ᐅ Challenging Floor Plan, Plot, and Historic Building – Section 34
Created on: 11 Feb 2025 21:44
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buttyhome
Dear Forum,
First of all, we would like to introduce ourselves. We are a family of four and have now found a nice sloped plot in NRW. We are aware that it is considered a "challenging plot" in terms of buildability, but we have fallen in love with the location and the view. It is a total of 390 m² (4200 sq ft) of building land, with green space extending behind the plot. Currently, it is occupied by two buildings, the front one of which is a listed monument requiring renovation. The rear building is in such poor condition that it must be demolished. Of course, the monument must not be significantly disturbed within its ensemble, so a modern flat roof is unfortunately not possible. However, I am hopeful that we can connect the monument with our planned new building by a joint or gap.
First, the current situation: the front house is the monument, which I intend to renovate and use as a home office/guest room.
The front house currently has two floors, but ceiling heights no longer meet our needs due to our height, so we plan, as far as possible, to remove some walls and the ceiling between floors to expose the beams.
Now to our planned new build. We are working with an architect we really trust, who has designed and renovated some truly excellent houses within our circle of friends.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: buildable - 390 m² (4200 sq ft), with green space behind
Slope: yes, ascending towards the rear, with an incline between 8 and 12 %, so the house will sit at the lower part of the slope. Unfortunately, the view into the valley can only be enjoyed from the upper floor due to buildings on the opposite side of the street.
§34 construction: “mixed neighborhood”, single and two-story buildings with flat and pitched roofs, some 2.5-story pitched roofs
Edge development: apparently quite common in the neighborhood. My architect is more optimistic than I am that edge development will be allowed.
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of stories: two full floors + pitched roof
Roof type: pitched roof
Style: must integrate with the half-timbered monument for an overall harmony (please no historicism, I prefer modern architecture, perhaps with wooden cladding)
Orientation: The architect insists on building the eaves side facing the street because of window areas. I am unsure if this is possible due to boundary constraints, so I suggest a gable orientation as an alternative. I am particularly interested in your ideas here! We are still in the very first planning phase.
Maximum height / limits: 2.5 stories
Client requirements
Number of occupants: 2 adults + 2 children
Ground floor space needs: master bedroom, 2 children's bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, separate cloakroom, either at the rear (slope) or in the basement: laundry room, storage, building services
Upper floor: large open-plan kitchen and living area with garden access, fireplace, guest toilet
Office: combined with guest room
Occasional overnight guests per year
Open or closed architecture: open plan
Traditional or modern design: modern
Open kitchen with island
Minimum dining seats: 8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Carport
House design
Not yet available, we are still assessing the basic buildability
Designer: architect versus own ideas
Personal budget for house including fittings: initially open, we want to see what is possible
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to give up something, which details or features
- can you do without: -
- cannot do without: large window front facing the garden with direct garden/terrace access
Here is the architect’s first concept. She assumes basic buildability including edge development and therefore wants to place the new build with the eaves side directly adjacent to the neighbor. I would prefer a longer joint/gap, but that would make the edge building length disproportionate. I find that unfortunate as I would like the new building positioned further back in the plot to create a larger front courtyard. This is the first idea currently being checked for feasibility by the building and monument authorities:
The extension toward the garden is optional and designed with a flat roof.
My idea would be to extend the building joint further, placing the entrance and cloakroom there, with the new building accessed above. This new building would be rotated to face with its gable. Because it would extend far into the slope, the ground floor would effectively become a basement, and the upper floor would have direct garden access at ground level. I would also need to encroach on the neighboring boundary, but I imagine this might be simpler as I am only planning a single story there. Would the house then have enough windows? You don’t want to orient large window fronts too much towards neighbors, but at least toward the garden I would like to have a large gable window area.
Thank you very much for your suggestions! What do you think is feasible? What are the pros and cons?
I am also still looking for a contour map. All the maps I find online are somewhat coarse. Is there an online resource for NRW? What options should I select in the NRW geoportal to get a good detailed representation?
First of all, we would like to introduce ourselves. We are a family of four and have now found a nice sloped plot in NRW. We are aware that it is considered a "challenging plot" in terms of buildability, but we have fallen in love with the location and the view. It is a total of 390 m² (4200 sq ft) of building land, with green space extending behind the plot. Currently, it is occupied by two buildings, the front one of which is a listed monument requiring renovation. The rear building is in such poor condition that it must be demolished. Of course, the monument must not be significantly disturbed within its ensemble, so a modern flat roof is unfortunately not possible. However, I am hopeful that we can connect the monument with our planned new building by a joint or gap.
First, the current situation: the front house is the monument, which I intend to renovate and use as a home office/guest room.
The front house currently has two floors, but ceiling heights no longer meet our needs due to our height, so we plan, as far as possible, to remove some walls and the ceiling between floors to expose the beams.
Now to our planned new build. We are working with an architect we really trust, who has designed and renovated some truly excellent houses within our circle of friends.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: buildable - 390 m² (4200 sq ft), with green space behind
Slope: yes, ascending towards the rear, with an incline between 8 and 12 %, so the house will sit at the lower part of the slope. Unfortunately, the view into the valley can only be enjoyed from the upper floor due to buildings on the opposite side of the street.
§34 construction: “mixed neighborhood”, single and two-story buildings with flat and pitched roofs, some 2.5-story pitched roofs
Edge development: apparently quite common in the neighborhood. My architect is more optimistic than I am that edge development will be allowed.
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of stories: two full floors + pitched roof
Roof type: pitched roof
Style: must integrate with the half-timbered monument for an overall harmony (please no historicism, I prefer modern architecture, perhaps with wooden cladding)
Orientation: The architect insists on building the eaves side facing the street because of window areas. I am unsure if this is possible due to boundary constraints, so I suggest a gable orientation as an alternative. I am particularly interested in your ideas here! We are still in the very first planning phase.
Maximum height / limits: 2.5 stories
Client requirements
Number of occupants: 2 adults + 2 children
Ground floor space needs: master bedroom, 2 children's bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, separate cloakroom, either at the rear (slope) or in the basement: laundry room, storage, building services
Upper floor: large open-plan kitchen and living area with garden access, fireplace, guest toilet
Office: combined with guest room
Occasional overnight guests per year
Open or closed architecture: open plan
Traditional or modern design: modern
Open kitchen with island
Minimum dining seats: 8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Carport
House design
Not yet available, we are still assessing the basic buildability
Designer: architect versus own ideas
Personal budget for house including fittings: initially open, we want to see what is possible
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to give up something, which details or features
- can you do without: -
- cannot do without: large window front facing the garden with direct garden/terrace access
Here is the architect’s first concept. She assumes basic buildability including edge development and therefore wants to place the new build with the eaves side directly adjacent to the neighbor. I would prefer a longer joint/gap, but that would make the edge building length disproportionate. I find that unfortunate as I would like the new building positioned further back in the plot to create a larger front courtyard. This is the first idea currently being checked for feasibility by the building and monument authorities:
The extension toward the garden is optional and designed with a flat roof.
My idea would be to extend the building joint further, placing the entrance and cloakroom there, with the new building accessed above. This new building would be rotated to face with its gable. Because it would extend far into the slope, the ground floor would effectively become a basement, and the upper floor would have direct garden access at ground level. I would also need to encroach on the neighboring boundary, but I imagine this might be simpler as I am only planning a single story there. Would the house then have enough windows? You don’t want to orient large window fronts too much towards neighbors, but at least toward the garden I would like to have a large gable window area.
Thank you very much for your suggestions! What do you think is feasible? What are the pros and cons?
I am also still looking for a contour map. All the maps I find online are somewhat coarse. Is there an online resource for NRW? What options should I select in the NRW geoportal to get a good detailed representation?
To clarify: You have purchased plot 114. Nothing else, not 113 or any other plot, correct?
In that case, I don’t see any scenario where you can build a basement level (underground floor) on the slope, with the ground floor above it, allowing access to the terrace at the rear at the same height. You don’t own that slope anyway. The plot is short and finite, only 29.5 meters long (97 feet).
I rather see that you place your terrace where you are standing (there are also sunnier days than when the photo was taken), and/or create a nice seating area in the front yard.
You don’t need access for a four-wheel vehicle to the rear of the property, as that small remaining triangle of land can easily be arranged for pedestrian use. It would therefore make sense to attach the house on the north side to the neighbor’s property to keep the south side clear for windows.
Sorry if I misuse your quotes; I already had them copied:
It is a closed development. That means you can build adjoining houses like townhouses, or a detached house directly on the boundary.
If you do build on the boundary, then no windows are allowed on that side (at least, this is my understanding and common sense).
In that case, I don’t see any scenario where you can build a basement level (underground floor) on the slope, with the ground floor above it, allowing access to the terrace at the rear at the same height. You don’t own that slope anyway. The plot is short and finite, only 29.5 meters long (97 feet).
I rather see that you place your terrace where you are standing (there are also sunnier days than when the photo was taken), and/or create a nice seating area in the front yard.
You don’t need access for a four-wheel vehicle to the rear of the property, as that small remaining triangle of land can easily be arranged for pedestrian use. It would therefore make sense to attach the house on the north side to the neighbor’s property to keep the south side clear for windows.
Sorry if I misuse your quotes; I already had them copied:
K a t j a schrieb:
I somehow can’t imagine that you are allowed to build directly on the northern boundary.
K a t j a schrieb:
Am I correct in assuming that in the architect’s design there are no windows on the south side (i.e., the boundary wall)?
It is a closed development. That means you can build adjoining houses like townhouses, or a detached house directly on the boundary.
If you do build on the boundary, then no windows are allowed on that side (at least, this is my understanding and common sense).
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buttyhome16 Feb 2025 21:40ypg schrieb:
Just to confirm: You bought plot 114. Not any other, like 113 or anything else?! Yes, everything marked in orange is the property. Most of it is grassland. Only plot 114 is allowed for building.
I have quickly sketched this out. Unfortunately, my software doesn’t support angled lines.
But here, for example, with a house measuring 10 x 10 meters (33 x 33 feet) on the exterior, the remaining plot at the back would still be 10 meters (33 feet) deep. If you create a nice family terrace for dining, about 4 meters (13 feet) deep, there is still a compact garden including the slope.
You can move the house further forward, but somewhere you will also need to allocate space for parking spots.
I do think that a small extension, combining the entrance and both building sections, would work well.
But here, for example, with a house measuring 10 x 10 meters (33 x 33 feet) on the exterior, the remaining plot at the back would still be 10 meters (33 feet) deep. If you create a nice family terrace for dining, about 4 meters (13 feet) deep, there is still a compact garden including the slope.
You can move the house further forward, but somewhere you will also need to allocate space for parking spots.
I do think that a small extension, combining the entrance and both building sections, would work well.
buttyhome schrieb:
Yes, all the orange-marked area is the plot. Most of it is grassland. Only parcel 114 is allowed to be built on. Ah, I understood that differently. Then unfortunately my previous post overlaps with yours.
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buttyhome16 Feb 2025 22:47ypg schrieb:
Here is the revised draft, just as you envisioned it. Many thanks to everyone already! I will report back as soon as we receive feedback from the building authority regarding the architect’s first draft. I’m convinced it won’t be approved as is (and I no longer want it that way because of the sun). The neighboring buildings are all single-story in the closed construction style, as far as I can see. So, a boundary wall construction might mean a stepped upper floor. That could actually look quite good if the upper floor appears as a freestanding part of the building when viewed from the slope. This would also fit well with the connection to the heritage building. The main structure would remain single-story, with the upper floor accessed via the three-meter (10 feet) gap.
As I said, these are just rough ideas. I’m curious to see the building authority’s comments.
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