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youpy19783 Sep 2014 19:20Hello forum,
we are now starting our house building project. After a long search, we found a nice, completely flat plot of land measuring 520 m² (5600 sq ft). It’s the last undeveloped lot in the area. That means we can be confident about the neighboring buildings. Everything around is open (maximum 1.5 stories), no trees, and therefore no shading—ideal for a passive house design.
What we want:
A passive house with 2 children’s bedrooms and 2 offices (one small office is enough for me, but not for my wife!). A double garage was also a must, with access to the house, preferably through a pantry. A straight staircase would be nice, along with a direct view from the front door through to the garden. An open living area with kitchen, living room, and dining room was very important to us. We are building without a basement (for cost reasons). After a few visits to prefabricated house centers and consultations with various architects, we decided on the following floor plan. It should remain roughly the same, but we are open to practical suggestions from you. Maybe we have overlooked something… probably 😉
The garage has already been extended toward the garden in the house elevations to gain more storage space. We are still undecided about the position of the terrace; it will probably be located over the south/southwest corner and will be covered in the kitchen area (basically connected to the garage facing the garden).
Looking forward to your feedback and thanks in advance!
we are now starting our house building project. After a long search, we found a nice, completely flat plot of land measuring 520 m² (5600 sq ft). It’s the last undeveloped lot in the area. That means we can be confident about the neighboring buildings. Everything around is open (maximum 1.5 stories), no trees, and therefore no shading—ideal for a passive house design.
What we want:
A passive house with 2 children’s bedrooms and 2 offices (one small office is enough for me, but not for my wife!). A double garage was also a must, with access to the house, preferably through a pantry. A straight staircase would be nice, along with a direct view from the front door through to the garden. An open living area with kitchen, living room, and dining room was very important to us. We are building without a basement (for cost reasons). After a few visits to prefabricated house centers and consultations with various architects, we decided on the following floor plan. It should remain roughly the same, but we are open to practical suggestions from you. Maybe we have overlooked something… probably 😉
The garage has already been extended toward the garden in the house elevations to gain more storage space. We are still undecided about the position of the terrace; it will probably be located over the south/southwest corner and will be covered in the kitchen area (basically connected to the garage facing the garden).
Looking forward to your feedback and thanks in advance!
First of all, here are the points that immediately caught my attention:
The wardrobe area will be dark. Why not add a small window here and place the closet on the opposite side?
I find the children's rooms quite small compared to the rest of the house.
Having the closet space on one side of the bed is inconvenient because someone will always be disturbed if the other wants to sleep longer.
I also find it problematic that all the doors upstairs open directly against the wall. It would be better if there was space behind the door for a closet. This further limits furnishing options in the small rooms. But with this floor plan, it probably can’t be done differently.
The bathroom with sauna seems oversized. Where will you spend more time, in the bathroom, sauna, or children’s rooms? But okay, if you want a sauna...
I find the entrance area almost too small despite the nice wardrobe corner. Do you have children? If so, how old are they?
I really like that the utility room and technical room are separate. We have the same setup. What I don’t like is that a technician or meter reader has to walk through the whole house or garage to get there. Our technical room is directly next to the entrance.
The upstairs hallway has no natural daylight. Ours actually doesn’t either, but we installed transom windows above the bathroom doors so that at least some daylight comes into the hallway.
Overall, I think the floor plan is okay. It’s obvious you put thought into it.
The wardrobe area will be dark. Why not add a small window here and place the closet on the opposite side?
I find the children's rooms quite small compared to the rest of the house.
Having the closet space on one side of the bed is inconvenient because someone will always be disturbed if the other wants to sleep longer.
I also find it problematic that all the doors upstairs open directly against the wall. It would be better if there was space behind the door for a closet. This further limits furnishing options in the small rooms. But with this floor plan, it probably can’t be done differently.
The bathroom with sauna seems oversized. Where will you spend more time, in the bathroom, sauna, or children’s rooms? But okay, if you want a sauna...
I find the entrance area almost too small despite the nice wardrobe corner. Do you have children? If so, how old are they?
I really like that the utility room and technical room are separate. We have the same setup. What I don’t like is that a technician or meter reader has to walk through the whole house or garage to get there. Our technical room is directly next to the entrance.
The upstairs hallway has no natural daylight. Ours actually doesn’t either, but we installed transom windows above the bathroom doors so that at least some daylight comes into the hallway.
Overall, I think the floor plan is okay. It’s obvious you put thought into it.
Hello,
I also find the floor plan quite well done. Unfortunately, the living area suffers due to the large utility space.
The hallway with 7.5 m² (81 sq ft) plus cloakroom seems appealing and reasonable to me (I am not a fan of wasted hallway space).
Some comments have already been made about moving the wardrobe inward.
I think 14.5 m² (156 sq ft) for the children’s room is fine – but you parents are allowing yourselves significantly more space (with the dressing room and offices). The children don’t benefit from this, as based on the previous statements, I can’t imagine that the larger office will ever be used as a play or TV room for the kids.
In contrast, there is a large double garage with storage space – a big utility room and a practical laundry room... the children definitely have less space than your cars 🙁
Unusual: the bathroom is located on the south side! The size with the sauna is acceptable, but still not enough for all the sections (in my opinion). Generosity looks different – there’s no space for a small relaxation chair after the sauna session. The position of the washbasin with a window directly behind is not ideal either. The T-shaped layout is again not the optimum for the bathroom here, but I also don’t see an alternative given the shape.
The canopy will keep your kitchen dark (I assume that the canopy is enclosed).
I would match the windows on the ground floor on the south side with those upstairs – specifically so that the left window frames align at the top and bottom (dining area and kitchen).
Overall, I would feel comfortable on the ground floor, less so upstairs. Still, here the living area takes a back seat to the utility area – personally, I would make the house larger and reduce the utility space (shift about 10–15 m² (108–161 sq ft), so to speak), with an additional room downstairs and more space upstairs for the children, whether for their rooms or as a communal area.
What makes this house passive? The large windows on the east side confuse me...
I also find the floor plan quite well done. Unfortunately, the living area suffers due to the large utility space.
The hallway with 7.5 m² (81 sq ft) plus cloakroom seems appealing and reasonable to me (I am not a fan of wasted hallway space).
Some comments have already been made about moving the wardrobe inward.
I think 14.5 m² (156 sq ft) for the children’s room is fine – but you parents are allowing yourselves significantly more space (with the dressing room and offices). The children don’t benefit from this, as based on the previous statements, I can’t imagine that the larger office will ever be used as a play or TV room for the kids.
In contrast, there is a large double garage with storage space – a big utility room and a practical laundry room... the children definitely have less space than your cars 🙁
Unusual: the bathroom is located on the south side! The size with the sauna is acceptable, but still not enough for all the sections (in my opinion). Generosity looks different – there’s no space for a small relaxation chair after the sauna session. The position of the washbasin with a window directly behind is not ideal either. The T-shaped layout is again not the optimum for the bathroom here, but I also don’t see an alternative given the shape.
The canopy will keep your kitchen dark (I assume that the canopy is enclosed).
I would match the windows on the ground floor on the south side with those upstairs – specifically so that the left window frames align at the top and bottom (dining area and kitchen).
Overall, I would feel comfortable on the ground floor, less so upstairs. Still, here the living area takes a back seat to the utility area – personally, I would make the house larger and reduce the utility space (shift about 10–15 m² (108–161 sq ft), so to speak), with an additional room downstairs and more space upstairs for the children, whether for their rooms or as a communal area.
What makes this house passive? The large windows on the east side confuse me...
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backbone233 Sep 2014 22:34Should the bottom right in the bathroom be a corner bathtub?? It looks drawn much too small?!
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youpy19784 Sep 2014 12:13 🙂 Thanks first of all for the suggestions! The issue with the cloakroom is definitely something we can change without much effort. We will take that into consideration.
We wanted to address the lack of natural light in the hallway by possibly installing glass doors in the offices. We will reconsider the layout of the bathroom, especially the location of the bathtub, which we don’t want to be a corner bathtub. Our idea is to position the bathtub so that you can look out onto the greenery/garden. The size is debatable, but after having a very small bathroom in our current apartment, we find this size comfortable. However, we understand that it may not be easily understood by you! The entrance area is intentionally kept “small.”
Regarding the size of the children’s rooms: we have looked at this size carefully, both in the house design and at friends’ houses, and we believe it is sufficient. There are no children yet anyway… We’ll actually need to review the positioning of the doors again, as it is not very well chosen. The placement of the windows is also a good point. We will change that.
Passive house standards and east-facing windows are not necessarily incompatible, right? I will discuss this further with the architect and the energy consultant.
Anyway, thanks again for the feedback.
We wanted to address the lack of natural light in the hallway by possibly installing glass doors in the offices. We will reconsider the layout of the bathroom, especially the location of the bathtub, which we don’t want to be a corner bathtub. Our idea is to position the bathtub so that you can look out onto the greenery/garden. The size is debatable, but after having a very small bathroom in our current apartment, we find this size comfortable. However, we understand that it may not be easily understood by you! The entrance area is intentionally kept “small.”
Regarding the size of the children’s rooms: we have looked at this size carefully, both in the house design and at friends’ houses, and we believe it is sufficient. There are no children yet anyway… We’ll actually need to review the positioning of the doors again, as it is not very well chosen. The placement of the windows is also a good point. We will change that.
Passive house standards and east-facing windows are not necessarily incompatible, right? I will discuss this further with the architect and the energy consultant.
Anyway, thanks again for the feedback.
Do you have the option to add a door between the entrance area and the living room on the ground floor? In winter, I think it would be too drafty if one person comes home while another is sitting at the kitchen counter. We have also planned a sliding door; of course, it won’t keep out the cold completely, but at least you won’t be sitting or standing directly in the draft.
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