Hello everyone,
we have purchased a quite challenging sloped plot and have now received the first draft from our architect. I have personally revised it to address some weaknesses that arose due to my requested changes. The exterior dimensions are relatively fixed. I am fairly satisfied but would appreciate some additional feedback before sending it back to the architect.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 731 sqm (7870 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, steep slope; the street runs north down into the valley and the garden is elevated on the mountain to the east
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: 3 m (10 feet) to neighbors/street
Orientation: Garden east, street west
Maximum heights/limits: still uncertain. According to the preliminary building inquiry, about 9.50 m (31 feet) from basement slab
Other requirements: according to § 34
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Modern, flat roof
Basement, floors: Basement plus 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons (41 years, 29 years, 3 years, 1 year), possible third child later
Space needs on ground floor: Living-dining-cooking area, storage/pantry, guest WC, office
Space needs on upper floor: Bedroom, dressing room, master bathroom, utility room, 2 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom
Space needs in basement: Secondary apartment as office and fitness area, technical room, entrance/wardrobe, storage, technical room, garage
Office: Family use or home office? 2 home office rooms
Overnight guests per year: 2 weeks per year
Open or closed layout: Very open living-dining-kitchen area; rest more closed
Conservative or modern construction: ?
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both desired
Number of dining seats: 8-10
Fireplace: rather no
Music/sound wall: if possible
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Large garage with double door
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included: very different daily rhythms, husband goes to bed late and sleeps accordingly long. Basement office for undisturbed work.
We would like the garden level to be as high as possible above street level since the plot borders a nice meadow that is currently about 1-2 m (3-6 feet) above garden level. However, the house cannot be set too high because otherwise the garage entrance would become too steep.
House Design
Planner: Architect, with interior adjustments by myself
What do you particularly like? Why? Open, spacious living area, bay window
What do you dislike? Why? Unfavorable cloakroom situation when arriving from the garage. Long dirt zone through which you have to pass to reach the office.
Price estimate by architect: over 1 million
Personal price limit for house, including features: basically already stretched at 1 million, possibly up to 1.1-1.2 million
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump, underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- Can you give up: Installation of the basement office as a separate apartment, but desired for tax reasons
- Cannot give up: Basically everything is in some way desired/important
Why does the design look the way it does? For example:
Due to the challenging slope of the plot, many factors are more or less predetermined. There was already an approved building application from another architect, which independently resembles this design closely.
I fell in love with the kitchen bay window in a show home, which unfortunately means the pantry cannot be used as the direct extension of the kitchen as originally planned... Since the kitchen is very large, the room will probably function more as a storage pantry.
On the upper floor, the second children’s bedroom is located in the northwest rather than the southwest because the higher neighbor's house stands directly to the south, and to the north there is a great view of the green valley.
we have purchased a quite challenging sloped plot and have now received the first draft from our architect. I have personally revised it to address some weaknesses that arose due to my requested changes. The exterior dimensions are relatively fixed. I am fairly satisfied but would appreciate some additional feedback before sending it back to the architect.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 731 sqm (7870 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, steep slope; the street runs north down into the valley and the garden is elevated on the mountain to the east
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: 3 m (10 feet) to neighbors/street
Orientation: Garden east, street west
Maximum heights/limits: still uncertain. According to the preliminary building inquiry, about 9.50 m (31 feet) from basement slab
Other requirements: according to § 34
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Modern, flat roof
Basement, floors: Basement plus 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons (41 years, 29 years, 3 years, 1 year), possible third child later
Space needs on ground floor: Living-dining-cooking area, storage/pantry, guest WC, office
Space needs on upper floor: Bedroom, dressing room, master bathroom, utility room, 2 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom
Space needs in basement: Secondary apartment as office and fitness area, technical room, entrance/wardrobe, storage, technical room, garage
Office: Family use or home office? 2 home office rooms
Overnight guests per year: 2 weeks per year
Open or closed layout: Very open living-dining-kitchen area; rest more closed
Conservative or modern construction: ?
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both desired
Number of dining seats: 8-10
Fireplace: rather no
Music/sound wall: if possible
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Large garage with double door
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included: very different daily rhythms, husband goes to bed late and sleeps accordingly long. Basement office for undisturbed work.
We would like the garden level to be as high as possible above street level since the plot borders a nice meadow that is currently about 1-2 m (3-6 feet) above garden level. However, the house cannot be set too high because otherwise the garage entrance would become too steep.
House Design
Planner: Architect, with interior adjustments by myself
What do you particularly like? Why? Open, spacious living area, bay window
What do you dislike? Why? Unfavorable cloakroom situation when arriving from the garage. Long dirt zone through which you have to pass to reach the office.
Price estimate by architect: over 1 million
Personal price limit for house, including features: basically already stretched at 1 million, possibly up to 1.1-1.2 million
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump, underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- Can you give up: Installation of the basement office as a separate apartment, but desired for tax reasons
- Cannot give up: Basically everything is in some way desired/important
Why does the design look the way it does? For example:
Due to the challenging slope of the plot, many factors are more or less predetermined. There was already an approved building application from another architect, which independently resembles this design closely.
I fell in love with the kitchen bay window in a show home, which unfortunately means the pantry cannot be used as the direct extension of the kitchen as originally planned... Since the kitchen is very large, the room will probably function more as a storage pantry.
On the upper floor, the second children’s bedroom is located in the northwest rather than the southwest because the higher neighbor's house stands directly to the south, and to the north there is a great view of the green valley.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
Post #37 is not useful. Please ignore it.
@Skya2020 Could you please upload the survey plan without the house as well?Here is the plan without the house. The road is at about 130m (427 feet) and the highest point of the plot is at 139m (456 feet). It really is not an easy plot. W
wiltshire15 Jan 2025 12:10Skya2020 schrieb:
Here is the site without the house. The road is at about 130m (430 feet) and the highest point of the plot is at 139m (456 feet). It’s really not an easy site. Yes, it’s very challenging to visualize the three-dimensional shape, and the 9m (30 feet) elevation difference over a relatively short distance results in a quite steep slope. Our building plot is also on a steep hillside. That’s why we were very glad our architect was capable of handling it. Since, like you, we had some financial flexibility, the slope became an advantage.
Schorsch_baut schrieb:
I haven’t read all the posts and I’m sure ypg, with their eye for detail, has already said a lot of good things about this floor plan. It increasingly reminds me of AI-generated photos that look good at first glance but, on closer inspection, the chair has five legs and the model has four thumbs instead of five fingers.
In my opinion, the bedroom is also poorly designed. Even if you only use a 1.80-meter-wide bed (about 5 feet 11 inches) – the one shown in the drawing seems to be 2.20 meters (about 7 feet 3 inches)? Then the window sashes only open if you are sitting on the bed with your legs up. When lying in bed, you face a wall. Hanging a picture there is also suboptimal because you almost bump your shoulder when walking past the foot of the bed.
You have to go through the utility room area to get to the luxury bathroom? That’s certainly one way to never forget to put wet laundry in the dryer. But be sure to have soundproof doors, unless you enjoy falling asleep to the sound of the washing machine. I want a 2.40-meter-wide bed (about 7 feet 10 inches) and have added generous extra space for the frame. The current drawing shows 2.60 by 2.20 meters (about 8 feet 6 inches by 7 feet 3 inches). The clearance at the foot of the bed is still 1 meter (about 3 feet 3 inches), which should be enough.
You raise a good point about the windows. I need to take a closer look at that. I’m also considering whether a lower window sill might be better.
I don’t need a "luxury bathroom," and theoretically, you could even add a door to the utility room. I find that unnecessary, though. I live there and the laundry in the bathroom doesn’t bother me; I find drying racks in the hallway or similar much more unpleasant.
It might even be possible to swap the utility room and bathroom. I haven’t really worked on that room yet. It’s almost 20 square meters (about 215 square feet), so there’s definitely room for a better layout.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
These were determined as accurately as possible from the geodata provided by the OP. Since this was done for free and without an address, I only did it for myself to get an idea of what the plot looks like. If the OP doesn’t share the surveyor’s plan, it can’t be precise.My observation was neutral. I actually think it’s good when those asking for help receive assistance that corresponds only to the quality of their cooperation.Schorsch_baut schrieb:
And kids don’t care about the view, but they do need light. No child sits in their room admiring the view. My little ones wouldn’t even be able to say what’s outside their windows, but they regularly steal my desk lamp to build Lego better.Children need light to grow. If they feel they are growing too quickly, they want less light. And as “pimple monsters,” they just want Wi-Fi and no presence of owls.Skya2020 schrieb:
A better layout can definitely still be found.I believe the best layouts are found by following @wiltshire’s advice and not meddling with the architect’s plan.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
S
Schorsch_baut15 Jan 2025 12:18What if the staircase were moved downstairs? On the ground floor, the guest bathroom and pantry would need to be swapped with the guest room, and upstairs, the staircase would then be located along the unused bathroom wall. m
wiltshire schrieb:
You want American-style built-in closets—I think that’s a great idea. In practice, though, the architect is confusing that with a walk-in wardrobe. Americans don’t think of changing clothes in a walk-in closet any more than Germans think of cooking in the pantry. It will take some clearer communication about what you roughly mean by "American-style built-in closet." Neither of the two designs I’ve seen works well in this respect. The architect’s isn’t right because she’s designing walk-in wardrobes for kids, and yours isn’t because it doesn’t integrate the walk-ins space-efficiently into the layout but just carves out some space from a previously usable room.
The living area is very generous, and there is something special about placing a lounge setup inside the room rather than pushing it against the wall. To me, that’s an absolutely understandable luxury. That furniture arrangement shown is still a bit small for the space, unless you want to fit a harpsichord or something. If the construction costs are so budget-restricting that you’ll have to buy discount furniture later, I’d reconsider. If you’re going to do it, do it properly.
The way you’ve positioned the dining table makes it seem like this spot doesn’t have a central role in your family life. The tightness around the table contrasts oddly with the potential spaciousness of the kitchen and living area, and it’s situated at the traffic intersection between stairs, hallway, and living room. From a design perspective, I don’t like that, even if it works functionally.
And then there’s that column just standing somewhere. It looks totally random, although it’s probably structural and cost-effective. But if I’m going to avoid structural costs, I’d like a solution that also serves a living function—and not just some random column in the way between dining room and kitchen.
Thanks for your detailed input; there are some really good suggestions there. Actually, I haven’t found a good example online yet showing the dimensions of such built-in closets. I only ever find floor plans without measurements.
In the living room, I’d also like to place a piano behind the sofa against the empty wall.
You hit the nail on the head about the dining table. We hardly ever sit there. Every few months we have a big game night with friends. Otherwise, the table gets very little use. I’m not completely sold on the bench seating solution either, but if the table is freestanding, it does feel a bit cramped near the staircase.
The column is also optional. The architect said it might be necessary, so she penciled it in there. But whether and exactly where it’s needed will have to be decided later by a structural engineer.
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