ᐅ Site Planning: Two Single-Family Homes on a 1,200 m² Corner Lot

Hello everyone,

We are currently planning two single-family homes with the following conditions:

• Plot size: 1,195 m² (31m x 38.5m / 102ft x 126ft)
• Northwest house:
• Approx. 120 m² (1,292 sq ft) floor area, 2 full floors, low-pitched gable roof
• Double garage
• Southeast house:
• Approx. 105 m² (1,130 sq ft) floor area, 2 full floors, low-pitched gable roof
• One garage is sufficient – however, a bicycle parking space or an additional unpaved parking space must be designated
• No slope on the plot
• Neighboring buildings:
• Plot 9 has been sold and subdivided. In the future, two single-family homes with up to 2 full floors plus low-pitched gable roofs will be built there as well
• Plot 10 (on another street) has 1.5 floors with a low-pitched gable roof
• Setback rules:
• Houses: 3 m (10 ft) from the boundary, garages: 1.5 m (5 ft) on the sides and 3 m (10 ft) to the front street
• Preferences:
• Both houses will be used within the family but should also be easily separable and sellable if needed
• It would currently be nice if the houses face somewhat towards each other or partially look onto the same garden
• Subdivision does not have to be exactly in the middle. We will find a fair way
• Lots of sunlight is desired for the houses and terraces

We now have two ideas, although there are of course compromises possible.

Design 1:

• Optimized for southwest orientation and garden
• Houses are positioned at an angle to each other
• Minimal front garden

Design 2:

• More space for cars and front garden (especially for the southeast house)
• Houses are slightly angled towards each other
• Less southwest garden for the northeast house

What are your thoughts? Which option do you prefer, or what other options do you see?

Legend:
yellow = house, dark blue = garage, light blue = parking space for bicycle or car

sebastian84 schrieb:

What are your thoughts? Which option do you prefer, or do you see other possibilities?

A double garage takes up space and costs money. A bike parking spot can be just 1m² (11 sq ft) next to the entrance—simply beside the path to the house—so I wouldn’t plan that right away, since it’s easy to accommodate later. And pragmatically, a second car can just be parked on the driveway.

Personally, I’m not a fan of sealed surfaces but prefer a “green” lot.

That’s the general idea.

Now regarding your positioning: I find both options either good or bad. It always depends on the layout of the floor plans. Depending on the design, the orientations can be good or bad.
So at the moment, it’s not really possible to evaluate.

I would make it a duplex with two parking spaces or a double garage/carport combination on both the left and right sides. The houses would be attached on the short side.

sebastian84 schrieb:


What are your thoughts?

Is there a valid development plan / zoning plan?

Are garages really not allowed to be built as boundary structures? Then they could be positioned in the middle, with both houses constructed more or less symmetrically on the left and right sides. With green roofs on the garages, the rather unattractive area could be visually improved from the perspective of the first floor and create a bit of a rooftop garden atmosphere (depending on how the sightlines between the two houses should or are allowed to be).

nordanney schrieb:

Now regarding your positioning. I find both options either good or bad. It always depends on how the floor plans are designed. Depending on the planning, the orientation can be either good or bad.
So basically, it cannot be assessed at this point.

Yes, I understand there is a lot of personal preference involved. Nevertheless, I am interested in whether there are any general rules of thumb or how a developer would approach this:

• Should the house be positioned as far northeast as possible if the access is from that direction?
• Should a house be placed more in the middle (considering the specified plot and house size) or rather to one side (in this case southwest) to leave as much space as possible for a garden?
• Does a rectangular house (8.50 m x 14 m (28 ft x 46 ft)) have advantages over a squarer one (12 m x 10 m (39 ft x 33 ft)) when considering that only a shallow pitched gable roof can be built?