Hello everyone,
After a long wait, we finally secured our dream plot in our community.
We have now started with the planning and would like to hear your opinions.
Please note: this is the first draft.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 591 sqm (about 6360 sq ft)
Slope: South-facing slope, access from the north, slope drops about 2.5 m (8 ft) to the south in the area of the house.
Floor area ratio: 0.35
Building envelope, building line and boundary: see development plan (Trauberg II)
Number of parking spaces: 2 per residential unit
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof shape
See development plan
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type:
Jurahaus style (traditional on the street side/north, modern on the south side), gable roof
Basement, stories: basement with garden access on the south side + 2 full stories
Number of occupants, age: 3-4 (36, 34, 5) + possibly one more child
Space requirements in basement (BSMT), ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF): bedroom, dressing room, family bathroom, guest bathroom, living room, kitchen/dining, pantry, office/guest room, office/hobby room, storage room, utility room, mechanical/technical room (bathroom)
Office: family use or home office? Both, with two separate workspaces in two rooms required
Guest stays per year: about 10 visits with two guests each
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern design: mixed
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen-dining area as the family hub, kitchen island desired but not mandatory
Number of dining seats: 6 permanent, extendable to 12
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace adjoining the kitchen is a must
Garage, carport: double garage required
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: -
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or should not be included:
- Large hobby room with space for a sewing machine and another space-consuming hobby
- Cloakroom not visible when opening the front door
- Guest bathroom not next to the front door
- Spacious pantry/storage room with extended countertop
- Utility room not in the sleeping area; I have horses and don’t want to carry dirt into the sleeping area. Utility room near the offices, since laundry is mostly done during home office hours.
House Design
Who created the plan:
- Planner from a construction company + DIY
What do you like most? Why?
- The room layout is very well implemented.
- No complex structural engineering, installations can be done easily.
- A separate apartment could be realized in the basement.
What do you not like? Why?
- Windows: exterior view is not symmetrical or harmonious. In the kitchen, we would prefer the window/door at the island to have more natural light there. The patio doors are too narrow. I deliberately have not published the elevations because we are still undecided whether to choose shutters or sliding shutters, or to have sunshades/roller shutters on the south side.
- The desired Jurahaus character is not yet fully reflected as hoped. For now, we developed the floor plan to get, for example, feedback from the energy consultant.
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: siehe unten.
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures and fittings: 600k, we are building with the family and subcontract only the plumbing and heating trades. The construction company says we can comfortably manage this.
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
If you had to compromise, on which details/expansions
- Could you compromise on: straight staircase, knee wall height (it could be somewhat lower), bathroom in the basement.
- Cannot compromise on: pantry, dressing room, offices, hobby room
Why is the design as it is now?
We have visited many show homes and existing houses, and this type of floor plan repeatedly appealed to us.
After a long wait, we finally secured our dream plot in our community.
We have now started with the planning and would like to hear your opinions.
Please note: this is the first draft.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 591 sqm (about 6360 sq ft)
Slope: South-facing slope, access from the north, slope drops about 2.5 m (8 ft) to the south in the area of the house.
Floor area ratio: 0.35
Building envelope, building line and boundary: see development plan (Trauberg II)
Number of parking spaces: 2 per residential unit
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof shape
See development plan
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type:
Jurahaus style (traditional on the street side/north, modern on the south side), gable roof
Basement, stories: basement with garden access on the south side + 2 full stories
Number of occupants, age: 3-4 (36, 34, 5) + possibly one more child
Space requirements in basement (BSMT), ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF): bedroom, dressing room, family bathroom, guest bathroom, living room, kitchen/dining, pantry, office/guest room, office/hobby room, storage room, utility room, mechanical/technical room (bathroom)
Office: family use or home office? Both, with two separate workspaces in two rooms required
Guest stays per year: about 10 visits with two guests each
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern design: mixed
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen-dining area as the family hub, kitchen island desired but not mandatory
Number of dining seats: 6 permanent, extendable to 12
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace adjoining the kitchen is a must
Garage, carport: double garage required
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: -
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or should not be included:
- Large hobby room with space for a sewing machine and another space-consuming hobby
- Cloakroom not visible when opening the front door
- Guest bathroom not next to the front door
- Spacious pantry/storage room with extended countertop
- Utility room not in the sleeping area; I have horses and don’t want to carry dirt into the sleeping area. Utility room near the offices, since laundry is mostly done during home office hours.
House Design
Who created the plan:
- Planner from a construction company + DIY
What do you like most? Why?
- The room layout is very well implemented.
- No complex structural engineering, installations can be done easily.
- A separate apartment could be realized in the basement.
What do you not like? Why?
- Windows: exterior view is not symmetrical or harmonious. In the kitchen, we would prefer the window/door at the island to have more natural light there. The patio doors are too narrow. I deliberately have not published the elevations because we are still undecided whether to choose shutters or sliding shutters, or to have sunshades/roller shutters on the south side.
- The desired Jurahaus character is not yet fully reflected as hoped. For now, we developed the floor plan to get, for example, feedback from the energy consultant.
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: siehe unten.
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures and fittings: 600k, we are building with the family and subcontract only the plumbing and heating trades. The construction company says we can comfortably manage this.
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
If you had to compromise, on which details/expansions
- Could you compromise on: straight staircase, knee wall height (it could be somewhat lower), bathroom in the basement.
- Cannot compromise on: pantry, dressing room, offices, hobby room
Why is the design as it is now?
We have visited many show homes and existing houses, and this type of floor plan repeatedly appealed to us.
familie_s schrieb:
Over the past few years, we’ve looked at many existing homes, and we would have liked to buy some of them. Many had raised terraces. We also know several people with such terraces, including in the same town. We really like that feature. But you haven’t actually lived in one like that yet, right?
familie_s schrieb:
We want short routes to the terrace; navigating through the dining and living rooms in our rented apartment is annoying. That explains everything. You are not familiar with a garden. Even if you want to avoid it, you will often need to access the lawn or the edge of the property for maintenance. Please consider whether you are not overlooking the garden and the plot or if you seriously intend to use a balcony, while the basement floor gets the highlight, which is direct garden access.
familie_s schrieb:
The basement will only look out south. Completely flawed planning to locate the main living area with the exits exactly there.
familie_s schrieb:
The main thing is that someone submits the application. That sounds like you could team up with @RotesDach then.
ypg schrieb:
But you haven’t actually lived like that yet, have you? No. We used last week to talk again with two families we know who live that way. One has direct garden access via stairs and really likes it, while the other doesn’t have direct access but would like to add stairs later.
ypg schrieb:
That explains everything. You don’t know what a “garden” really is. Even if you want to avoid it, you still have to go onto the lawn or to the edge of the property quite often for maintenance. Please consider whether you are forgetting about the garden and property or if you really intend to live on a balcony while the basement level gets the “cherry on top,” meaning direct garden access. We do know what a garden is, why wouldn’t we? And we definitely don’t want to avoid it; otherwise, we could save ourselves the house. The ground floor will also have direct garden access.
familie_s schrieb:
Some have direct garden access via a staircase and find it great, while others do not have direct access and would like to add a staircase later. In both cases, this specifically concerns an elevated terrace.
And ideally, you wouldn’t want an elevated terrace in the first place. It simply means the design was not well executed.
Good morning,
we now have the first rough drafts from the architect. We did not show her our initial floor plan; we only shared our room program and ideas. The only thing we forgot to mention is that we did not want the children’s rooms and the bedroom next to each other, and the bathroom should not be adjacent to a bedroom either.
Interestingly, the floor plan turned out similar. Especially the terrace. The concept of a terrace with garden access is clearer here.
What we like:
- Direct access from the garage into the house. The platform staircase on the north side.
- All bathrooms stacked vertically
- Access from the utility room to the garden
- Exterior view: The south façade looks more balanced, and we also like the roof pitch better.
What we don’t like:
- Children’s room in the middle with only one window, difficult to furnish and next to the bedroom
- Children’s room next to the bathroom
- Bedroom too large compared to the children’s rooms
- Dining room as a walkthrough space
- Long distance to the pantry
- Living room difficult to furnish well
- Kitchen located on the west side
we now have the first rough drafts from the architect. We did not show her our initial floor plan; we only shared our room program and ideas. The only thing we forgot to mention is that we did not want the children’s rooms and the bedroom next to each other, and the bathroom should not be adjacent to a bedroom either.
Interestingly, the floor plan turned out similar. Especially the terrace. The concept of a terrace with garden access is clearer here.
What we like:
- Direct access from the garage into the house. The platform staircase on the north side.
- All bathrooms stacked vertically
- Access from the utility room to the garden
- Exterior view: The south façade looks more balanced, and we also like the roof pitch better.
What we don’t like:
- Children’s room in the middle with only one window, difficult to furnish and next to the bedroom
- Children’s room next to the bathroom
- Bedroom too large compared to the children’s rooms
- Dining room as a walkthrough space
- Long distance to the pantry
- Living room difficult to furnish well
- Kitchen located on the west side
Hmm, besides the flaws you mentioned, the kitchen would probably feel too small for me as well. Setting aside the details, the design somehow feels kind of “meh.” There’s zero wow factor or that “I want to live here” appeal. It’s not a solution that’s economical, efficient, or particularly elegant either. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. Just “meh.”
In general, I’m always in favor of direct garden access from the main living areas. To quote Müntefering: “Stairs are a nuisance.” I can see this in my father’s neighbors’ houses and his own home. In summer, everyone spends time on the lawn, and any obstacle getting there just gets annoying. Eventually, the rooms downstairs almost always get repurposed, gradually turning into substitute kitchen space, substitute dining areas, and recently even a bathroom. What’s funny is that the neighbors in the new build next door started with the same design mistake and are now going through the exact same process.
In general, I’m always in favor of direct garden access from the main living areas. To quote Müntefering: “Stairs are a nuisance.” I can see this in my father’s neighbors’ houses and his own home. In summer, everyone spends time on the lawn, and any obstacle getting there just gets annoying. Eventually, the rooms downstairs almost always get repurposed, gradually turning into substitute kitchen space, substitute dining areas, and recently even a bathroom. What’s funny is that the neighbors in the new build next door started with the same design mistake and are now going through the exact same process.
familie_s schrieb:
We now have the first rough drafts from the architect. We did not show her our initial floor plan and only communicated our room requirements and ideas. The only thing we forgot was to mention that we didn’t want the children’s rooms and the master bedroom to be next to each other, and that the bathroom should not be adjacent to a bedroom. I like the sketch-like quality of the preliminary design; often at this stage, things are rushed and measured in (often flawed) detail. Unfortunately, the dining table is already obstructing the plan in the drawing. The garage does not suit the house, and the rear view doesn’t match the front: the front has a regional style (but with a wide double garage door), while the back has a typical federal style—this reminds me a bit of a mullet haircut [hheh].
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Similar topics