ᐅ Floor plan single-family house, two stories, no basement

Hello everyone,

We are currently planning to build a single-family house and have put together the following floor plan using Home Design 3D (however, the PDF export function keeps freezing, so I’m sharing screenshots instead).

The house:
- no basement
- 2 full stories
- utility room and guest shower on the ground floor
- the utility room is meant to accommodate: photovoltaic system with battery storage, all main connections, electrical panel, ventilation system, washing machine, dryer, and a small sink
- home office on the ground floor
- pantry under the stairs
- bedroom and 2 children’s rooms on the upper floor
- sports / storage room on the upper floor
- attic used for storage

What do you think?

Pain points from my perspective, where I have the most questions:
- Is the size of the utility room sufficient?
- Is the size of the guest bathroom adequate, or have I planned the plumbing too small?

PS: This is my first post, I’ve only recently joined, so please forgive me if I’m missing anything “essential.”

AKRPH2025 schrieb:

What do you think

AKRPH2025 schrieb:

PS: my first post, I’ve only been here a short time, so please forgive me if something “essential” is missing

You have found the subforum, so you will also find the questionnaire for constructive feedback. Please fill it out (!) and upload the site plan, etc. as well.

Alright, second attempt:

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 401 sqm (4315 sq ft)
Slope: slight incline: no
Land coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 2
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 15.6 m (51 feet) wide by 15 m (49 feet) long, with 3 m (10 feet) setbacks on both left and right sides (except where a garage is built)
Edge development:
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof shape: gable roof
Style
Orientation: garden facing south
Max eaves height: 6.6 m (22 feet)
Max ridge height: 13.1 m (43 feet)

Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors
Number of people, ages: 2 adults under 35, 2 children under 5
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Office: yes, on ground floor
Guest sleeping area approx. 30 sqm (323 sq ft) (on sofa bed in office)
Open or closed architecture
Conservative or modern design: modern design – solid construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island: YES
Number of dining seats: 4-6 (not at the kitchen island)
Fireplace: yes
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for 2 cars or at least a storage shed
Utility garden, greenhouse: nothing large
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why some things are desired or not:
- a sports room and also storage space on the upper floor
- hardwood flooring everywhere except bathroom/laundry room/toilet
- sliding windows on the ground floor
- attic not developed but insulated
- exterior landscaping as a DIY project

House Design
Designed by: myself with the help of Home Design 3D
What do you particularly like and why?: straight staircase along the length, layout of living, cooking, and dining area
What do you dislike and why?:
- narrow bathroom on upper floor – a compromise to keep wet rooms stacked and rest well arranged
- utility/laundry room – all equipment must fit (photovoltaic system and battery, ventilation system, etc.) plus washing machine/dryer and a small sink; unsure about spacing and exact dimensions
Price estimate by architect/planner:
Personal budget for house including fittings: 500,000 EUR
Preferred heating system: heat pump (air-to-water)

If you have to give up, which features/extensions
- can you live without: if necessary, the sports room (the bottleneck is more on the ground floor than the upper floor)
- cannot do without: shower on ground floor and office

Why did the design end up like it is now?
Standard design from a planner? = No
More of a mix from many examples in various magazines = rather a personal creation with some ideas from other floor plans
What makes it, in your opinion, particularly good or bad? = good because it is quite compact and uses space efficiently (6 rooms with suitable sizes, e.g., children’s rooms over 14 sqm (150 sq ft))

Question:
- Am I overlooking bottlenecks that look fine in the plan but won’t work in reality, for example due to pipe space requirements?
- Is the utility room feasible as planned, and will it accommodate everything mentioned?

Thanks in advance

Hello @AKRPH2025 and welcome!
I think this is not bad for a first attempt. On the ground floor, we can see the Neo model from Fingerhaus. Unfortunately, the upper floor doesn’t fit as smoothly. You don’t want to pay for all those narrow rooms—I believe you would regret it eventually.

Basically, you should clarify these three questions first:
1. The budget. Roughly estimating, 175 m² (1,883 sq ft) × 3000 € (base level) = 525K. That already exceeds the budget and you haven’t paid for anything else except the house. Considering the technical equipment and other wishes, I’m afraid 3,000 €/m² won’t be enough anymore. So you will probably have to make some cuts.
2. I assume the main entrance is on the north side?
3. With three parking spaces on a relatively small plot, you should start planning with the positioning of the house and parking spaces before working on the floor plan.

AKRPH2025 schrieb:

Personal budget limit for the house, including fixtures: 500k EUR

Should the additional construction costs be included in that? Will a general contractor build it? Around 3000 €/sqm (280 USD/sq ft) is typical. With the specifications you mentioned, it’s more like 3200 €/sqm (300 USD/sq ft).

AKRPH2025 schrieb:

For example, because pipes require more space?

Issues like missing technical elements will hopefully be addressed and corrected by the architect. Unfortunately, it’s likely to remain as is, since nowadays the client is king and won’t be pleased if told many things aren’t ideal. Therefore, these junctions and imperfections will be accepted.

AKRPH2025 schrieb:

Am I overlooking bottlenecks that look fine on the floor plan but won’t work in reality?

In my opinion, the design offers no added value compared to its smaller counterparts, other than having many rooms. Building large is no art, unless you can’t really afford it. The rooms are almost all very narrow, so not well proportioned.

Most doors open the wrong way or have poorly located hinges. They’re also badly positioned so that you can’t hide wardrobes behind them. In the kids’ room and gym, you’ll be bumping into wardrobes.

What immediately bothers me are the narrow windows and the long corridor next to the staircase. Nothing will happen there. Opposite the utility room door, the hallway will be tight (a ladder or similar could get stuck).

Is it clear whether those are patio doors or windows? I wouldn’t design a one-meter-wide (3.3 feet) double-leaf window. That doesn’t fit the house size, which is quite wide. Otherwise, the windows seem placed rather randomly. Don’t they?

Also, what exactly is that square area in the entrance foyer?

@K a t j a, thanks for your feedback.
1.) We need to review that again.
2.) The front door is located on the north side.
3.) We want to build the house and garage in a line, 5m (16 feet) from the boundary. This way, three parking spaces fit comfortably: one in front of each garage and one in front of the house. This leaves the garden with dimensions of 5 + 11.5 = 16.5m (16.5 + 38 feet), so the garden length remains 9.2m (30 feet) and the width 15.6m (51 feet). The actual garden area would be 143 sqm (1,539 sq ft), excluding the additional side strips, which is more than enough for us.