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?

Site plan: building II WD 30 with red hatching, outlines and driveway.


Floor plan of a house with living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, stairs and garage.


Floor plan showing bedrooms, children’s rooms, bathroom, hallway and staircase.


Two-storey house with gable roof; south and east views, windows and doors.


Section and west elevation of a single-family house with foundation, stairs and window front.


North elevation of a two-storey house with gable roof and garage; window front and entrance.
K a t j a11 Sep 2022 06:25
ypg schrieb:

Do you notice something? ...
Because time last week was wasted time… simply wasted. 😳

I don’t feel that way. What bothers me more is when there’s little feedback from the poster about individual designs or when they disappear altogether. Then you have no idea if you’re at least heading in the right direction.

Here is my suggestion for the current building permit / planning permission application:


Floor plan of a house with utility room, guest WC, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining area, living room, and stairwell.


Floor plan of a house with multiple rooms: kitchen, bathroom, shower, utility room, and bedrooms.

The hallway and stairs are still inside the granny flat 😱;), its bathroom was removed. Now the parents upstairs have an ensuite bathroom – that’s more important.
The light in the upper stairwell is unfortunately only artificial, unless you manage to bring daylight in through the roof – think daylight spots. One child sleeps right next to the parents – that’s also a difference, because I found the drainage through the living room questionable from the start. So sound insulation would need to be improved here. Whether and how the terraces still fit – the poster refuses to comment on that. So she will have to figure it out herself.
It remains tight, but I think it’s livable. By the way, my kitchen table in the granny flat measures 130cm x 90cm (51 inches x 35 inches). :p


Unfinished two-story gray house with open window frames on a green field
Y
ypg
11 Sep 2022 09:08
A staircase for only one room is even crazier than the initial floor plan 😳
K a t j a11 Sep 2022 09:14
ypg schrieb:

A staircase for just one room is even more unusual than the initial floor plan 😳
Yes, definitely. The whole design feels a bit crazy, if you ask me. But it would work reasonably well, and it was the family’s wish to accommodate the brother with grandma and grandpa. So why not?
Y
ypg
11 Sep 2022 09:18
K a t j a schrieb:

So why not?

Because @Würfel* has already presented something very good?! It just needs a little bit of fine-tuning.
K a t j a11 Sep 2022 09:45
But the brother was in the other part of the house, which was originally something you wanted to avoid, right?
Also, there were 5 bathrooms again...
K
kbt09
11 Sep 2022 10:11
But @MarlenP has already commented on this. The brother’s status has been downgraded, and he will have a room with her, which can also be used as a guest room when he is away.

However, it might be worth considering whether the previously planned in-law apartment bathroom can be improved according to @K a t j a’s plan.
By the way, the post by @Würfel* is on page 15, post #89 .. here is the link.

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