ᐅ Floor plan of a new multi-family house with 3 residential units, total living area approximately 350 m²

Hello everyone,

I have purchased a plot of land and would like to hear your opinions on the design.
The plan is for a multi-family house with 3 residential units, one apartment per floor. Possibly, we would use a room in the ground floor stairwell area as a laundry, storage, and utility room. The house should have a modern and functional layout, ideally with plenty of natural light and an open living, dining, and kitchen area. It is also very important to me that each apartment has a balcony or terrace where residents can comfortably sit and spend time.

Here is the brief:

Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size – 523m² (5,628 sq ft), 19m (62 ft) wide, 27.5m (90 ft) deep, rectangular
Slope – no
Site coverage ratio – 0.4
Floor area ratio – 0.8
Building setbacks, building line, and boundaries – 5m (16 ft) from the street, 3m (10 ft) from neighbors, no boundary restrictions to the garden
Edge development – "On every building plot, a free-growing hedge or trimmed deciduous hedge must be planted and maintained along at least one plot boundary." Nothing more was found in the zoning plan.
Number of parking spaces – 1.5 per residential unit
Number of floors – 2 full stories
Roof type – all roof types permitted
Architectural style – no specifications
Orientation – south-facing
Maximum heights / restrictions – main building max 11m (36 ft), stairwell max 7m (23 ft)
Other requirements – none that have significant influence on the design

Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type – modern multi-family house with 2 full stories plus a recessed top floor with a flat or mono-pitched roof
Basement, floors – no basement, 2 full stories plus recessed top floor
Number of residents, age – unknown, approx. 3-5 people per unit
Room requirements on ground and upper floors – ground and first floors approx. 130m² (1,400 sq ft), attic floor approx. 90m² (970 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? – family use
Occasional overnight guests per year – few
Open or closed architecture – no preference
Conservative or modern construction – modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island – open kitchen without kitchen island (too expensive 😀)
Number of dining places – 1 per unit
Fireplace – no
Music / stereo wall – no
Balcony, roof terrace – yes, balcony is very important for the apartments on the first and attic floors
Garage, carport – no, outdoor parking spaces
Utility garden, greenhouse – no
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for these choices – It is important to me that the apartments are designed so tenants want and can live there long-term. Therefore, I am considering a laundry room on the ground floor that can also serve as a utility and storage room. Otherwise, the apartments should have sufficient space on the balconies.

House design
Designed by – my brother is a civil engineer who designed the plans
What do you particularly like? Why? – large living, dining, and kitchen area on the ground floor, number and size of bedrooms
What do you dislike? Why? – the terraces on the ground floor are located at the west corner with the exit there, and the balconies on the first and attic floors are in the east corner
Estimated price according to architect / planner: €520,000 including VAT. I am contracting the trades myself.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fixtures: €520,000
Preferred heating technology: district heating is more or less required by the city

If you had to give up something, on which details / extras could you do without?
- Could give up: open kitchen, guest toilet
- Could not give up: balcony, terrace, storage room

Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design from planner? – It is already adapted to the plot conditions and our ideas. But I am not sure if it is "right" for a multi-family house. Especially the issue of balconies and the laundry/storage room—I am not sure if these all fit well.
Were client wishes implemented by the architect? Basically, all wishes were implemented. I am just not sure if our wishes are the "right" ones or if something could be better done.
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What makes the design particularly good or bad in your opinion?

What do you think of the designs? How do you find the layout? What do you think about the laundry/storage room on the ground floor?
What do you think about the balcony situation?

Thanks for your feedback!
nevzatc21

nevzatc21 schrieb:

Cost estimate according to the architect/planner: €520,000 incl. VAT, I am managing the trades myself.

nevzatc21 schrieb:

Space requirements on the ground floor and upper floor - ground floor & upper floor approx. 130m² (1,400 sq ft), attic approx. 90m² (970 sq ft)

So the entire house will be built using declarations of zero cost and undeclared work? With 350m² (3,770 sq ft) of living space, that amounts to €1,485 per m² (around $138 per sq ft). Or is the €520k budget intended for each floor separately? Otherwise, this budget won’t be sufficient.

I currently have a project on my desk (although significantly more demanding with high quality), where the pure construction costs are around €3,600 per m² (around $335 per sq ft) of living space, plus planning fees, earthworks, landscaping, etc.

nordanney schrieb:

So the entire house is being built with undeclared labor and black market work?
With 350sqm (3,767 sqft) of living space, that comes to €1,485 per sqm (approx. $138 per sqft). Or are the €520k meant for each floor?
Otherwise, the budget won’t be sufficient.

I currently have a project on my desk (although significantly more complex and of higher quality) where the pure construction costs are €3,600 per sqm (approx. $335 per sqft) of living space, plus planning fees, earthworks, landscaping, etc.

Phew, starting a conversation with such an accusation right away...
I can manage this price with companies registered in Germany and with everything invoiced properly. Of course, I will handle some things myself here and there (flooring, doors, garden, etc.). But as far as I know, that is not prohibited.
My questions were about the floor plan design—as can be seen from the text—not about costs or anything similar.
But thanks anyway for your valuable input.

nevzatc21 schrieb:

Phew, starting a conversation directly with such an accusation...

No accusation. Just a clear indication that you are estimating a price that corresponds roughly to the material cost for the entire project. In recent years, I haven’t seen anyone able to build for such a price (when using professional companies and not building yourself). And since I also do some work for my own portfolio, my experience comes from both professional and personal perspectives.

Some projects have died after many pages of floor plan discussions because, unsurprisingly, it turned out that the budget didn’t fit in the end. I’ll leave the floor plan discussion to others. I’m just adding my experience regarding construction, costs, and financing.

nevzatc21 schrieb:

My questions related—as can be taken from the text—to the floor plan design, not the costs or similar issues.

As mentioned, some discussions are pointless if the product doesn’t fit the budget.

I have to agree with the previous speakers. Even if you don’t want to hear it, the calculation is far from the achievable reality.
Assuming the usual 3,000 per square meter (approximately 279 per square foot), you would already be over 1 million, just to illustrate.
It seems the self-performed work is not very significant either. Contracting trades individually might save some money if done correctly. But realistically, you can’t get below 2,500€ per square meter (approximately 232 per square foot), and even then, you would be at 875,000€. And as mentioned, that’s already calculated optimistically.

List the individual cost estimates for the different trades, then it will be quite clear where the calculation went wrong or if something is completely missing.

nevzatc21 schrieb:

Plot size – 523m² (5630 sq ft), 19m (62 ft) wide, 27.5m (90 ft) deep, rectangular

Could you show it with the neighboring buildings? It would be interesting to see the parking spaces as well as the surroundings due to the balcony location.
What use is a balcony with a nice southwest exposure if the view is unpleasant?
Adjusting the floor plan shouldn’t be a problem here.

nevzatc21 schrieb:

Cost estimate according to architect/planner: €520,000 including VAT. I handle the trades myself.

I stumbled over that too and only thought of the shell construction.
Even when we built, the price per square meter in the multi-family sector was higher than for single-family houses.
Well, that might have been due to the basement.
Still, can you explain how in low-cost housing in an affordable federal state, one pays about €2700 per living square meter, reaches the €3000 mark in the standard sector, and already gets to €3500/m² if balconies, penthouse floors, and some enlarged windows (larger than 80 x 125 cm (31 x 49 inches)) are installed?
And then there are the paving works, landscaping, and connections as additional construction costs. Just the house alone easily exceeds €1 million for me.
And it doesn’t matter who awards the contracts.

nevzatc21 schrieb:

What don’t you like? Why? – that the terraces on the ground floor are located in the west corner with the exit there and that the balconies on the upper and top floors are in the east corner.

Regarding the design:
I find the open-plan living area difficult to zone given the width of over 5 meters (16 ft) and the window locations. The ground floor is the best in this respect, but if the target group is two adults plus a child, including occasional office use, a better-zoned L-shaped living space would be preferable, where a nicely designed L-shaped kitchen also takes up little space. In apartments smaller than penthouse level that are intended to be family-friendly, a somewhat separate kitchen is usually preferred.
On the other hand, the hallway is quite generous for an apartment, but it doesn’t present the flat well when entering.
I see potential regarding the room and balcony arrangement. It doesn’t seem thoroughly thought out. It looks like the design was initially just to check whether apartments would fit and how many square meters could be generated.
Regarding ventilation, waste pipes, and utility routes, these are very scattered or not indicated at all here.
Also interesting is the supply and exhaust for the penthouse level.
The storage rooms are quite narrow. I had the same in my apartment as a basement replacement. It was inconvenient for storage because the aisle has to be kept clear.
Is the garage intended for the ground floor? Will you live there yourself?
Where do you plan to store bicycles and garden maintenance equipment?