ᐅ Floor Plan Discussion: Single-Family Home, 11.3m x 9.4m, 5 Occupants, Sloped Site

Hello everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to look into our building project!

## Development Plan / Restrictions

Plot size: 635m² (6,836 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, diagonal gradient approx. 8.5%
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.4
For outbuildings (garage, shed), we are allowed to build up to an additional 50m² (540 sq ft).
Number of parking spaces: 3
Maximum ridge height: 8.7m (28.5 ft)
Building zone, building line and boundary: See ground floor plan (Blue: building zone; red dashed: outbuildings)
Contour lines: See floor plan
Roof shape and pitch: 0 to 50 degrees

## Homeowners’ Requirements

# General
5 people (2 adults, 3 children aged 5, 3, and 3 years)
Urban villa, hipped roof, 2 full floors plus basement

# Rooms
Open-plan living area (kitchen, dining, living)
Open kitchen (U-shaped)
4 bedrooms
3 bathrooms (one per floor)
1 office: home office
1 technical room
1 utility room
2 garages/carports
1 residential basement (for bedroom and office, basement may protrude up to 1.3m (4 ft 3 in) above ground)
Optional: walk-in closet
Optional: guest room
Optional: pantry
Optional: storage room
Optional: hobby room
Optional: granny flat (for KFW funding)

# Building Services
Geothermal heat pump with cooling function
Central ventilation system with bypass
Underfloor heating
KFW-standard: as low as possible, as high as necessary (cost-benefit ratio)
KNX smart home system: yes, where practical
Optional: photovoltaic system
Optional: rainwater cistern
Optional: greywater recycling

# Additional Wishes
Wood-burning fireplace (because we like the warmth and light)
Double carport or one garage + one carport (for cars, bicycles, and trash bins)
Sustainability where reasonable and cost-effective
Optional: home cinema in living room (hobby)
Optional: covered terrace (luxury: rainproof garden shelter)
Optional: workshop (always something to do)
Optional: kitchen garden (hobby)
Optional: greenhouse (hobby)

# Other
Depending on costs, it may make sense to include some features during construction that can also be added later.
It is more important to us that aspects which are difficult or impossible to change later (e.g. house size, walls, windows, bus system) are right from the start.
For some other items, we are willing to compromise initially (e.g. cheaper kitchen, furniture, lamps).

## House Design

Overview of the entire plot with building boundaries for the house (blue) and outbuildings (red dashed)
Access is from the front via a public road.
At the bottom left is a public parking area with 3 spaces between 2 trees.
The 2.5m² (27 sq ft) in the central lower area is reserved for street sweeping machine access.
Adjacent to the plot on the left
The terrace is planned on the west side to provide some shade from direct sun in midsummer and because I want a roof over it. The building authority has noted that with a roof, we can only exceed the building boundary by about 1 to 1.5m (3 to 5 ft).

Basement:

The basement is planned to extend about 1.3m (4 ft 3 in) above ground on the north side to allow sufficient daylight for the bedroom and office. It is also required not to level the plot.

Ground floor (GF)

Upper floor (UF):

From the upper floor, there will be a beautiful view to the north over the surrounding landscape, overlooking the northern neighbour.

# The floor plan is our original creation and is currently with the architect from the construction company.
More than 40 different versions with various larger and smaller adjustments and different approaches were necessary.
Although a lot of time and thought has gone into the planning, I look forward to honest and constructive feedback without compromise!
What we don’t consider now will mainly annoy me after the build. Of course, I understand that not everything can be perfect afterwards. ;-)

# Our impression of the floor plan
We really like the ground floor. The open layout of kitchen, dining, and (small) living area.
Separately set apart is the (large) living room with TV. The fireplace is integrated into the center.

As long as the kids are young, everyone can sleep upstairs. Later, they can fight over the basement bedroom. ;-)

Initially, we wanted 4 bedrooms on the upper floor, but the rooms then get small and the ground floor and basement become disproportionally large.
Therefore, we currently tend towards 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 bedroom plus office in the basement.

I am unsure about the connection on the ground floor between the open living area and the TV room.
How much space should be left to keep the rooms separate but still open in design?

The floor plan and driveway from the south side make planning more difficult, in my opinion.
With access from the side, we have more views towards the southwest.
However, the (uncovered) path to the front door will be longer.
Is this a problem?

# What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What problems and/or improvement suggestions do you see?

# Additional questions:
There is only one other house between our future home and a daycare center. What kind of sound insulation should we focus on?

diaphon schrieb:

(...)
As long as the kids are small, they can all sleep upstairs.
Later, the kids will have to fight over the basement room. ;-)
(...)

Bold move. Either one of the kids will think a basement room with a small north-facing window is cool…
or you’ll have 10 or more years of battles over rooms at home.

Especially since the basement room, as compensation for the inconvenient location, is even smaller(!) than the rooms upstairs.
If it were at least 25–30m² (270–320 sq ft) and therefore bigger, that would be something to argue for. But as it is?

PS:
You will never get enough light into that room through this small window. We have a 1.2m (4 ft) wide floor-to-ceiling window in the children’s room facing north, and even that is not sufficient on a cloudy day.

Since you have already looked into KfW:

What does your budget look like? In other words, how much can the house cost?

That’s roughly 240m² (2583 sq ft). Without calculating everything in detail, I would say you need at least a 7 at the start—meaning 700,000—including no additional costs...

I found it in the green forum: The budget is 650,000 including additional costs... FORGET IT!

As others have already told you in the other forum (before you kindly deleted your original post so nobody could read it): This project is purely a fantasy given that budget.

Start over, smaller, and significantly (!) more modest.

Hello Diaphon,

First, I would ask you to complete the questionnaire fully. It seems you started it but then lost interest and only answered the following questions very sporadically.

Initial impressions of the floor plan: Your children's room concept doesn’t work. There are fewer children’s rooms than children—do you really plan to send one child to the basement later? Why don’t you as parents simply move to the basement once the twins no longer want to share a room? This way, you kill two birds with one stone: all children still have nice rooms upstairs, and you as parents are further away, which is often desirable for both sides once children reach a certain age.
Am I correct in understanding that there is no toilet near the basement bathroom because you want to avoid installing a macerator pump? I would reconsider that if sleeping is planned down there as well.

By the way, a house of this size on a slope costs over €1 million. Is that your plan?

diaphon schrieb:

Upstairs, we will have a beautiful view to the north, overlooking the northern neighbor and the landscape beyond.

But as planned, you will have relatively little benefit from that…
I find the separated corner in the kitchen extremely impractical; the door is always in the way. Whether you like the corner itself is a matter of taste; personally, I think it looks outdated, but it’s not for me to decide.
21sqm (225 sq ft) is quite generous for children’s rooms. Is that intentional, or did it just happen after fitting in everything you need/want?

diaphon schrieb:

The floor plan is an original design, currently with the architect from the construction company.

diaphon schrieb:

What we are not taking into account now will mainly annoy me after construction.

Given your requirements, I think an architect should have full freedom to develop a design that fits your budget and needs. For a project likely approaching a million, I wouldn’t consider a rough sketch from a non-professional as the final authority to be formalized.

Hello everyone,

Thank you very much for the numerous responses and previous feedback!

Our thoughts on the basement bedroom:
The room is smaller than the upstairs bedrooms but has its own bathroom.
We have also considered using the basement bedroom for the parents. Based on feedback from friends and family, it seems the kids would really like it. In case of any disputes, the parents would, of course, go to the basement.
Regarding sufficient light, we are relying on the architect’s experience.
There will definitely be a proper bathroom with a toilet in the basement. I should have drawn it more clearly or left it out. Sorry.

Regarding the budget:
The $650k was for the house including fittings. The total planned budget is $750k.
This would put us well below the million predicted here.
If the prediction proves true, which I unfortunately have to expect based on your experience, then we will have to go back to the drawing board.

Regarding the questionnaire:
I actually thought I had included the information from the questionnaire in my post, even if the order was a bit different.
What information is still missing?

Regarding the north-facing view on the upper floor

Costruttrice schrieb:

But, as planned, you have relatively little of that…

Any ideas? Or just bigger windows?

Costruttrice schrieb:

The separated corner in the kitchen seems very impractical to me; the door is always in the way. Whether you like the corner otherwise is a matter of taste – personally, I think it looks old-fashioned, but it’s not my place.

That comment led me to an alternative idea. Thanks!

Costruttrice schrieb:

21 m² (226 sq ft) is quite generous for children’s bedrooms. Was this intentional, or did it just happen after fitting in everything you need/want?

This developed after a longer process. Here is the explanation:
To accommodate four bedrooms plus a bathroom on the upper floor, the built footprint would have been significantly larger (~125 m² (1,345 sq ft)). Due to the floor area ratio, we are limited to about 190 m² (2,045 sq ft). Access road, terrace, and path to the house made it, in my view, quite tight. Also, the idea was that with such a large house, the kids’ rooms would look “small.” The idea was to have larger rooms despite the smaller footprint, which ultimately led in our thinking to a living basement.

Costruttrice schrieb:

I think with these requirements, an architect should be given freedom to develop a design that meets your budget and needs. For a project that will probably approach a million, I wouldn’t consider my amateur sketch as the final word and just have it drawn up neatly.

Very good point. That is exactly what I discussed with the architect.
The process to this floor plan felt quite long. But the previous remarks already highlight some problems, not least the budget. For me, it was especially important to engage with the layout options and the possibilities of the plot. Only through that did some requirements and wishes arise.