraum-fuer-die-gastherme-auf-dem-dachboden-schaffe.32450/
MarlenP schrieb:
But it is tedious to speculate about what will happen in 10-15 years. Also see my comments in “Irrwege der vorausschauenden Hausplanung” and “When Is It Time to Consider Building for Old Age?” (both easily found online with quotation marks). Besides, today’s home builders tend to think too much about stairlifts and too little about moving during the financing period—but that is a broad topic and, at least in the Monty Python sense, “a different matter.”
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Regarding a shared entrance area, I think I can agree exceptionally this time. Otherwise, I am somewhat "unsure" whether the anticipated compromise limits of the parents are not being overestimated.
Well, the children are 17, 13, and 7. Apart from the little one, I think you can already expect a certain level of tolerance from the other two. 😉
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