ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family House, Solid Wood Construction, 140 sqm in Lower Saxony
Created on: 2 Jan 2023 15:30
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-LotteS-
Hello dear house building forum!
Here are some details—based on our best knowledge and judgment—about our house construction project...
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size 576 sqm (approx. 6195 sq ft) - parcel 17/28 (see cadastral map)
Slope no – the plot has only a few centimeters (inches) of elevation difference
Floor area ratio (FAR) 0.3 = 172.8 sqm (1861 sq ft)
Plot ratio not defined
Building envelope, building line and boundary 24x24 meter (79x79 feet) plot = N-E-S-W 16x18x16x18 meter (52x59x52x59 feet) building envelope
Edge development no, exceptions possibly according to Lower Saxony Building Regulations
Required number of parking spaces not specified
Number of floors single storey
Roof shape gable/hip/half-hip with 35-50 degree pitch
Architectural style classic detached house
Ridge direction specified = ridge line running west-east
Max height limits ridge height 4.0 m (13 ft), eaves height 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional rules no oil heating, 50% of the south-facing roof must have solar panels, no building allowed between house and street (e.g., no parking or similar in front yard)
The plot has been purchased and the utility infrastructure in the new development area is already completed (our plot is even located on a pre-asphalted road).
Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type solid wooden house made of massive log beams inside, blown insulation, and exterior cladding
Basement, floors no basement – only ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages three, aged 36, 29, and five and a half
Space requirements on ground and upper floors standard single-family home with 3 bedrooms plus bathroom upstairs, open-plan living area downstairs, guest WC, and large utility/housekeeping room
Office: family use or home office? One room currently usable as office/guest room (backup for future child needs), currently neither of us have jobs with home office option
Open or closed layout living/dining/kitchen preferably open
Conservative or modern construction style conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island open kitchen yes, kitchen island currently not planned
Number of dining seats daily use for 3, but dining nook should be sufficient for more people
Fireplace planned is a masonry stove
Music/stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport carport with workshop
Utility garden, greenhouse no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why some things are included or excluded
House Design
Who designed the plan: plan based on our principles, then optimized with the manufacturer’s in-house architect
What do you particularly like? Why? We really like the extended dining nook with the surrounding bench; overall, our ideas about room sizes have been well implemented – whether everything will really work as we imagine, we would like to ask here.
What do you dislike? Why? The chimney’s position might be bothersome in the children's room? Or is that negligible in daily life? We are still not satisfied with the kitchen and bathroom upstairs and are currently looking for a good furnishing/decorating solution.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: Since we are not working with a general contractor but will handle contracts ourselves after the shell is built and do a lot of work ourselves, we don’t have all numbers yet. The following trades are currently being costed.
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 400,000 up to move-in ready, excluding everything outside the building itself, plot is paid
Preferred heating technology: heat pump with underfloor heating plus photovoltaics with possible storage
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- can you do without: We have tried to adapt our demands to the budget as much as possible – does anyone see further savings potential?
- can you not do without: As an absolute last resort, we would remove the dining nook and redesign the ground floor – also, the masonry stove is fixed for us (we just love this cozy atmosphere).
Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard plan from planner? The manufacturer does not offer standard houses; everything is individually designed
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect? The current plan reflects our wishes quite well. Now we just need fine-tuning, and we hope for your assessments, ideas, and experiences.
A mix of many examples from various magazines... Of course, our inspirations come from many different sources (good and bad…) 😀
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion? It feels good to us so far – all our furniture fits, and the things that bother us in our current rented house have been eliminated in the design.
What is the most important/basic question about the layout, summarized in 130 characters?
- Does the layout work as it is, or are there specific arrangements that don’t work?
- Is the position and number of windows sufficient?
- Do the children's rooms upstairs need two roof windows or is one enough each?
- Have we missed or overlooked anything important?
- Can a U-shaped kitchen be sensibly planned in the existing space, or do we need to adjust walls downstairs first?
- Are the door positions appropriate regarding width, wall distance, and opening direction?
- Is the utility room (unfurnished room behind the laundry on the north/east side of the ground floor) dimensionally adequate?
- What knee wall height is recommended upstairs? Currently at 40 cm (16 in), we plan to raise it because otherwise, especially the upstairs bathroom will be problematic (though we don’t want a large bathroom, just “as big as necessary” – we would probably place the bathtub in the northeast corner of the room – would that fit?
- We’d like to add a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom to the utility room – does anyone have a good idea for the best location?
One final note on our general concept:
We intend to buy the house from the manufacturer including insulation, cladding, and roof structure. Assembly will follow the “master carpenter assembly” principle (the company provides two experienced workers, plus 4-5 helpers from us – full warranty and savings of around 15,000-20,000 euros, about three to four weeks of hard work). The manufacturer’s “basic package” also includes windows and the front door, as they must be specially installed due to the house settling.
We plan to contract the foundation slab, roofing, and plumbing work separately. Electrical work (in consultation with the local master electrician), interior finishing (room doors, screed, underfloor heating, floor covering), and small tasks can be done by my partner (trained electrician, highly interested in almost everything, skilled and experienced with wood). I work professionally in an office of a building materials supplier, so I have access to good conditions, storage capacity, and established contacts in the industry. We also have great friends and a large family who are all enthusiastic about our project and willing to support us. We know this will require a lot of work, strain our time, nerves, and budget—but we want to give it a try.
We are now looking forward to suggestions, critical comments, and anything that can help us avoid as many mistakes as possible during the process.
Thank you very much in advance!
Here are some details—based on our best knowledge and judgment—about our house construction project...
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size 576 sqm (approx. 6195 sq ft) - parcel 17/28 (see cadastral map)
Slope no – the plot has only a few centimeters (inches) of elevation difference
Floor area ratio (FAR) 0.3 = 172.8 sqm (1861 sq ft)
Plot ratio not defined
Building envelope, building line and boundary 24x24 meter (79x79 feet) plot = N-E-S-W 16x18x16x18 meter (52x59x52x59 feet) building envelope
Edge development no, exceptions possibly according to Lower Saxony Building Regulations
Required number of parking spaces not specified
Number of floors single storey
Roof shape gable/hip/half-hip with 35-50 degree pitch
Architectural style classic detached house
Ridge direction specified = ridge line running west-east
Max height limits ridge height 4.0 m (13 ft), eaves height 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional rules no oil heating, 50% of the south-facing roof must have solar panels, no building allowed between house and street (e.g., no parking or similar in front yard)
The plot has been purchased and the utility infrastructure in the new development area is already completed (our plot is even located on a pre-asphalted road).
Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type solid wooden house made of massive log beams inside, blown insulation, and exterior cladding
Basement, floors no basement – only ground floor + upper floor
Number of occupants, ages three, aged 36, 29, and five and a half
Space requirements on ground and upper floors standard single-family home with 3 bedrooms plus bathroom upstairs, open-plan living area downstairs, guest WC, and large utility/housekeeping room
Office: family use or home office? One room currently usable as office/guest room (backup for future child needs), currently neither of us have jobs with home office option
Open or closed layout living/dining/kitchen preferably open
Conservative or modern construction style conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island open kitchen yes, kitchen island currently not planned
Number of dining seats daily use for 3, but dining nook should be sufficient for more people
Fireplace planned is a masonry stove
Music/stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport carport with workshop
Utility garden, greenhouse no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why some things are included or excluded
House Design
Who designed the plan: plan based on our principles, then optimized with the manufacturer’s in-house architect
What do you particularly like? Why? We really like the extended dining nook with the surrounding bench; overall, our ideas about room sizes have been well implemented – whether everything will really work as we imagine, we would like to ask here.
What do you dislike? Why? The chimney’s position might be bothersome in the children's room? Or is that negligible in daily life? We are still not satisfied with the kitchen and bathroom upstairs and are currently looking for a good furnishing/decorating solution.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: Since we are not working with a general contractor but will handle contracts ourselves after the shell is built and do a lot of work ourselves, we don’t have all numbers yet. The following trades are currently being costed.
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 400,000 up to move-in ready, excluding everything outside the building itself, plot is paid
Preferred heating technology: heat pump with underfloor heating plus photovoltaics with possible storage
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- can you do without: We have tried to adapt our demands to the budget as much as possible – does anyone see further savings potential?
- can you not do without: As an absolute last resort, we would remove the dining nook and redesign the ground floor – also, the masonry stove is fixed for us (we just love this cozy atmosphere).
Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard plan from planner? The manufacturer does not offer standard houses; everything is individually designed
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect? The current plan reflects our wishes quite well. Now we just need fine-tuning, and we hope for your assessments, ideas, and experiences.
A mix of many examples from various magazines... Of course, our inspirations come from many different sources (good and bad…) 😀
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion? It feels good to us so far – all our furniture fits, and the things that bother us in our current rented house have been eliminated in the design.
What is the most important/basic question about the layout, summarized in 130 characters?
- Does the layout work as it is, or are there specific arrangements that don’t work?
- Is the position and number of windows sufficient?
- Do the children's rooms upstairs need two roof windows or is one enough each?
- Have we missed or overlooked anything important?
- Can a U-shaped kitchen be sensibly planned in the existing space, or do we need to adjust walls downstairs first?
- Are the door positions appropriate regarding width, wall distance, and opening direction?
- Is the utility room (unfurnished room behind the laundry on the north/east side of the ground floor) dimensionally adequate?
- What knee wall height is recommended upstairs? Currently at 40 cm (16 in), we plan to raise it because otherwise, especially the upstairs bathroom will be problematic (though we don’t want a large bathroom, just “as big as necessary” – we would probably place the bathtub in the northeast corner of the room – would that fit?
- We’d like to add a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom to the utility room – does anyone have a good idea for the best location?
One final note on our general concept:
We intend to buy the house from the manufacturer including insulation, cladding, and roof structure. Assembly will follow the “master carpenter assembly” principle (the company provides two experienced workers, plus 4-5 helpers from us – full warranty and savings of around 15,000-20,000 euros, about three to four weeks of hard work). The manufacturer’s “basic package” also includes windows and the front door, as they must be specially installed due to the house settling.
We plan to contract the foundation slab, roofing, and plumbing work separately. Electrical work (in consultation with the local master electrician), interior finishing (room doors, screed, underfloor heating, floor covering), and small tasks can be done by my partner (trained electrician, highly interested in almost everything, skilled and experienced with wood). I work professionally in an office of a building materials supplier, so I have access to good conditions, storage capacity, and established contacts in the industry. We also have great friends and a large family who are all enthusiastic about our project and willing to support us. We know this will require a lot of work, strain our time, nerves, and budget—but we want to give it a try.
We are now looking forward to suggestions, critical comments, and anything that can help us avoid as many mistakes as possible during the process.
Thank you very much in advance!
WilderSueden schrieb:
Try calling the local authority. They should have plans for the development of the building area, and if they are imposing regulations related to the zoning plan, they should take care of providing you with the reference point.Where is the best place to call? The building department or another office?
We're really getting frustrated with the surveyor – he’s currently holding everything up 🙁
All he has to do is send an email – he still has all the data.
ypg schrieb:
Why is everyone talking about an island?
I don’t see any mention of wanting an island in the original post.This came up because one criticism was about the kitchen, and at that moment I was thinking about the gable end by the kitchen – that’s where an island might have been possible. But basically, I don’t need or want an island; I’d rather stick with a U-shaped layout to avoid wasting space – even if it’s a bit 1980s. The very modern 2022 kitchen from the catalog isn’t really what we have in mind either – and stylistically it doesn’t fit well in a wooden house, in my opinion. Our last three kitchens were from Ikea with country-style fronts in white and Bosch/Neff appliances. That’s probably what we’ll go with again – maybe with a different color of the fronts this time, we’ll see 😉
ypg schrieb:
hm… so now forcing an island in a conservatively old-fashioned design… I wouldn’t know if that’s really doing Lotte a favor, labeling it with your or my or Mister DX’s taste 😕We would prefer to keep it “without a kitchen island” – sorry for the confusion, that was just a brief thought on my part. 🙂
xMisterDx schrieb:
I’m an electrical engineer, not a designer, just sharing my personal view 😉
But I think as long as only the passageway gets wider and the dining/cooking area remains a 3m (10 feet) wide “corridor,” a kitchen island won’t deliver what you expect from it.
But it doesn’t necessarily have to be a kitchen island. Also keep in mind that a U-shaped layout with all cabinets against the walls is usually much more affordable than freestanding kitchen cabinets or an island.And I’m grateful for every contribution – even if I sometimes disagree or find a suggestion not very good. So much input and thoughts that help us look at our project from a different perspective and are absolutely priceless to us. Some of the suggestions will definitely be incorporated into the next draft 🙂
Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time for us so far!
We will probably stick to the original U-shape or something similar, maybe add a door to the utility room so there would basically be a backup kitchen there, and the path to the pantry wouldn’t be so long. We’ll do some sketches 🙂
K a t j a schrieb:
I wouldn’t describe it as desperate. The original poster (OP) asks – the OP gets answers, nothing more.
I rather feel that the connection between the floor plan and possible furnishing is not yet entirely clear. If you want a traditional style, you’ll get a traditional style. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you shouldn’t be surprised later if none of the island solutions displayed at the kitchen showroom are suitable for this house. On the ground floor, we planned using our existing furniture to establish the dimensions used in the floor plan shown here. The furniture in the floor plan doesn’t match reality 100% since it wasn’t copied exactly by the architect. The utility room (HAR) will be detailed in the next planning phase – maybe some space can still be saved there. We are currently working on the kitchen in detail, so that if necessary we can still adjust some wall dimensions.
For the children’s room and the multipurpose room, we have more flexibility because the space was doubled compared to our existing furniture. The bathroom is not final yet. During planning with the bathroom design tool, we encountered significant issues with the knee wall, so we plan to resolve this before moving further into the details. The bedroom will have a Pax wardrobe on the wall shared with the children’s room, at maximum width and height – otherwise there will be a bed (hopefully positioned closer to the north wall thanks to a higher knee wall than currently possible) and maybe two bedside tables. At the moment, we only have two small dressers included, which we can place elsewhere. The closet space will be approximately doubled compared to now.
Climbee schrieb:
I definitely prefer Katja’s design; the sense of space feels more open, and you can go directly from the kitchen onto the terrace AND also into the utility room, where the plan is to store less frequently used items, and I think that’s where the beverage crates will end up as well. We are currently working on adding a second access from the kitchen to the utility room… that’s really a good point.
Getting from the kitchen in the southeast to the terrace in the southwest would only be possible if we remove the dining area and create a purely south-facing terrace instead. Or do you have another idea?
Climbee schrieb:
However, I would probably choose a large patio door in the living room instead of the window seat. It doesn’t matter if it’s a lift-and-slide door or double French doors. The idea of a window seat is interesting, but I had to google it. I’ve never actually seen one anywhere. Does anyone really use that in everyday life?
A lift-and-slide door wasn’t on our list before – regular patio doors would probably work just fine 🙂
Climbee schrieb:
I just think it’s nice to have direct access to the terrace from the living area. That’s how we originally planned the southwest-facing terrace as well 🙂
11ant schrieb:
It seems that the bathroom fixtures are being decided according to the motto: "That’s not part of the structural builder’s scope, so we’ll sort it out later once the shell is up." There seems to be a lack of awareness that you can’t just “run” a drainpipe as easily as an electrical cable. If you only finalize the layout of the fixtures when “it’s crunch time,” and decide that you want to get out of the bathtub without hitting your head, this might result in having to sacrifice the shower or the second sink as collateral damage. Planning the kitchen will be somewhat different (although I’m not particularly attached to an island). Here, it’s less likely that a fixture will need to be sacrificed—but there’s a high chance that late planning will result in awkward arrangements, meaning in practice extra mileage for those working in the kitchen. Even just washing dishes by hand, the layout determines whether the paths of the washer and the dryer cross seven times or forty-eight times. It’s basically the same difference between someone who eats muesli and someone who prefers fried eggs for breakfast, and so on. Especially when a house is built to a floor plan that hasn’t been tested before, the “internal planning” needs to be given correspondingly more attention.Thank you very much for the vivid explanations—I had to smile a lot!
Once we know what the knee wall (kniestock) in the upper floor might look like, we would like to finalize the bathroom—before that, it would probably be a wasted effort.
We are working on the kitchen. From my own experience, having counter space next to the refrigerator, between the stove and the sink, and enough usable surface for food preparation, along with a sufficient number of accessible power outlets, is very important to me. Our current kitchen is pretty good in that regard, but with each new plan, you try to fix as many mistakes as possible until you are finally satisfied. Hopefully, that will already be the case with this kitchen (once it’s finished) 😉
W
WilderSueden4 Jan 2023 16:37-LotteS- schrieb:
Where is the best place to call? The building department or another office?
We're really getting frustrated with the surveyor – everything is being delayed right now 🙁
He just needs to send an email – he still has all the data. No idea, where we live you can still count the city hall offices on one hand. If in doubt, just call the reception or administration and ask to be connected to the appropriate department.
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