ᐅ Layout planning for an extension to a 1970s bungalow – no additional floors desired
Created on: 22 Aug 2025 08:56
L
LisaBau
Hello everyone,
A few years ago, my partner and I bought a bungalow from the 1970s. At that time, the size was perfectly sufficient for us. Over time, you notice what works and what doesn’t in everyday life. For this reason, and considering our plans for children, I would like to extend the house. We also considered selling and building a new house, but due to the current interest rates, I am not willing to invest that much money and prefer to plan with the resources we have.
I’m attaching the current floor plans for the ground floor along with some of my thoughts. We are still at the very beginning, but sometimes you just need feedback from a different perspective. So, please don’t be surprised by missing windows or similar details. This is about the big picture, not fine tuning.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size 2,100 m2 (22,604 sq ft), of which 1,000 m2 (10,764 sq ft) is designated as building land
Slope None. The house is slightly elevated. The extension would either need to be at the same level, or there would be a step difference of 3-4 steps.
Site occupancy index 0.2
Floor area ratio -
Building window, building line, and boundary -
Border development -
Number of parking spaces -
Number of stories Ground floor and basement
Roof type Currently a flat roof, but a hip roof or gable roof would also be possible
Architectural style - Solid construction, red brick
Orientation
Maximum heights / restrictions
Other requirements Extensions are only allowed on the long sides of the house since the short sides already have a 3 m (10 ft) setback from the property boundary. Extension towards the garden is also limited (still sufficient in my opinion), as part of the garden is designated as meadow.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type - Currently solid construction; extension in timber frame construction is also possible
Basement, floors Maintain basement, ground floor with extension
Number of residents, age 2 adults, 1 toddler, 2 more planned
Space requirements on the ground floor 3 children’s rooms, 1 office, 1 master bedroom, 1 guest room, 2 bathrooms, 1 toilet, 1 kitchen with dining area, 1 living room
Office: home office
Open or closed layout Mostly open layout, but living room and kitchen next to each other; must be separable
Conservative or modern design
Open kitchen, e.g., opening to the terrace is possible; kitchen island preferred
Number of dining seats - 10
Fireplace Already installed
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine: There is a 3 m (10 ft) distance to the neighbor on the left side, who built a 1.5-story house and placed a semi-enclosed carport directly on the boundary. Because of this, the view from the window will probably not be pleasant, looking onto a gray wooden slat fence. For this reason, extending the house on that side makes more sense to me, as these neighbors are closest to us. On the right side of the property there is more space between the houses, so sitting on a terrace feels less exposed. However, I’m really open to all ideas.
House Design
The extension plan is my own as I work in the field but am not a professional. I would also like to learn from others’ experiences. Perhaps someone has done something similar and can reassure me or give advice against certain ideas.
The current heating system is gas, which still works fine but would be replaced at the same time.
If you had to give up some details / additions,
- Which ones could you live without:
- Which ones are must-haves: a separable kitchen
Why does the design look like it does now?
Initially, it was only about extending the front, as the kitchen is currently too small and the dining area next to the kitchen is not ideal. We only wanted to remove the wall between kitchen and living room to enlarge the kitchen, but the remaining living area (6.84 x 4.09 m [22.5 x 13.4 ft]) is not sufficient due to window locations, the double door, and the stove next to it, and cannot easily be furnished without many compromises.
For this reason, we considered a larger extension for additional children’s rooms and another bathroom, and this led to the versions you see now.
What do you think? Extend fully or only the kitchen? Or build completely new?
The kitchen definitely needs to be done, as I can no longer "put up" with the current situation.
I also look forward to hearing about similar building projects that have already been completed and the insights gained from them.
Thanks for your advice.
A few years ago, my partner and I bought a bungalow from the 1970s. At that time, the size was perfectly sufficient for us. Over time, you notice what works and what doesn’t in everyday life. For this reason, and considering our plans for children, I would like to extend the house. We also considered selling and building a new house, but due to the current interest rates, I am not willing to invest that much money and prefer to plan with the resources we have.
I’m attaching the current floor plans for the ground floor along with some of my thoughts. We are still at the very beginning, but sometimes you just need feedback from a different perspective. So, please don’t be surprised by missing windows or similar details. This is about the big picture, not fine tuning.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size 2,100 m2 (22,604 sq ft), of which 1,000 m2 (10,764 sq ft) is designated as building land
Slope None. The house is slightly elevated. The extension would either need to be at the same level, or there would be a step difference of 3-4 steps.
Site occupancy index 0.2
Floor area ratio -
Building window, building line, and boundary -
Border development -
Number of parking spaces -
Number of stories Ground floor and basement
Roof type Currently a flat roof, but a hip roof or gable roof would also be possible
Architectural style - Solid construction, red brick
Orientation
Maximum heights / restrictions
Other requirements Extensions are only allowed on the long sides of the house since the short sides already have a 3 m (10 ft) setback from the property boundary. Extension towards the garden is also limited (still sufficient in my opinion), as part of the garden is designated as meadow.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type - Currently solid construction; extension in timber frame construction is also possible
Basement, floors Maintain basement, ground floor with extension
Number of residents, age 2 adults, 1 toddler, 2 more planned
Space requirements on the ground floor 3 children’s rooms, 1 office, 1 master bedroom, 1 guest room, 2 bathrooms, 1 toilet, 1 kitchen with dining area, 1 living room
Office: home office
Open or closed layout Mostly open layout, but living room and kitchen next to each other; must be separable
Conservative or modern design
Open kitchen, e.g., opening to the terrace is possible; kitchen island preferred
Number of dining seats - 10
Fireplace Already installed
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine: There is a 3 m (10 ft) distance to the neighbor on the left side, who built a 1.5-story house and placed a semi-enclosed carport directly on the boundary. Because of this, the view from the window will probably not be pleasant, looking onto a gray wooden slat fence. For this reason, extending the house on that side makes more sense to me, as these neighbors are closest to us. On the right side of the property there is more space between the houses, so sitting on a terrace feels less exposed. However, I’m really open to all ideas.
House Design
The extension plan is my own as I work in the field but am not a professional. I would also like to learn from others’ experiences. Perhaps someone has done something similar and can reassure me or give advice against certain ideas.
The current heating system is gas, which still works fine but would be replaced at the same time.
If you had to give up some details / additions,
- Which ones could you live without:
- Which ones are must-haves: a separable kitchen
Why does the design look like it does now?
Initially, it was only about extending the front, as the kitchen is currently too small and the dining area next to the kitchen is not ideal. We only wanted to remove the wall between kitchen and living room to enlarge the kitchen, but the remaining living area (6.84 x 4.09 m [22.5 x 13.4 ft]) is not sufficient due to window locations, the double door, and the stove next to it, and cannot easily be furnished without many compromises.
For this reason, we considered a larger extension for additional children’s rooms and another bathroom, and this led to the versions you see now.
What do you think? Extend fully or only the kitchen? Or build completely new?
The kitchen definitely needs to be done, as I can no longer "put up" with the current situation.
I also look forward to hearing about similar building projects that have already been completed and the insights gained from them.
Thanks for your advice.
ypg schrieb:
What does that mean? How much budget are you willing to spend on an extension?Do you want to answer the question or are you unable to?W
wiltshire23 Aug 2025 10:37ypg schrieb:
Do you want to answer the question, or are you unable to?The plans suggest that there is sufficient budget for someone with some knowledge in the construction field. Of course, this could be a wrong assumption. As long as I don’t hear about any budget limit, I will respond as if there isn’t one.wiltshire schrieb:
As long as I don’t hear about a budget limit, I respond as if there isn’t one.That’s fine! But it doesn’t apply to me, as I also spend my time on sketches. So I have to weigh things up and reject unrealistic ideas.
I’m also not interested in endless discussions and brainstorming sessions based solely on assumptions (just because the questioner doesn’t answer follow-up questions).
And apparently, we don’t only have a budget limit here, but also the limit of the floor area ratio.
However, that’s not how an exchange like this works.
wiltshire schrieb:
At first glance, I like option 1 the most.Thank you for your feedback, especially regarding the bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom. I will take that into account right away. Whether the vestibule is really necessary is, of course, the question. When planning, you often reach the point of thinking, “I could add something useful here.” That’s how the vestibule came about, but it’s probably not essential. However, I really like the idea of the service window!
Skylights are definitely an option.
You like the atrium-like space in option 1. I think it’s great too, but I’m not sure what to do with the room behind it. As a bedroom, it would be wonderful, but if I’m sitting in the “atrium” with friends, I wouldn’t want to look through the bedroom into the garden. So it would need to be a public space. That led to option 2: an extension for the kitchen at the front and using that room for something else. But then the kitchen would be too far away from the dining and living areas, which brought about option 3. Well, now I’m looking for advice from you.
Basically, what is important and necessary is a new kitchen, two children’s bedrooms, one master bedroom, and an additional bathroom for the extension.
The extension at the back would include all private areas: children’s bedrooms, master bedroom, and bathroom.
The extension at the front would be for the kitchen.
Should I create just one construction zone at the back or two separate ones? Of course, having two would mean more costs.
Teimo1988 schrieb:
I would also consider how to practically carry out or implement this afterwards.Thanks for the suggestion, definitely important. However, my current plan is to keep the existing structure mostly as is (except for the kitchen). We could then live here fairly “normally” during the extension work.
ypg schrieb:
That’s fine!
But it doesn’t apply to me, since I also spend time working on sketches. And there I have to weigh things carefully and reject unrealistic ideas.
I’m also not interested in endless discussions and brainstorming sessions based purely on assumptions (especially when the person asking the question doesn’t answer follow-up questions).
And here, apparently, we don’t just have a budget limit but obviously also a limit on the floor area ratio.
But communication doesn’t work like that. I didn’t want to keep anyone waiting and apologize. I’m really glad to have this discussion!
The budget is 200,000 € (about 220,000 USD). From other projects, I know that this allows for an extension of up to 100 m2 (1,080 sq ft), since we do a lot of the work ourselves.
I expect a floor area ratio of around 200 m2 (2,150 sq ft) to be allowed. I would like to provide a more precise figure but that is not possible so far.
The private green space is marked on the development plan. When I asked the local authority whether they could provide better documentation and exact figures to calculate the floor area ratio more precisely, they only sent me the development plan. From neighbors, I understand that it tends to be handled more informally—something like “the mayor places ruler and pencil, and that’s that.” In this case, I am definitely safe assuming 200 m2 (2,150 sq ft).
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