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?
kbt09 schrieb:
.. and if the stairs are removed, there’s still space left for a storage room with a washing machine hookup 😉Well, not exactly in my case. Somehow you still have to get to the bathroom. The thing is, in my opinion, the original poster really doesn’t need the room, but grandmother and grandfather do. Others build a loft and then just a bedroom with a shower on the upper floor. No one would doubt that as long as all other needs are met. It’s pretty similar here—apart from budget, aesthetics, space, parking situation, and so on. 😀
K a t j a schrieb:
Yes, especially if you only want to access one room. But – the customer’s wish... You know how it is. 😀
I just realized I could fit an even bigger dining table in the granny flat if I move the kitchen to the opposite wall:
[ATTACH alt="grundriss-haus-mit-elw-verbesserungsvorschlaege-594926-1.jpg"]74810[/ATTACH]
Yeah – we deserve a little fun. Thanks for this layout. The granny flat is now slightly larger, but unfortunately the ground floor of the main residence has become a bit smaller due to the utility room. Overall, I think there are too many changes in the utility area. We would like to keep the straight staircase in the main house (if possible). Is there a way to plan a different staircase in the granny flat instead of the current space-consuming one? I have a (crazy) idea: since the utility room takes up quite a bit of space and the garage is relatively spacious, could the utility room be moved there?
kbt09 schrieb:
.. and if the staircase is removed, there will still be space for a storage room with a washing machine connection 😉That is a good idea. The granny flat should also have a (small) storage room.
MarlenP schrieb:
That’s a good idea.Good point: what do you think about my suggestion that you reflect on the drafts in posts #89 and #116 in a way that provides a basis to build on?https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
MarlenP schrieb:
Since the utility room takes up quite a bit of space and the garage is relatively spacious, could the utility room be relocated there? Bad idea. It should be within the thermal envelope, and as I understand from you, it needs to be easily accessible from the north?!
And you still need a place to store the kids’ bikes or yours somewhere, right?
MarlenP schrieb:
Is it possible to plan a different staircase in the granny flat instead of the current space-consuming one? What do you have in mind? A space-saving staircase, which healthy young people have already injured themselves on because they are so steep? It’s more likely that seniors will also need to use the upper room and clean or ventilate it when the son isn’t around, right?
MarlenP schrieb:
We would like to keep the straight staircase in the main house if possible. That’s a bit unfair to @K a t j a: she usually plans very well, mostly with non-straight staircases because they save space, and now you come along with a wish for a straight staircase. As far as I remember, that wasn’t mentioned in the initial post. I even checked myself "back then."
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