ᐅ Unique floor plan or just a standard layout with a basement?

Hello dear floor plan experts,
I’ll get straight to the point and start with the questionnaire:

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size – approx. 1000m² (to be subdivided)
Slope – approx. 60cm (2 ft) height difference over 10m (approximate building area)
Location – Bavaria (Franconia)

Some details are unknown because there is no development plan (e.g., floor area ratio, plot ratio, building area, building line and boundary, edge development, etc.)
Roof style / design / orientation according to surroundings – but really almost everything is present in the neighborhood.

Client Requirements
Style, roof design, building type – Single-family house – preferably hip roof / clipped hip roof, possibly also gable roof with high knee wall, not just rectangular
Basement, floors – Basement + ground floor + upper floor
Number of people, ages – 2 adults (31, 32) and one child (2 years) + 2nd child not excluded
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor –
Ground floor: Living-dining room adjacent to kitchen (separate room, preferably with large sliding door to dining room), pantry connected to kitchen, 1 office with sofa bed (10m² (108 sq ft)), WC and shower
Upper floor: 2 children's rooms (preferably equal size, at least 14m² (150 sq ft)), master bedroom, walk-in closet (separate from bedroom), 1 bathroom
Basement: Study (+ sofa bed), workshop (craft room), technical room, storage space
Office use: family or home office? – I work permanently from home, my husband 2 days per week
Guests per year – 4 (family from farther away, so although “only” 4, more frequent during the year)
Open or closed architecture – rather closed, but spacious living/dining area
Conservative or modern construction – good question?
Open kitchen, kitchen island – closed kitchen, considering the size / closed-off kitchen probably no island, possibly an extended kitchen counter with 3 bar stools?
Number of dining seats – 8 in the dining room, 3-4 bar stools in the kitchen
Fireplace – maybe
Music/stereo wall – no
Balcony, roof terrace – not essential, but okay if it fits well
Garage, carport – preferably double garage, but probably initially nothing due to costs, then double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse – not planned yet
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included – We need storage space + a second study, hence the desire for a basement, beautiful south-facing view, therefore living/dining area faces south, entrance on the east (street side), no rectangular box-shaped house – preferably something “special” like a corner annex or bay window

House Design
Who is the designer? Architect
What do you particularly like? Why? – Coatroom and shower/WC on the ground floor take up little space and are functional – orientation towards street + north side also good, pantry adjacent to kitchen with passage through kitchen cabinet wall, dining room layout facing south (planned corner glazing at the dining table), room sizes nice
What don’t you like? Why? – We miss the “special touch,” kitchen space feels wasted, staircase possibly too large?
Price estimate from architect/planner: 750,000€ (approx. $810,000) including basement (prefabricated house manufacturer’s offer)
Personal price limit for house including equipment: 650,000€ (approx. $700,000)
Preferred heating technology: Underfloor heating / photovoltaic system

If you have to do without, which details / additional features:
You can do without: Hip roof, sauna and shower in basement, hobby/workshop room
You cannot do without: Basement, photovoltaic system, pantry, 2nd study, storage space, plus energy (also with regard to KFW 300 funding)

Why did the design turn out the way it is? For example:
Which wishes were implemented exactly by the architect? It was implemented 1:1 exactly as we said without the architect’s own ideas or objections.

We were recommended the architect from the prefabricated house company and planned together, but now we are being strongly advised against the basement (we have poor soil conditions, so a waterproof concrete shell must be planned, and the basement costs about 130,000€ (approx. $140,000) plus incidental construction costs). However, we are not satisfied yet because the cost estimate far exceeds our budget. The fact is: As it is now, we cannot afford it, even though some parameters (650k budget, no rectangular shape, basement) were clearly communicated from the start. Now we are being asked either to leave out the basement (we already reduced it to just a useful basement) or to make the house rectangular on the upper floors (9 x 11m (30 x 36 ft) – so the “annex” removed).

Do you perhaps have recommendations regarding providers – maybe with our many wishes we simply cannot afford to build a house with Luxhaus, and we need to reduce scope to a “mid-range” manufacturer... A “low budget” option (Massa Haus, Allkauf Haus, Okal Haus) is not an option if it compromises quality.

What we hope for now are critical reviews of our floor plan and ideas for the “special something.” Also an assessment of whether a basement really makes no sense in our case. Are there alternative floor plans that really include storage space? If we add 2 rooms on the upper floor + ground floor instead of a basement, we will probably also reach the 130,000€ the basement would cost. Unfortunately, we only discovered this great forum now and already hired (through recommendation) an architect, but we hope with your help we can still “save something.”

Thanks so much in advance!