ᐅ Planning a Single-Family Home: 550 sqm Plot, L-Shaped Layout, South-Facing, Gable Roof
Created on: 23 Nov 2025 16:49
W
WoodyXYZ
Hi,
let’s start directly with the questionnaire.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 550sqm (5909 sqft)
Slope: no (approx. 0.5m (20 inches) height difference over 22m (72 feet) plot width)
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Plot ratio: n.a.
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 16m (52 feet) west-east + 3m (10 feet) border construction each side, 14m (46 feet) north-south, 5m (16 feet) setback from the house to the street
Edge development: yes (north: public access road, west and south: bike path, east: neighboring development with a semi-detached house, currently vacant)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof pitch: 0-35°
Style: standard
Orientation: south-facing (garden)
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 5.5-7m (18-23 feet), building height 10m (33 feet)
Additional requirements: none
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: preferably gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors + expandable attic
Number of occupants, ages: 4 for the main apartment (2x41, 9, 7)
Room requirements on ground and upper floors:
Ground floor: living-dining area, open kitchen, office/guest room, guest WC, utility/technical room
Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms each at least 15sqm (161 sqft) facing south, bedroom with window facing west, bathroom, second shower bathroom
Attic: multi-purpose room (hobby) + storage space due to missing basement
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guests per year: occasional
Open or closed architecture: rather open (open galleries not included)
Traditional or modern construction: ...
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both yes
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, but not yet decided which; placement on east side
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not wanted
House Design
Whose design is it:
- Based on various floor plans from skilled forum members
What do you like most? Why?
What don’t you like? Why?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: ...
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 500,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat pump (or local heating network)
If you had to give up on something, which details/extensions
- Can you do without: garage
- Cannot do without:
Why did the design end up the way it is now? For example:,
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect?
We studied various floor plans here in the forum and this is the result. Furniture (office, children’s rooms) and bathroom fittings are still missing here and there.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
We like it, but there is certainly room for improvement here and there. The floor plan is already oriented almost perfectly.
let’s start directly with the questionnaire.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 550sqm (5909 sqft)
Slope: no (approx. 0.5m (20 inches) height difference over 22m (72 feet) plot width)
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Plot ratio: n.a.
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 16m (52 feet) west-east + 3m (10 feet) border construction each side, 14m (46 feet) north-south, 5m (16 feet) setback from the house to the street
Edge development: yes (north: public access road, west and south: bike path, east: neighboring development with a semi-detached house, currently vacant)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof pitch: 0-35°
Style: standard
Orientation: south-facing (garden)
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 5.5-7m (18-23 feet), building height 10m (33 feet)
Additional requirements: none
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: preferably gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors + expandable attic
Number of occupants, ages: 4 for the main apartment (2x41, 9, 7)
Room requirements on ground and upper floors:
Ground floor: living-dining area, open kitchen, office/guest room, guest WC, utility/technical room
Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms each at least 15sqm (161 sqft) facing south, bedroom with window facing west, bathroom, second shower bathroom
Attic: multi-purpose room (hobby) + storage space due to missing basement
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guests per year: occasional
Open or closed architecture: rather open (open galleries not included)
Traditional or modern construction: ...
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both yes
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, but not yet decided which; placement on east side
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not wanted
- Backup kitchen was originally planned but removed due to space constraints
- Utility room also serves as laundry room since washing and drying will be done on the ground floor
- Children’s rooms facing south are mandatory, each at least 15sqm (161 sqft)
- Walk-in closet would be nice but not mandatory; better to have larger children’s rooms
- We prefer rectangular floor plans over square ones, partly because this leaves more room for the south-facing garden. And yes, I know squares are also rectangles.
- Layout in L-shape with living (south), dining (south-west) and kitchen (west) is basically fixed. The “I” shape did not appeal to us in any show home.
- Terrace will be on the south side
- A small path directly from kitchen to south-facing terrace is also planned
House Design
Whose design is it:
- Based on various floor plans from skilled forum members
What do you like most? Why?
- Platform staircase — our absolute favorite
- Not too deep building volume (9.4m / 31 feet) allows for more garden space
- Ground floor
- Living-dining area plus kitchen fits our requirements. We saw this in a show home and immediately agreed on this look.
- Office saves me constant stair climbing on home office days
- Utility room is probably large enough for technical equipment and laundry
- Upper floor
- Large and equally sized children’s rooms facing south
- Second bathroom on the upper floor is practical
- Bedroom facing west was important to us (evening sun). To the east, the neighbor’s semi-detached house with 2.5 floors would be very close (currently just a guess)
What don’t you like? Why?
- No backup kitchen — possibly make the walk-in closet smaller and move guest WC to the niche near office or utility room to create a small backup kitchen
- If backup kitchen is not feasible, then at least pantry under the stairs and slightly smaller utility room
- Bathroom could be a bit wider to accommodate a T-layout, which we really like
Price estimate according to architect/planner: ...
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 500,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat pump (or local heating network)
If you had to give up on something, which details/extensions
- Can you do without: garage
- Cannot do without:
Why did the design end up the way it is now? For example:,
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect?
We studied various floor plans here in the forum and this is the result. Furniture (office, children’s rooms) and bathroom fittings are still missing here and there.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
We like it, but there is certainly room for improvement here and there. The floor plan is already oriented almost perfectly.
M
MachsSelbst24 Nov 2025 21:24I’m not sure about that, but I claim my Flair 152 can make better use of 18m² (194 ft²) less than your 170m² (1830 ft²) custom design.
Our kitchen is 17m² (183 ft²), the living room 40m² (430 ft²), the children’s room just under 15m² (161 ft²), and the study 10m² (108 ft²) on the upper floor. Okay, there is only one bathroom upstairs, not two.
A backup kitchen is something for influencer houses that think they need two kitchens for 10 guests. Yes, you need storage space. But you don’t need three or four ovens. 17m² (183 ft²) is more than enough for 30 guests if you know how to use it…
Our kitchen is 17m² (183 ft²), the living room 40m² (430 ft²), the children’s room just under 15m² (161 ft²), and the study 10m² (108 ft²) on the upper floor. Okay, there is only one bathroom upstairs, not two.
A backup kitchen is something for influencer houses that think they need two kitchens for 10 guests. Yes, you need storage space. But you don’t need three or four ovens. 17m² (183 ft²) is more than enough for 30 guests if you know how to use it…
H
hanghaus202324 Nov 2025 22:26WoodyXYZ schrieb:
How do you arrive at 15 m² (160 ft²) when the drawing shows only 12 m² (130 ft²) for the main bathroom? I haven’t recreated your upper floor plan yet to check the exact measurements, but to be honest, we don’t really like this version. An extra room has been added that we don’t need. Personally, I find the main bathroom too small. We don’t need a luxury bathroom, but it could be a bit bigger. The children’s rooms have probably become noticeably smaller, but are likely still large enough, and we do have a walk-in closet. I wouldn’t mind having a walk-in closet, but the children’s rooms are more important to me. Like I said, I haven’t created exact measurements yet. I may have exaggerated a bit. Too bad you don’t like the floor plan. As I said, in my opinion it’s a bit more organized. For example, it makes little sense to run plumbing throughout the whole house. That’s why the approach is to have both bathrooms next to each other. If, with the tight budget, you want to afford the luxury bathroom option, just remove my kids’ bathroom and make that a gallery space, and then the bonus room of 9 m² (97 ft²) will probably be enough for a luxury bathroom.
In my opinion, the children’s rooms are 15 m² (160 ft²) as requested.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
I like the second version much better. However, we’re still not sure about the “kitchen island”; at the moment I'd prefer to keep the island smaller but still be able to close off the kitchen and living area with sliding doors or similar if needed. That can all be planned better. My only problem is that the house is still generally too large. In my opinion, you should save about 10 m² (108 ft²) per floor. Otherwise, you might end up with a half-finished house. Your expectations don’t match your budget.
Here are just a few points to consider.
He means 16.5 sqm (177.6 sq ft) for the bathrooms on the upper floor.
Yes, unfortunately you can tell from the floor plans that many parts were collected from different sources. Instead of designing a cohesive, polished house, it turned out like a patchwork. It starts with awkward hallway shapes, continues with partly poorly functioning must-have spaces like the kitchen or cloakroom, but disproportionately large children’s rooms, and ends with the structural engineering and exterior facade. In between, many insta-style objects and highlights from the entire range of fittings.
This is already a contradiction for a consistent design: a half-landing staircase takes up depth and extends rooms into a wider zone, as well as pulling other spaces toward the back.
By dressing room, do you mean the already quite tight cloakroom corner?
Yes, I understand that you might like that concept. But honestly, I don’t really get what you are referring to here.
So why then introduce loft-style doors at all...
...and partition walls. That completely changes the nature of the space: doors, whether loft or sliding, require walls. Additional walls will give the room a very different character and feel.
Even smaller? How much workspace and storage surface would remain? The island can certainly be smaller to fit the room proportions, but the kitchen still needs to function properly. I don’t see that here.
Whether or not there’s a dressing room: children’s rooms need to be furnished. At 18 sqm (193.8 sq ft), it’s already a challenge to make them feel cozy.
Then I would plan a smaller house. Three bathrooms, half-landing staircase, two full floors plus attic. Without ancillary building costs, you could already be looking at around 550.
Basically, it’s a semi-functional kitchen annex to the open kitchen, which is supposed to look nice and trendy with tall cupboards and an island but actually just complicates things because people don’t want to use it. The backup kitchen contains many functions but in a tight space. The desire for such a kitchen grows alongside the use of stackable transparent storage containers and the fashion-colored folding boxes of all sizes for apples and eggs. Those who want it are often unaware of this problem. They would actually suit a closed kitchen, but that’s a no-go for them because it’s currently out of style.
By working or being busy during the morning and not seeing any sunlight inside the house until 3 PM (59°F), because you only get home then.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
How do you come up with 15 sqm (160.7 sq ft), when the drawing only shows 12 sqm (129.2 sq ft) for the main bathroom?
He means 16.5 sqm (177.6 sq ft) for the bathrooms on the upper floor.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
Who created the plan:
- The basis was several floor plans from skilled forum members
Yes, unfortunately you can tell from the floor plans that many parts were collected from different sources. Instead of designing a cohesive, polished house, it turned out like a patchwork. It starts with awkward hallway shapes, continues with partly poorly functioning must-have spaces like the kitchen or cloakroom, but disproportionately large children’s rooms, and ends with the structural engineering and exterior facade. In between, many insta-style objects and highlights from the entire range of fittings.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
- Half-landing staircase – our absolute favorite
- Not too deep building footprint (9.4 m (31 ft)) means more garden area
This is already a contradiction for a consistent design: a half-landing staircase takes up depth and extends rooms into a wider zone, as well as pulling other spaces toward the back.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
Backup kitchen missing – maybe the dressing room should be smaller
By dressing room, do you mean the already quite tight cloakroom corner?
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
Living-dining area plus kitchen, as it fits our specifications. We saw it like this in a show home and immediately agreed that it should look like that.
Yes, I understand that you might like that concept. But honestly, I don’t really get what you are referring to here.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
If you implement something like this with loft-style doors or similar, it probably looks much, much better than a half wall you walk toward.
So why then introduce loft-style doors at all...
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
The kitchen and family room can be closed off with sliding doors or similar if needed.
...and partition walls. That completely changes the nature of the space: doors, whether loft or sliding, require walls. Additional walls will give the room a very different character and feel.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
I would currently tend to keep the kitchen island smaller.
Even smaller? How much workspace and storage surface would remain? The island can certainly be smaller to fit the room proportions, but the kitchen still needs to function properly. I don’t see that here.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
I wouldn’t mind a dressing room, but the kids’ rooms are more important to me than a dressing room.
Whether or not there’s a dressing room: children’s rooms need to be furnished. At 18 sqm (193.8 sq ft), it’s already a challenge to make them feel cozy.
WoodyXYZ schrieb:
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 500,000
Then I would plan a smaller house. Three bathrooms, half-landing staircase, two full floors plus attic. Without ancillary building costs, you could already be looking at around 550.
Schmirgel schrieb:
I just want to ask bluntly, what is a backup kitchen?
Basically, it’s a semi-functional kitchen annex to the open kitchen, which is supposed to look nice and trendy with tall cupboards and an island but actually just complicates things because people don’t want to use it. The backup kitchen contains many functions but in a tight space. The desire for such a kitchen grows alongside the use of stackable transparent storage containers and the fashion-colored folding boxes of all sizes for apples and eggs. Those who want it are often unaware of this problem. They would actually suit a closed kitchen, but that’s a no-go for them because it’s currently out of style.
Ibdk14 schrieb:
Just out of curiosity. How do you come to this preference? It’s strange to me, but maybe you have very different daily routines than we do.
By working or being busy during the morning and not seeing any sunlight inside the house until 3 PM (59°F), because you only get home then.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
For example, it doesn't make much sense to run pipes throughout the entire house. Or to put it another way: a master bedroom door directly next to the children’s bathroom. That only leads to problems and eventually restrictions. A tiled bathroom has very distinct acoustics. Acceptance can become “complicated” in this case. In the end, the only solution is the unsatisfying bathroom swap.
But ultimately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
I tidied up the upper floor.hanghaus2023 schrieb:
But there is still a lot that can be improved.For example, I would have also appreciated a cleanup of the load-bearing walls.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
So, we have reconsidered and created a first draft that reduces the living area to about 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft). There is definitely still a lot of potential for optimization. Therefore, I am looking forward to your feedback. Unfortunately, I mixed up north and south, so the top is now south.
We have deliberately decided against including an office on the ground floor, as there will be a professional change, and we would prefer to expand the attic if needed.
What we like otherwise:
We have deliberately decided against including an office on the ground floor, as there will be a professional change, and we would prefer to expand the attic if needed.
What we like otherwise:
- At first glance, it doesn’t feel as cramped as the first draft.
- The cloakroom offers more space to move.
- The living/dining area is slightly more generous.
- Direct access to the pantry from both the cloakroom and kitchen. Should this be kept or limited to one (which one)?
- Can the utility room/toilet area be left as is?
- The same question applies to the layout of the bedroom/dressing room.
- The hallway on the ground floor is 1.5 m (5 feet) wide at its narrowest point and otherwise even 1.85 m (6 feet) wide. That seems a bit excessive to me, as we don’t plan to place any additional wardrobe cabinets there. Probably 1.2 m (4 feet) or 1.55 m (5 feet) would be sufficient?
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