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

Created on: 29 Aug 2024 13:40
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nevzatc21
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?

Ground floor plan of a house with rooms, doors, and dimensions.


First floor plan of a house with corridor, stairwell, and several rooms.


Attic floor plan of a house with several rooms, stairwell, and dimensions.


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
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ypg
3 Sep 2024 23:38
hanghaus2023 schrieb:

I have planned the washing machine and dryer in the storage room. This also provides a short path to the terrace.

I agree with that location, but it should have a window.
The guest toilet at 8 sqm (86 sq ft) is somewhat oversized, but of course, it can also be used for laundry.
The window should not be above the washbasin.
The children's room should not face a parking space.
nevzatc21 schrieb:

What do you think is still missing for accessibility?

You should inform yourself on that. Since you want to be a landlord, this should probably be part of your basic knowledge. A bit of enthusiasm would help as well.
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kbt09
4 Sep 2024 07:24
ypg schrieb:

Guest toilet with 8 sqm (86 sq ft)
Where do you see that? I’m guessing it says something like 5.xx sqm (54 sq ft), and it looks about that size. Unfortunately, the plan is hard to read again. It would also be helpful to know at least something like 1.2 x 4 m (4 x 13 ft) for some of the rooms.

Also, I feel there is a lack of space for routing wastewater pipes up and down between floors.
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ypg
4 Sep 2024 08:37
kbt09 schrieb:

Where do you see that?
Here

Floor plan of a small living area with guest WC, washbasin, toilet, and furniture.

I am referring to the original poster’s design, as they are planning it themselves.

However, I feel like I’m out of this discussion anyway, because I don’t see that the original poster is considering the fact that this is a rental apartment. To me, this seems more like a mix between planning for themselves while trying to maximize the square meters (sqm) for rental purposes. The requirements or responsibility regarding rental use seem to be missing here.
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nevzatc21
4 Sep 2024 09:44
ypg schrieb:

Here
[ATTACH alt="grundriss-neubau-mehrfamilienhaus-mit-3-wohneinheiten-wohnflaeche-ca-350m-669784-1.jpeg"]87594[/ATTACH]
I am referring to the original poster’s design since they are planning it themselves.

However, I feel like I’m out of the discussion because I don’t see the original poster acknowledging the reality of renting out an apartment. To me, this seems more like a mixed approach: planning for themselves with the intention of maximizing rentable square meters. I find that the requirements and responsibilities related to rental units are missing here.

I can't fully understand your criticism. I have addressed all your concerns.

Could you please explain what your criticism is based on?

Thanks anyway for your input so far!

Regards
Nevzat
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kbt09
4 Sep 2024 09:55
ypg schrieb:

I am referring to the design from the original poster since they are planning it themselves.
Oops... I overlooked that the last version was from hanghaus. But I also don't see accessibility in the apartment, since the bathrooms can only be accessed through narrow corridor sections. And as I said, you have to consider the whole picture because of supply shafts, service ducts, etc. Especially electrical installations—thinking about the apartment building I live in, there’s quite a bit concentrated up to the utility room (HAR).
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ypg
4 Sep 2024 11:39
nevzatc21 schrieb:

I can’t fully understand your criticism. I have addressed all your concerns.

Well, you asked me about accessibility but overlooked our note regarding the technical room several times. In the beginning, I also covered the supply and drainage pipes as well as utility providers, but that didn’t get any response.
You talk about a "restless hallway" when discussing a logical location for the technical room. Yet, you plan a prominent corridor inside the apartments themselves, which visually could already be considered part of the living area.
I have also mentioned the window placement relative to parking spaces more than once.
I think when reading this, it should trigger something in the questioner—not ignorance, but thoughts like "how do we do this?" or "what would be acceptable?"—as a way to avoid the issue.
In my opinion, you underestimate your role when you design a multi-family building “just like that” without carefully studying the requirements.