ᐅ Suggestions for Floor Plan Improvements for a Single-Family House on a South-Facing Slope

Hello everyone,

after purchasing the plot in February last year, which was fully serviced by the end of last year, we have been gathering inspiration and planning ever since. Despite rising costs and interest rates, we are excited about building our house, including some DIY work.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 669 m² (7200 sq ft approx.)
Slope: South-facing slope, 3.90 m (12.8 ft) diagonal (approx. 7.3° incline at the street side)
Site occupancy index: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Building window, building line and boundary: 3 meters (10 ft) or setback areas
Edge development: garage
Number of parking spaces: two per dwelling unit in front of garages, minimum 5 meters (16 ft)
Number of stories: 3 full stories (basement, ground floor, upper floor)
Roof style: gable roof with 35° to 45° pitch (if basement is not a full floor, then 15° to 25°)
Architectural style
Orientation: see draft sketch
Maximum heights / limits: wall height 6.50 m (21.3 ft) measured from finished floor level of the ground floor to the junction of wall and exterior roof surface
Additional requirements: garage roof as flat roof with green roofing, at least 40% photovoltaic panels

Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: no decision yet on wood or masonry (affordable ecological)
Basement, floors: 2 plus basement suitable as living space
Number of occupants, age: 2 persons, both 26 years old
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: see draft sketch
Office: family use or home office? home office
Overnight guests per year: few
Open or closed architecture: rather open
Conservative or modern design: rather modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both desired
Number of dining seats: 8, preferably extendable
Fireplace: would be nice but too expensive
Music/Stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: roof terrace on garage for drying laundry, terrace, balcony-like at living/dining/kitchen area but with garden access
Garage, carport: double garage (possibly added later)
Utility garden, greenhouse: yes (greenhouse not planned at least for now)
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, please also reasons for inclusion or exclusion

House Design
Source of planning: do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why? no bay windows, no spiral stairs, enough space in entrance area, access garage-house in entrance area, access garage roof/laundry room on the upper floor, level access to ground floor on north side and basement on south side, sight lines
What don’t you like? Why? staircase not located near living area, small main bathroom

Cost estimate according to architect/planner: not obtained yet
Personal price limit for house including fittings:
Preferred heating system: heat pump (underfloor heating possibly combined with cooled ceiling)

If you had to give up something, on which details/extensions
-you can give up: efficient sqm (unused areas), basement under garage or terrace
-you cannot give up: basement with large hobby workshop

Why is the design as it is now? For example:
Standard design from planner? No
Which wishes from the architect were implemented? No architect, we tried to implement our wishes ourselves on a compact footprint without feeling cramped
What makes it, in your view, particularly good or bad?

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

Do you have any suggestions for improvement? What would bother you? Any tips on doing things similarly but more cost-effectively?

The basement plan is not finalized yet. In addition to utility rooms, storage, possibly a bathroom (for quick cleaning and a potential future granny flat), a space-intensive hobby needs to be accommodated here. We are considering adding a basement under the garage or terrace or both. If you have any preliminary tips or rough cost estimates, please share.

If you need further information, just ask.

Thank you all!

Indahaus

For 2 people, 3 × 75m² (3 × 807 ft²) = 225m² (2,422 ft²) of living space plus a basement garage...
That neither fits with "trying to realize our wishes on the smallest possible space" nor with "fireplace too expensive."

I hope you realize that this design on a hillside would be somewhere around 700,000 euros upwards.
Additional costs related to the hillside will also apply. Before we dive deep into floor plan discussions: what is your budget?

First of all, good evening and thank you for your quick response. Our budget for the house is approximately 650,000 € (about $700,000). The basement will initially not be finished as living space during construction. Accordingly, we hope for lower costs there compared to the average price per square meter. The costs are mainly intended to be reduced through a lot of personal labor. (We already have quite a bit of tools and experience.)

Regarding the fireplace, this is one of the features we have already removed from the designs. However, as far as we know, having a basement under the garage can make sense—especially on a sloped site due to ground conditions—and cannot be added afterward, unlike, for example, the garage itself or a fireplace.

Is the 650k purely for the house itself (which could be plausible), or does it cover the entire project including earthworks, slope stabilization, etc.?

If it’s the latter: Plan new, plan smaller.

This is a typical design where the living space is planned around the staircase. The position of the staircase is unfortunate, resulting in all the rooms on the upper floor being impractically laid out. I would advise against this design. You are investing a significant amount of money, so the functionality of the rooms should be your main focus, not the staircase, which is merely a means to an end. Let go of the idea that everything has to look like what you see on social media—this kind of approach will cost you a lot and you will end up having to squeeze through the rooms. Rearranging furniture is almost impossible in these spaces. A rectangular floor plan is actually the most efficient to design, with a half-turn staircase placed as centrally as possible on one of the longer sides of the house. It may be unspectacular, but it is efficient.

The house lacks depth. The children's rooms and living room are too narrow. With this budget, it's best to build with a basement and skip the cellar.