ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization: Narrow 1,595 sq ft Single-Family Home on a 5,420 sq ft Lot
Created on: 10 Dec 2025 22:58
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DrummerDear forum,
My wife and I purchased a plot of land in Hamburg in October. The financing is secured, a general contractor (production home builder) has been selected, and now we are working on the fine-tuning (or maybe a complete rethink?) of the floor plan. The 504 m2 (5,420 sq ft) parcel (lot 8370, see subdivision plan, lot 1778 in the development plan, TF) is part of a larger property and was found through a project developer who carried out the concept design. Here is the initial questionnaire:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Who designed the plan: We modified the first draft provided by the project developer several times according to our preferences.
What do you like most and why?
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 450,000 € excluding landscaping, etc.
Preferred heating system: air-water heat pump (including photovoltaic, see above)
If you had to give up some details/extra features:
- What can you live without:
Carport, garage, basement, walk-in closet, two bathrooms upstairs and similar trends, pantry, large bathrooms, expensive kitchen (IKEA is completely sufficient for us; the location of the plot was more important)
- What you cannot do without:
Size of the living room (if possible, it could even be larger)
Why did the plan become as it is now?
We modified the project developer’s initial proposal several times according to our wishes. For example, the utility room was slightly enlarged, and the shape of the living room was adjusted. If interested, I can gladly share the original draft here.
After shifting the walls back and forth, we feel that a fresh look from more experienced people could be beneficial.
We look forward to your thoughts and critiques on this floor plan draft 🙂
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My wife and I purchased a plot of land in Hamburg in October. The financing is secured, a general contractor (production home builder) has been selected, and now we are working on the fine-tuning (or maybe a complete rethink?) of the floor plan. The 504 m2 (5,420 sq ft) parcel (lot 8370, see subdivision plan, lot 1778 in the development plan, TF) is part of a larger property and was found through a project developer who carried out the concept design. Here is the initial questionnaire:
Development Plan / Restrictions
- Plot size: 504 m2 (5,420 sq ft), dimensions as per subdivision plan
- Slope: no
- Site coverage ratio (floor area ratio): 0.2
- Floor area ratio: none specified in the development plan
- Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Based on the building envelope depth of 15 m (49 feet) and the plot width of 14 m (46 feet) after subdivision, minus setback distances (2.5 m / 8 feet on the right and 4 m / 13 feet on the left, as it is the end of the building envelope), a buildable area of 15 x 7.5 m (49 x 25 feet) results. Due to the site coverage ratio of 0.2, a house with external dimensions of 13.60 x 7.35 m (45 x 24 feet) can be constructed. The project developer who planned this (double) plot recommended leaving a 15 cm (6 inches) tolerance to the full width.
- Row development: allowed
- Number of parking spaces: 2
- Number of floors: 1.5
- Roof shape: no specifications in the development plan
- Architectural style: no specifications in the development plan
- Orientation: no specifications in the development plan
- Maximum heights / limits: no specifications in the development plan
- Other requirements: 30% of the roof area must be covered with photovoltaic panels (Hamburg)
- Style, roof shape, building type: To best utilize the buildable area, the “town villa” building type seemed most suitable. The standard roof solution for single-story town villas would be a 16° hip roof. To create some storage space, we instead chose a 35° gable roof with the highest possible knee wall height (1.85 m / 6 ft above the raw floor). We also prefer this look aesthetically.
- Basement, floors: ground floor, upper floor, crawl space for storage, no basement
- Number of occupants, ages: 2 persons, 28 (m) and 29 (f) years old, 2 children planned
- Space requirements on ground floor:
- Living/dining room, shower bathroom, utility room/technical room, kitchen, office/hobby room (space for a desk and a drum set approximately 2 x 2 m / 6.5 x 6.5 ft)
- Space requirements on upper floor:
- Bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, full bathroom, office/guest room (space for desk and a double guest bed, likely a fold-out sofa)
- Office: family use or home office: ground floor office as frequently used home office, upper floor office to be often used by future children as a play area or for homework, etc.
- Occasional overnight guests per year: 2 people about 4 times annually, sometimes 4 people at once every 1-2 years
- Open or closed architecture
- Conservative or modern construction style
- Open kitchen, kitchen island: no
- Number of dining seats: permanently 6, preferably expandable to 10
- Fireplace: no
- Music / stereo wall: yes
- Balcony, roof terrace: no
- Garage, carport: 2 open parking spaces planned; possibly a carport if budget allows
- Utility garden, greenhouse: no
- The office/hobby room on the ground floor is only 2 m (6.5 ft) wide as it mainly needs to fit a drum set roughly under 2 x 2 m (6.5 x 6.5 ft) and a desk.
- Additional storage space is planned under the stairs on the ground floor and in a niche to the left of the stairs on the upper floor, to be enclosed with drywall partitions later as a DIY project. This is not currently shown in the floor plan.
Who designed the plan: We modified the first draft provided by the project developer several times according to our preferences.
What do you like most and why?
- L-shaped living room
- Room layout upstairs (bedroom not directly adjacent to children’s rooms)
- Elongated kitchen shape – we do not like corner cabinets :p
- Space for wardrobe (to the right of the entrance)
- All required rooms are included
- The kitchen could be somewhat larger
- Access routes to the ground floor office/hobby room and the upper floor office/guest room and second child’s room require relatively large circulation space. We are currently looking for ways to use the available floor area more efficiently.
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 450,000 € excluding landscaping, etc.
Preferred heating system: air-water heat pump (including photovoltaic, see above)
If you had to give up some details/extra features:
- What can you live without:
Carport, garage, basement, walk-in closet, two bathrooms upstairs and similar trends, pantry, large bathrooms, expensive kitchen (IKEA is completely sufficient for us; the location of the plot was more important)
- What you cannot do without:
Size of the living room (if possible, it could even be larger)
Why did the plan become as it is now?
We modified the project developer’s initial proposal several times according to our wishes. For example, the utility room was slightly enlarged, and the shape of the living room was adjusted. If interested, I can gladly share the original draft here.
After shifting the walls back and forth, we feel that a fresh look from more experienced people could be beneficial.
We look forward to your thoughts and critiques on this floor plan draft 🙂
Drummer schrieb:
If you're interested, I can gladly share the original design here.At least you don’t have to be asked to come up with the idea. Yes, go ahead and share it. Feel free to also mention the model.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
G
Gerddieter10 Dec 2025 23:53148 square meters (1,593 square feet) is not a lot of space for 4 people, and I think this floor plan is quite well designed for that.
The ground floor feels too compartmentalized for me—I would remove the wall between the kitchen and living area, and I would also remove the short wall between the living area and stairs. However, that would create an open-plan space, which I would recommend for a ground floor of this size.
Finally, I would try to untangle the "junction" at the back of the ground floor between the utility room and office somehow...
Gerddieter
The ground floor feels too compartmentalized for me—I would remove the wall between the kitchen and living area, and I would also remove the short wall between the living area and stairs. However, that would create an open-plan space, which I would recommend for a ground floor of this size.
Finally, I would try to untangle the "junction" at the back of the ground floor between the utility room and office somehow...
Gerddieter
To be honest, I would find Dr. Frankenstein’s facade design disturbing.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Papierturm11 Dec 2025 06:40Overall, I find the floor plan quite good. There are three points I would like to mention:
1. If you plan to put something that is 2m (6.5 feet) wide in a room, you should allow for slightly more than 2m (6.5 feet) in width. These are often rough construction measurements! Whether it’s baseboards or minor construction inaccuracies — if I know I want to place something 2m (6.5 feet) wide, I would plan for around 2.05m (6.7 feet).
2. The route between the kitchen and living room would drive me completely crazy in everyday life. If you want to design this as a closed-off space, I would suggest optimizing the path a bit.
3. The utility room seems very small to me. Are you sure everything you want to put in there will fit?
Which brings me to my conclusion: I would rearrange the entire area of kitchen / utility room / hobby space a few times and possibly plan it out with actual furniture.
As for the exterior facade... I would also reconsider the positioning of the windows.
1. If you plan to put something that is 2m (6.5 feet) wide in a room, you should allow for slightly more than 2m (6.5 feet) in width. These are often rough construction measurements! Whether it’s baseboards or minor construction inaccuracies — if I know I want to place something 2m (6.5 feet) wide, I would plan for around 2.05m (6.7 feet).
2. The route between the kitchen and living room would drive me completely crazy in everyday life. If you want to design this as a closed-off space, I would suggest optimizing the path a bit.
3. The utility room seems very small to me. Are you sure everything you want to put in there will fit?
Which brings me to my conclusion: I would rearrange the entire area of kitchen / utility room / hobby space a few times and possibly plan it out with actual furniture.
As for the exterior facade... I would also reconsider the positioning of the windows.
Drummer schrieb:
To create a bit of storage space, we opted for a 35° gable roof with the highest possible knee wall (1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) from the raw floor). Why isn’t a full additional floor possible as an upper floor?
I doubt the placement of the shower upstairs with a knee wall height of 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) from the raw floor! This also results in the narrow slit windows on the long sides.
The 2.30 m (7 ft 7 in) ceiling height line also seems a bit optimistic to me.
On the ground floor, I would swap the kitchen and living room so that the living area faces the terrace. Regarding the other layouts, I agree with @Papierturm.
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