ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a 150 sqm Townhouse with Gable Roof, 6 Rooms

Created on: 28 May 2024 22:14
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LeFy2023
Dear forum members,

We have completed a preliminary design for our house together with a company and are now at the beginning of the detailed planning stage. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any suggestions for improvement, critical feedback, and additional ideas or tips regarding the floor plan.

Unfortunately, we do not yet have a site plan, but we do have the floor plans for the ground floor and upper floor at a scale of 1:100, as well as drawings of the house.

Thanks in advance!

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700 sqm (7,534 sq ft)
Development according to §34 of the Building Code; the neighborhood features a wide variety of house types, sizes, number of floors, roof styles, etc. A positive preliminary building inquiry exists for a two-story townhouse up to 200 sqm (2,153 sq ft).

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: shallow pitched gable roof, townhouse
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, 1 child (1 year old), possibly a second child planned
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor: 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office for both adults about 3 days per week on average
Occasional overnight guests per year: parents-in-law visit several times a year
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with island if possible
Number of dining seats: 4–8
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, one parking space including a shed
Utility garden, greenhouse: possibly
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included:
- Larger guest room on the ground floor with space for a double bed as the parents-in-law visit frequently
- Guest room on ground floor must also be usable as an office
- Bright rooms / mezzanine
- Open entrance area with open rooms and a view of the garden (a clear sightline)
- Straight concrete staircase to upper floor for dogs and parking space underneath (built-in cupboards)
- Office on upper floor should also serve as a utility/laundry room
- Façade in stone gray with wood cladding elements

House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What is liked most? Why?
- Very practical room layout and good room sizes
- Barrier-free access to the guest shower on the ground floor
- Additional storage space in the roof as a storage binder
- Lots of light through large windows
- Laundry room on upper floor close to the bedrooms/children’s rooms

What is disliked? Why?
- Kitchen might be too small / cramped
- Question whether a passage to the kitchen is necessary
- Main entrance is not barrier-free (terrace exit also not)
- The gray elements in the façade are to be replaced by wood cladding to give the house a more distinctive exterior appearance.

Preferred heating system: heat pump

If you had to do without, which details/features?
- Can do without: second washbasin in upper floor bathroom, round window in dressing room (can have a different shape), kitchen island if it doesn’t fit
- Cannot do without: straight concrete staircase, windows, large lift-and-slide door, larger guest room, mezzanine, guest shower on ground floor, walk-in showers, laundry room on upper floor

Why does the design look as it does now? For example,
This is the initial individual draft without adjustments from us so far. A mezzanine, a larger guest room on the ground floor, storage space in the roof, and laundry room on the upper floor were explicitly requested and implemented accordingly.

Floor plan of a single-family home: living/dining, kitchen, hallway, guest room, shower, utility room, terrace.

Floor plan of a residential home: bedroom, dressing room, two children's rooms, office, bathroom, gallery/mezzanine.

North side of a two-story house with central door, vertical windows and round window.

East side of a light gray multi-family house with dark roof, windows and exterior unit.

South side of a house with pitched roof, two upper windows and glass front on the ground floor.

Two-story modern house front with gray façade, dark-framed windows and central double door.
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kbt09
23 Jun 2024 10:01
kbt09 schrieb:

Calculate the bathtub width as 80 cm (31.5 inches) and the washbasin width as 50–55 cm (20–22 inches).

That leaves 72–77 cm (28–30 inches) from the total 207 cm (81.5 inches). It will be getting tighter. And these are still rough construction measurements.

The wall for the shower can, for example, be built with a height of 210 to 220 cm (83–87 inches), so that during the day you don’t need additional lighting (this works well in my bathroom). And honestly, who needs full daylight while showering? If it is too dark or actually dark outside, I simply have a spotlight in the shower that I can switch on separately.

By the way, I would arrange the guest bathroom on the ground floor (250 cm × 188 cm / 98 × 74 inches) like this: a shower with a width of 90 cm (35.5 inches), a washbasin with a width of 60 cm (24 inches), leaving about 85 cm (33 inches) for the toilet.

2D-Grundriss eines Hauses mit Gästezimmer, Bad, Flur und Maßangaben
Y
ypg
23 Jun 2024 10:27
kbt09 schrieb:

And these are still just the shell dimensions.

I don’t need natural light when showering. It actually works fine without artificial lighting.
But we have already discussed the bathroom dimensions and made the OP aware of the issue. I still think the guest toilet is problematic. However, we don’t want to keep repeating the same discussion. If no agreement can be reached, or the OP doesn’t want to understand, is not open to it, or does not verify anything personally, then they have to take responsibility for that themselves.
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LeFy2023
23 Jun 2024 10:48
As mentioned, we are still working on the guest bathroom. I really like the suggestion from @kbt09. Is the open part of the shower then closed off with a shower door as a splash guard? Or is that not necessary?

We will take the note about the clearances in the bathroom into the detailed planning phase.

Daylight in the shower is not really important to us. I also like the suggestion from @kbt09 regarding the slightly lower wall.
Nida35a23 Jun 2024 10:56
LeFy2023 schrieb:

Do you close the open part of the shower with a splash guard, like a shower door? Or is that not necessary?

We have a shower curtain spanning the entire width without any partial wall because
- no one wants to constantly clean glass panels,
- the room feels more spacious with the curtain open,
- it is a guest bathroom/toilet,
- the curtain is washable,
- and it is a cost-effective solution.
Y
ypg
23 Jun 2024 11:35
LeFy2023 schrieb:

I also like @kbt09’s suggestion of having a slightly lower wall.

In the past, people used to build a wall between the bathtub and shower. It was 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) high and worked perfectly as a child-safe shelf for shampoo and shower gel.
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kbt09
23 Jun 2024 11:49
I would initially approach the guest bathroom as @Nida35a suggested. Possibly even without a curtain at first, since the wall could comfortably be 100cm (40 inches) long and the splash zone still remains the "shower" area.