ᐅ Floor Plan Ideas for New Build 2026: Modern House with Single-Slope Roof, South-Facing Terrace & Garage
Created on: 7 Dec 2025 14:01
J
jannick93
Hello everyone,
I have been a silent reader for a long time, but next year we plan to build a new house after looking at numerous old houses and coming to this decision. Hopefully, there will be a KfW EH55 subsidy available again in 2026.
Regarding the questionnaire:
Zoning plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 860m² (0.21 acres)
Slope: Unfortunately yes; within the buildable area, there is a 2m (6.5 ft) drop across a width of 11m (36 ft) from east to west, but this provides a nice southwest view.
Otherwise, no zoning plan or restrictions. The surrounding houses were built in the 1950s.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof design, building type:
- Modern with variation in the facade depth and integration of the garage with a flat roof. The plan is for a mono-pitched roof with an 8° slope facing south to maximize solar panels.
Basement, stories:
- No basement, ground floor on the east side partly embedded 1-1.5m (3-5 ft) into the ground. Garage at the rear fully underground. Two stories in total.
Number and age of occupants:
- 4 people aged 36, 32, 4 years, and a toddler of 7 months.
Room requirements on ground and upper floors:
- Due to no basement, a large garage is included. 160-180m² (1720-1940 sq ft) would suffice, but I couldn’t manage that size exactly.
Office:
- Home office use.
Guests per year:
- Almost none, but children and godchildren will likely sleep in the children’s rooms.
Open or closed layout:
- Open layout with the option to separate the upper floor and create a separate entrance from the east (future option in 20-25 years; something to plan for, but not a pressing concern).
Conservative or modern construction:
- Modern.
Open kitchen, kitchen island:
- Both yes, definitely. However, given the kitchen width, I don’t think a freestanding island is possible. Most of our daily life happens in the kitchen and dining-living area, so this is designed generously. We cook daily.
Number of dining seats:
- 6-8 seats for a large family (3m (10 ft) long dining table) plus 2-3 seats at the island.
Fireplace:
- No.
Music / stereo wall:
- No.
Balcony, roof terrace:
- Yes, on the south side. Possibly with an outdoor kitchen in the future (preparatory plumbing should be planned).
Garage / carport:
- Yes, double garage with additional storage space for shelves and possibly future technology, where a separate room can be added later. The garage has separate walls (is this advisable?) and is not within the insulated envelope of the house.
Kitchen garden, greenhouse:
- Raised bed.
Other wishes, special features, daily routine, reasons why certain things are included or excluded:
- Short and practical route from the garage to the kitchen for groceries. I’ve drawn a very small pantry, reducing it by 60cm (2 ft) from the former 2.20m (7 ft) wide hallway, and I’d appreciate your advice on whether this makes sense.
Laundry room on the upper floor where laundry is handled; in summer, clothes will be dried outside on the garage roof.
Regarding the technical room, I’m unsure if it is large enough for: heat pump indoor unit, domestic hot water heat pump, inverter, battery storage, meter cabinet, server cabinet, ventilation system. Less sensitive equipment could be placed in a separate room in the garage.
Regarding technical room location: I know the main connection is covered and not located closest to the street, but perhaps it can be argued that the small room between the two masonry walls of house and garage works. Also, neighboring houses have rooftop antennas, and the type of connection I will receive is yet to be clarified.
House design
Who created the design:
- Former head of the building authority, adjusted by me.
What do you particularly like? Why?
- The open kitchen with dining-living area and the layout of the upper floor with the utility room including shelf space and the size of the children’s rooms. Terrace facing south with a nice view.
What do you dislike? Why?
- The very long and large “expensive” hallway on the ground floor. I am still looking for a solution here. The main issue is the location of the staircase. When trying to place it next to the kitchen, I reached my design limits on the upper floor. This is the main reason I am turning to you.
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: about 450,000 with a lot of own labor on the shell work.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings: My biggest wish is to build the house mostly myself to reach around 2000€/m² (185 sq ft) . Next year, I have already arranged 78 days off for this.
Preferred heating system: Heat pump with underfloor heating (flow30) and domestic hot water heat pump. I am still looking for a suitable location for the outdoor unit, possibly on the garage roof. Air conditioning will be installed in both floors’ hallways.
If you had to give up certain details or extras, what could you omit
- Could give up: hallway 😉, size of the master bedroom (we only need about 1m (3 ft) space around the bed if we have a separate room for clothes), large bathrooms.
- Cannot give up: kitchen size, preferably even more generous.
Why is the design the way it is?
For example, based on sun orientation of the south-facing terrace and views from the upper floor. The garage location follows from the driveway and the entrance location. I couldn’t find any other combination that makes sense.
I have been a silent reader for a long time, but next year we plan to build a new house after looking at numerous old houses and coming to this decision. Hopefully, there will be a KfW EH55 subsidy available again in 2026.
Regarding the questionnaire:
Zoning plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 860m² (0.21 acres)
Slope: Unfortunately yes; within the buildable area, there is a 2m (6.5 ft) drop across a width of 11m (36 ft) from east to west, but this provides a nice southwest view.
Otherwise, no zoning plan or restrictions. The surrounding houses were built in the 1950s.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof design, building type:
- Modern with variation in the facade depth and integration of the garage with a flat roof. The plan is for a mono-pitched roof with an 8° slope facing south to maximize solar panels.
Basement, stories:
- No basement, ground floor on the east side partly embedded 1-1.5m (3-5 ft) into the ground. Garage at the rear fully underground. Two stories in total.
Number and age of occupants:
- 4 people aged 36, 32, 4 years, and a toddler of 7 months.
Room requirements on ground and upper floors:
- Due to no basement, a large garage is included. 160-180m² (1720-1940 sq ft) would suffice, but I couldn’t manage that size exactly.
Office:
- Home office use.
Guests per year:
- Almost none, but children and godchildren will likely sleep in the children’s rooms.
Open or closed layout:
- Open layout with the option to separate the upper floor and create a separate entrance from the east (future option in 20-25 years; something to plan for, but not a pressing concern).
Conservative or modern construction:
- Modern.
Open kitchen, kitchen island:
- Both yes, definitely. However, given the kitchen width, I don’t think a freestanding island is possible. Most of our daily life happens in the kitchen and dining-living area, so this is designed generously. We cook daily.
Number of dining seats:
- 6-8 seats for a large family (3m (10 ft) long dining table) plus 2-3 seats at the island.
Fireplace:
- No.
Music / stereo wall:
- No.
Balcony, roof terrace:
- Yes, on the south side. Possibly with an outdoor kitchen in the future (preparatory plumbing should be planned).
Garage / carport:
- Yes, double garage with additional storage space for shelves and possibly future technology, where a separate room can be added later. The garage has separate walls (is this advisable?) and is not within the insulated envelope of the house.
Kitchen garden, greenhouse:
- Raised bed.
Other wishes, special features, daily routine, reasons why certain things are included or excluded:
- Short and practical route from the garage to the kitchen for groceries. I’ve drawn a very small pantry, reducing it by 60cm (2 ft) from the former 2.20m (7 ft) wide hallway, and I’d appreciate your advice on whether this makes sense.
Laundry room on the upper floor where laundry is handled; in summer, clothes will be dried outside on the garage roof.
Regarding the technical room, I’m unsure if it is large enough for: heat pump indoor unit, domestic hot water heat pump, inverter, battery storage, meter cabinet, server cabinet, ventilation system. Less sensitive equipment could be placed in a separate room in the garage.
Regarding technical room location: I know the main connection is covered and not located closest to the street, but perhaps it can be argued that the small room between the two masonry walls of house and garage works. Also, neighboring houses have rooftop antennas, and the type of connection I will receive is yet to be clarified.
House design
Who created the design:
- Former head of the building authority, adjusted by me.
What do you particularly like? Why?
- The open kitchen with dining-living area and the layout of the upper floor with the utility room including shelf space and the size of the children’s rooms. Terrace facing south with a nice view.
What do you dislike? Why?
- The very long and large “expensive” hallway on the ground floor. I am still looking for a solution here. The main issue is the location of the staircase. When trying to place it next to the kitchen, I reached my design limits on the upper floor. This is the main reason I am turning to you.
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: about 450,000 with a lot of own labor on the shell work.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings: My biggest wish is to build the house mostly myself to reach around 2000€/m² (185 sq ft) . Next year, I have already arranged 78 days off for this.
Preferred heating system: Heat pump with underfloor heating (flow30) and domestic hot water heat pump. I am still looking for a suitable location for the outdoor unit, possibly on the garage roof. Air conditioning will be installed in both floors’ hallways.
If you had to give up certain details or extras, what could you omit
- Could give up: hallway 😉, size of the master bedroom (we only need about 1m (3 ft) space around the bed if we have a separate room for clothes), large bathrooms.
- Cannot give up: kitchen size, preferably even more generous.
Why is the design the way it is?
For example, based on sun orientation of the south-facing terrace and views from the upper floor. The garage location follows from the driveway and the entrance location. I couldn’t find any other combination that makes sense.
jannick93 schrieb:
Price estimate according to the architect/planner: roughly 450,000 with a lot of self-construction in the shell phase I see about 230 m² (2,475 sq ft), so I am closer to 760,000/800,000 EUR, plus 66 m² (710 sq ft) garage—how expensive could that be? Plus additional construction costs for a hillside house around 100,000 EUR. Then there are the exterior works. Overall, I estimate a total need of about one million. Whether you do any self-construction or not doesn’t really make it any easier.
Papierturm schrieb:
The 11ant basement rule would probably suggest having a basement here. A (partially) one-and-a-half meter (5 feet) deep "ground floor" is taken too literally in this sense and in this area is practically a raised basement. For a basement, it doesn’t matter what you call it (also in terms of cost – what matters is the level of finishing).
Papierturm schrieb:
Plan the upper floor first, then the lower floor. (If this doesn’t work out, it’s usually due to the staircase.) First plan everything (including the load distribution between ground floor and upper floor), then start with the detailed layout and drawings for the upper floor. If it doesn’t fit, the two most common reasons are:
1. The load distribution is incorrect (for example, the room areas specified for a single-family villa upper floor are being squeezed into a one-and-a-half-story roof floor) /
2. Failure to consider the greater complexity of the upper floor/attic.
The staircase (axis) is purely design-oriented and does not take into account the house’s main axis or the roof. It’s also common to overlook how circulation on and around the staircase relates to each other.
Playing a bit of architect can’t be that hard / it happens naturally (says the husband of Mrs. v. Koczian).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Hey everyone, isn’t this all drawn incorrectly? If the slope is supposed to be on the south side and the all-purpose floor is the basement level, then the entrance, garage, and terrace must be drawn incorrectly because they would be on two different levels. Or is it just me getting confused by this maze-like layout?
@kbt09 @hanghaus2023
Or is it correct because of the diagonal arrangement?
..
Edit: Yeah, I did get a little dizzy for a moment 😱 😀 😎
@kbt09 @hanghaus2023
Or is it correct because of the diagonal arrangement?
..
Edit: Yeah, I did get a little dizzy for a moment 😱 😀 😎
J
jannick937 Dec 2025 22:43Thank you for the tips! I’m not happy with it either, even though the floor plan was copied from a well-known prefab home builder (upper floor).
While doing some further research, I quickly sketched a rough layout without windows or details, featuring a half-turned U-shaped staircase, which could possibly be refined. Room sizes are also flexible.
For this, I designed starting from the upper floor, as my predecessor suggested, basically going back to the beginning:
Through the walk-in closet into the master bedroom, children’s room facing south, bathroom and utility room on the east side, office downstairs (I don’t need it to be large), and a common area oriented towards the view and terrace.
To adapt to the plot’s conditions, I should probably choose a more elongated, narrow design stretching from north to south to counteract the slope, right? This would mean the kitchen, dining, and living areas are arranged from north to south, which we can imagine as well. On the upper floor, it gets a bit more challenging to avoid hallway space. This would then be a version 3 (V3), if something like that is an option.
I’m trying to get a feel for things step by step based on your impressions and look for a suitable architect with these ideas in mind. I’ve often read here that, on your advice, one should change architects even if work has already been done and costs incurred. Handling that feels difficult to me.
The limited-time EH55 subsidy starts on December 16, 2025, and initially applies only to already approved building permit / planning permission applications. There is some hope that this subsidy will continue in a similar form in 2026, or am I mistaken in this assumption?
While doing some further research, I quickly sketched a rough layout without windows or details, featuring a half-turned U-shaped staircase, which could possibly be refined. Room sizes are also flexible.
For this, I designed starting from the upper floor, as my predecessor suggested, basically going back to the beginning:
Through the walk-in closet into the master bedroom, children’s room facing south, bathroom and utility room on the east side, office downstairs (I don’t need it to be large), and a common area oriented towards the view and terrace.
To adapt to the plot’s conditions, I should probably choose a more elongated, narrow design stretching from north to south to counteract the slope, right? This would mean the kitchen, dining, and living areas are arranged from north to south, which we can imagine as well. On the upper floor, it gets a bit more challenging to avoid hallway space. This would then be a version 3 (V3), if something like that is an option.
I’m trying to get a feel for things step by step based on your impressions and look for a suitable architect with these ideas in mind. I’ve often read here that, on your advice, one should change architects even if work has already been done and costs incurred. Handling that feels difficult to me.
The limited-time EH55 subsidy starts on December 16, 2025, and initially applies only to already approved building permit / planning permission applications. There is some hope that this subsidy will continue in a similar form in 2026, or am I mistaken in this assumption?
jannick93 schrieb:
I don’t like it either, even though the floor plan for the upper floor was copied from a well-known prefab house manufacturer. An upper floor from a pig and a ground floor from a cow, stitched together, will probably make a frog that can’t fly.
jannick93 schrieb:
For this, I planned based on the upper floor as my predecessor suggested, basically starting over: through the dressing room into the master bedroom, children’s room facing south, bathroom and utility room on the east side, office downstairs (I don’t need a big one), and a common room facing the view and terrace. Planned? — no, more like “painted.” Planning really starting from scratch would not produce a drawing so quickly; the calculations have to be tabulated first. I keep saying: load on the supports and so on.
jannick93 schrieb:
To adapt to the needs of the plot, I should probably choose a rather elongated, narrow version stretching from north to south, to counteract the slope, right? Considering the terrain elevation of the plot would be a start, yes.
jannick93 schrieb:
I am trying to get a feel for things step by step through your impressions and to find a suitable architect with these ideas. I have often read here that people should change architects based on your advice, even though work has already been done and costs incurred. I find it difficult to deal with that. Finding an architect is no mystery. In my posts under the keyword Gerddieter, you’ll find which candidates to rule out. Once you find one, you just need to describe what you need and absolutely avoid showing anything that looks like a drawing made by yourself. Then simply follow my “House Construction Roadmap, also for you: the HOAI phase model!” That prevents the need to change architects because you initially hire them only for Module A, take the time to set the direction during the “resting phase,” and so forth. Handling it this way is easy since I wrote the roadmap specifically for laypeople and had a professional editor ensure it’s clearly understandable.
jannick93 schrieb:
The limited EH55 subsidy starts on 16.12.2025 and initially applies only to already approved building permits/planning permissions. There is a spark of hope that this subsidy will continue in a similar form in 2026, or am I on the wrong track? As I said, I can’t imagine fresh money being printed again for an obsolete funding purpose.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
N
nordanney8 Dec 2025 07:44jannick93 schrieb:
The limited EH55 subsidy starts on 16.12.2025 and initially applies only to already approved building permits / planning permissions. There is a glimmer of hope that this subsidy will continue in a similar form in 2026, or am I on the wrong track?The current subsidy (the funding pot is quite small) is intended for many tens of thousands of apartments in multi-family residential buildings (even though the subsidy can also be used for a single-family house). There are numerous approved building permits where the construction companies simply find the costs too high, making the projects unprofitable. Don’t expect the subsidy to return for regular individual home builders.Similar topics