ᐅ Floor Plan Design for New Single-Family Home, Narrow Plot, Initial Architect Draft
Created on: 10 Nov 2025 22:30
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Ian_MerHello everyone,
we are currently planning our single-family home. We now have the first draft of our floor plan, but it is not perfect yet. So I thought I’d ask for your advice on what we could still change or improve. Everything is still possible at this stage.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 450 m² (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.3
Site coverage ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see plan
Edge development: not yet present, as the building area is currently being developed
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of full stories: 2
Roof type: flat roof with mandatory green roofing
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: south
Maximum heights / limits
Other requirements: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) maximum height, Hessian building regulations (Hesse, Germany), new: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) setback from neighboring property.
Client Requirements
Modern house for 2 adults and two children aged 4 and 6, including basement, 2 full floors.
Space requirements on the ground floor: office, kitchen, pantry, dining area, living room, guest bathroom with shower. Upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with walk-in closet, bathroom with bathtub and double sinks. Basement: technical room, utility room, second office, creativity room for crafts, playing, or making music.
Office use: family use or home office? Home office; both parents work three days per week from home.
Number of overnight guests per year: 6, regular overnight visitors.
Open or closed layout:
Conventional or modern construction:
Open kitchen with cooking island: yes
Number of dining places: usually 4, more for guests, birthdays, etc.
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: only TV wall
Balcony or roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: garage plus bike storage
Vegetable garden or greenhouse: yes, vegetable garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine preferences, including reasons why something should or should not be included: built-in closet in the entrance hall, lots of storage space.
House Design
Planner: (interior) architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Window seat in the kitchen, living room somewhat separated in the bay window, space for an outdoor kitchen on the covered terrace.
What don’t you like? Why?
Location of the shed, we would prefer the staircase as a platform staircase or with straight steps, we wonder if the kitchen is large enough and provides enough storage space. The utility room is too small. Instead of the skylight, we would rather plan a window in the stairwell.
Cost estimate according to the architect/planner: unknown
Personal budget for the house including fittings: 650,000
Preferred heating system: heat pump
Why was the design developed this way? Needs analysis with the architect, after which she created the first draft.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? From the sofa, there should be a view of the garden, lots of storage, master bed 1.60 m x 2 m (5 ft 3 in x 6 ft 7 in) (no need for 2 m x 2 m bed), walk-in closet accessible from the bedroom, covered terrace, covered entrance gate.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad? We find the layout basically good but not yet perfect.
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we are currently planning our single-family home. We now have the first draft of our floor plan, but it is not perfect yet. So I thought I’d ask for your advice on what we could still change or improve. Everything is still possible at this stage.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 450 m² (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.3
Site coverage ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see plan
Edge development: not yet present, as the building area is currently being developed
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of full stories: 2
Roof type: flat roof with mandatory green roofing
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: south
Maximum heights / limits
Other requirements: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) maximum height, Hessian building regulations (Hesse, Germany), new: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) setback from neighboring property.
Client Requirements
Modern house for 2 adults and two children aged 4 and 6, including basement, 2 full floors.
Space requirements on the ground floor: office, kitchen, pantry, dining area, living room, guest bathroom with shower. Upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with walk-in closet, bathroom with bathtub and double sinks. Basement: technical room, utility room, second office, creativity room for crafts, playing, or making music.
Office use: family use or home office? Home office; both parents work three days per week from home.
Number of overnight guests per year: 6, regular overnight visitors.
Open or closed layout:
Conventional or modern construction:
Open kitchen with cooking island: yes
Number of dining places: usually 4, more for guests, birthdays, etc.
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: only TV wall
Balcony or roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: garage plus bike storage
Vegetable garden or greenhouse: yes, vegetable garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine preferences, including reasons why something should or should not be included: built-in closet in the entrance hall, lots of storage space.
House Design
Planner: (interior) architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Window seat in the kitchen, living room somewhat separated in the bay window, space for an outdoor kitchen on the covered terrace.
What don’t you like? Why?
Location of the shed, we would prefer the staircase as a platform staircase or with straight steps, we wonder if the kitchen is large enough and provides enough storage space. The utility room is too small. Instead of the skylight, we would rather plan a window in the stairwell.
Cost estimate according to the architect/planner: unknown
Personal budget for the house including fittings: 650,000
Preferred heating system: heat pump
Why was the design developed this way? Needs analysis with the architect, after which she created the first draft.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? From the sofa, there should be a view of the garden, lots of storage, master bed 1.60 m x 2 m (5 ft 3 in x 6 ft 7 in) (no need for 2 m x 2 m bed), walk-in closet accessible from the bedroom, covered terrace, covered entrance gate.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad? We find the layout basically good but not yet perfect.
N
nordanney10 Nov 2025 23:01The budget is very tight – large house (500k), basement (70k), additional construction costs (50k), garage (20k), outdoor areas (25k – driveway and terrace), and furnishing (???k). I would bet that it won’t be enough.
Papierturm11 Nov 2025 04:52Regarding the floor plan, here are my immediate observations:
1. A walk-in closet accessible through the bedroom sounds good at first. However, in daily life, partners tend to wake each other up if they do not have to get up at the same time. In my experience, this is the feature most people find disruptive in everyday use.
2. Floor-to-ceiling windows in children’s rooms are mostly later converted with pleated blinds to resemble regular windows. I would think very carefully about this—especially since there are two floor-to-ceiling windows planned for each child’s room. Needs and furniture arrangements change over the years, and floor-to-ceiling windows often become a problem.
Other than that:
Like @nordanney, I am afraid the budget will be too tight here. Sorry.
1. A walk-in closet accessible through the bedroom sounds good at first. However, in daily life, partners tend to wake each other up if they do not have to get up at the same time. In my experience, this is the feature most people find disruptive in everyday use.
2. Floor-to-ceiling windows in children’s rooms are mostly later converted with pleated blinds to resemble regular windows. I would think very carefully about this—especially since there are two floor-to-ceiling windows planned for each child’s room. Needs and furniture arrangements change over the years, and floor-to-ceiling windows often become a problem.
Other than that:
Like @nordanney, I am afraid the budget will be too tight here. Sorry.
nordanney schrieb:
The budget is very tight – large house (500k), basement (70k), additional construction costs (50k), garage (20k), landscaping (25k – driveway and terrace) and furnishings (???k). I’d bet it won’t fit. Yes, I understand your concerns. The landscaping wasn’t included in the budget yet, and we still have a buffer. Then it should work.
hanse987 schrieb:
Where will the second parking space be located?It is initially planned to be in front of the garage. However, we still don’t have a good idea yet on how to design the driveway/front garden area. In theory, there is also space there for an additional parking space.Similar topics