ᐅ Floor plan for two semi-detached houses – wide and narrow or square-shaped
Created on: 1 Feb 2022 23:26
S
smartsurfer85
Currently, there is a single-family house on the plot, built in 1961. The long-term tenant recently passed away. Since a full renovation of the existing house seems too expensive and complex to me, I would like to have a complete semi-detached house built instead, consisting of two mirrored halves.
I plan to keep one half of the semi-detached house and rent it out. The second half I either want to rent out as well or sell—either immediately after completion if the project costs exceed my financial means, or later (for example, after 10 years).
The plot is rather long and narrow, so standard floor plans do not fit directly. The usual semi-detached house layouts tend to be “long and narrow” rather than “wide and short” or “square.” A wider layout does not necessarily seem better for usable rooms. How much larger than 8.80m x 7.80m (29 ft x 26 ft) should each half be? (Dimensions taken from the plot with some distance left for garden space toward neighbors, positioning the building volume accordingly; there is no strict need to adhere exactly to these, it's simply a starting point.)
Since I have no clear idea of the required minimum size yet, I started designing a basic floor plan.
I also want to use this draft to compare prices from different general contractors.
I generated two different variants (plans for the ground floor, upper floor, and attic are still pending).
What improvements can be made? Do you have any other ideas?
Site sketch: plot (dark blue) with planned parking spaces, pathway, and building volume
Variant 1:
Variant 2:
Plot size: 499m² (5373 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: §34 Baugesetzbuch (Building Code)
Plot ratio: §34 Baugesetzbuch (Building Code)
Building envelope, building line, and boundary lines
Edge construction: 2.5m (8 ft) setback from the property line
Number of parking spaces: 2 per semi-detached half = 4 total
Number of storeys: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: Classic
Orientation: North
Maximum heights/restrictions
Further requirements
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Solid construction
Basement, storeys: Preferably no basement for cost reasons; ground floor, upper floor, and attic
Number of occupants, age: Target group is a family with 1–3 children
Space requirements for ground floor, upper floor, attic: approx. 120–150m² (1290–1615 sq ft)
Office: For family use or home office? Home office, 1–2 offices
Guest bedrooms per year:
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Possibly carport
Garden for vegetables, greenhouse: No
Other requests / special details / daily routine, including reasons why this or that should or should not be included: Simple floor plan to reduce costs, garden area preferably facing south with about 4.70m (15.5 ft) to potentially minimal 4m (13 ft) distance to neighbors to allow good use of a terrace.
House Design
Planned by:
- Do-it-yourself: Yes
What do you particularly like? Why? Variant 1: Living/dining on the ground floor allows better use of space; Variant 2: room layout on the upper floor offers better usable rooms.
What do you not like? Why? Variant 1: Utility room on the ground floor is accessible only through the guest bathroom.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: Unknown so far; floor plan serves as a basis for price inquiries.
Personal price limit for house including fixtures: –
Preferred heating technology: Air source heat pump
If you had to give up something, which details or upgrades?
- Can give up: Bay window, basement
- Cannot give up: Utility room on the ground floor
Why is the design the way it currently is?
Based on examples of semi-detached houses, which are usually “long and narrow,” while here “short and wide” / “square” is needed. An additional challenge is accommodating technical rooms without a basement.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Size optimization: The current exterior dimensions of 8.80m x 7.80m (29 ft x 26 ft) seem really tight. How much larger, and with which layout variant (1, 2, or completely different)?
I plan to keep one half of the semi-detached house and rent it out. The second half I either want to rent out as well or sell—either immediately after completion if the project costs exceed my financial means, or later (for example, after 10 years).
The plot is rather long and narrow, so standard floor plans do not fit directly. The usual semi-detached house layouts tend to be “long and narrow” rather than “wide and short” or “square.” A wider layout does not necessarily seem better for usable rooms. How much larger than 8.80m x 7.80m (29 ft x 26 ft) should each half be? (Dimensions taken from the plot with some distance left for garden space toward neighbors, positioning the building volume accordingly; there is no strict need to adhere exactly to these, it's simply a starting point.)
Since I have no clear idea of the required minimum size yet, I started designing a basic floor plan.
I also want to use this draft to compare prices from different general contractors.
I generated two different variants (plans for the ground floor, upper floor, and attic are still pending).
What improvements can be made? Do you have any other ideas?
Site sketch: plot (dark blue) with planned parking spaces, pathway, and building volume
Variant 1:
Variant 2:
Plot size: 499m² (5373 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: §34 Baugesetzbuch (Building Code)
Plot ratio: §34 Baugesetzbuch (Building Code)
Building envelope, building line, and boundary lines
Edge construction: 2.5m (8 ft) setback from the property line
Number of parking spaces: 2 per semi-detached half = 4 total
Number of storeys: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: Classic
Orientation: North
Maximum heights/restrictions
Further requirements
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Solid construction
Basement, storeys: Preferably no basement for cost reasons; ground floor, upper floor, and attic
Number of occupants, age: Target group is a family with 1–3 children
Space requirements for ground floor, upper floor, attic: approx. 120–150m² (1290–1615 sq ft)
Office: For family use or home office? Home office, 1–2 offices
Guest bedrooms per year:
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Possibly carport
Garden for vegetables, greenhouse: No
Other requests / special details / daily routine, including reasons why this or that should or should not be included: Simple floor plan to reduce costs, garden area preferably facing south with about 4.70m (15.5 ft) to potentially minimal 4m (13 ft) distance to neighbors to allow good use of a terrace.
House Design
Planned by:
- Do-it-yourself: Yes
What do you particularly like? Why? Variant 1: Living/dining on the ground floor allows better use of space; Variant 2: room layout on the upper floor offers better usable rooms.
What do you not like? Why? Variant 1: Utility room on the ground floor is accessible only through the guest bathroom.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: Unknown so far; floor plan serves as a basis for price inquiries.
Personal price limit for house including fixtures: –
Preferred heating technology: Air source heat pump
If you had to give up something, which details or upgrades?
- Can give up: Bay window, basement
- Cannot give up: Utility room on the ground floor
Why is the design the way it currently is?
Based on examples of semi-detached houses, which are usually “long and narrow,” while here “short and wide” / “square” is needed. An additional challenge is accommodating technical rooms without a basement.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Size optimization: The current exterior dimensions of 8.80m x 7.80m (29 ft x 26 ft) seem really tight. How much larger, and with which layout variant (1, 2, or completely different)?
S
smartsurfer852 Oct 2022 01:11I was already happy to see so much being written in such a short time! Criticism of the designs is also welcome.
I don’t understand this criticism at all:
As already mentioned, the planning was put on hold, so it’s clear that nothing further has happened.
From what I experience here in the region, the agenda is “creating housing,” and the district authority overrules the local council, technical committee, etc., especially regarding §34. It feels like they build whatever is possible.
Before I approach a designer/project manager, I want to have an idea of what I want or what I consider feasible.
I don’t understand this criticism at all:
ypg schrieb:
. Since half a year has now passed, one should start to question the seriousness of your house construction, right?
K a t j a schrieb:
Especially since the original poster still apparently hasn’t managed to get a binding statement from the authorities about the maximum buildable area. In that time, I would have already had a complete pre-application for building permission/planning permission answered and in front of me.
As already mentioned, the planning was put on hold, so it’s clear that nothing further has happened.
From what I experience here in the region, the agenda is “creating housing,” and the district authority overrules the local council, technical committee, etc., especially regarding §34. It feels like they build whatever is possible.
Before I approach a designer/project manager, I want to have an idea of what I want or what I consider feasible.
S
smartsurfer852 Oct 2022 01:1511ant schrieb:
Are you only reading your own thread? Otherwise, you shouldn’t have missed the example from @MarlenP.
..
If you decide to go back to the previous concept, you can find suitable inspiration with @MadameP, even though your plot is not a corner lot. I’m not familiar with those examples, so I will take a closer look there. Thanks for the links!
11ant schrieb:
Increasing the density beyond a single-family house might be possible, but the plan for a double multi-family house is probably too ambitious. Yes, that may be true; in the end, it will naturally come down to a question of cost.
S
smartsurfer852 Oct 2022 01:27ypg schrieb:
I consider a living area with just under 3 meters width (3.10) and a staircase measuring 3.10 meters long by 0.80 meters wide barely worth discussing. A staircase in the plan for standard ceiling height should be at least 3.70 meters long and 0.90 meters wide. For non-professionals, even larger. (This criticism includes other narrow spots in this plan)kbt09 schrieb:
The floor plans themselves don’t work. Yvonne already mentioned the internal staircase. But the staircase in the stairwell with a footprint of about 1.80 by 2.25 meters also doesn’t work properly. It becomes steep and narrow, and furniture needs to be moved through it to the attic.
The furniture you’ve drawn highlights the tight spots in the rooms.
Attic bedrooms with beds placed under the 2 meter (6 ft 7 in) height line – that’s not acceptable.
After deducting the stairwell, walls, and areas below 2 meters, the attic apartment will have barely 60 square meters (645 square feet) of living space, if even that.I have actually seen that same internal staircase with the dimensions (3.08 m x 0.80 m) at friends’ houses and found it acceptable.
They also have a stairwell of about 1.80 m by 2.26 m, but that was already a bit tight.
What minimum dimensions do you recommend for the living/dining area?
60 square meters (645 square feet) in the attic would seem sufficient; a basement apartment wouldn’t usually have more, right?
S
smartsurfer852 Oct 2022 01:35mayglow schrieb:
I’m not sure if these really fit the plot better, but I’ve found somewhat more suitable floor plans in terms of depth under “two-family house” (instead of semi-detached house). The Massa Haus FamilyStyle 20.04 F is almost like a semi-detached house except for a shared utility room (and probably different fire safety regulations, etc.). The Heinz von Heiden two-family house 490 has one apartment per floor. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll take a closer look!
mayglow schrieb:
Yes, exactly because it’s not 100 percent finalized, I thought it might be worth looking for inspiration in different directions.
…
Basically, I find the question interesting whether you could put two semi-detached houses there and, if so, what the best arrangement would be. Do you build them as deep as possible (around 15m (50 feet) minus the minimum setback, so roughly 9m (30 feet) depth) and then have terraces on the east and west sides?
…
But it really sounds more like an architect’s task, and yes, whether the planning authority accepts it AND whether it makes financial sense is definitely questionable 😉 Yes, exactly, nothing is finalized yet and I’m fully aware of the basic criticism of the new plan.
I now think that nothing more fits on the south side and it likely comes down to terraces on the east and west sides.
S
smartsurfer852 Oct 2022 01:38ypg schrieb:
Something similar was recently built in our neighborhood. The floor plan is not complicated. By the way, it is a single-story building; the long sides of the roof have dormers for the attic rooms. By any chance, do you have a floor plan example or a reference to an online source?
smartsurfer85 schrieb:
I have seen this exact internal staircase with the dimensions (3.08m x 0.80m) (10.1 ft x 2.6 ft) at friends’ houses and thought it was still acceptable. What was the floor-to-floor height there? The 80 cm width (0.80m / 2.6 ft), as you drew it, includes wall plaster and the railing.
smartsurfer85 schrieb:
Also the stairwell (1.80m x 2.26m) (5.9 ft x 7.4 ft) Again, what was the floor-to-floor height? Keep in mind, you have to cover two floors here.
You should also consider that providing access from the ground floor to the attic occupies the stairwell and even the hallway on the upper floor, meaning a total of about 10 square meters (108 sq ft) of space taken from the other floors.
And before you start thinking about a four-family house, you should definitely do a preliminary check on what is required.
With the current dimensions, you will have only about 3 meters (10 ft) of green space left around the house besides the parking spaces and access paths. Is that how you want to live?