ᐅ Single-family house ~200 m² floor plan design on a gentle slope

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 512 m² (5509 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: N/A
Building setback lines, building line, and boundaries: See overview
Edge development: N/A
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: N/A
Garden orientation: West
Maximum heights / limits: 9 m (30 ft) ridge height from a specific terrain point on the plot
Additional requirements

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Single-family house, 2 full floors, gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement yes, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: Currently 3, soon 4, planned 5 → Persons: 2 adults over 30, 1 child (1 year), 1 unborn, 1 planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: Kitchen (with pantry if possible), dining area, living room, toilet, utility room.
UF: 3 children’s rooms, 1 storage room.
GF or UF: Parents’ area with private bathroom, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: About 40 nights per year (3x parents and siblings live far away)
Open or closed architecture: Open?
Conservative or modern construction style: ???
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island desired
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Yes, near the TV
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Yes, 1 garage in the house and either another garage or carport next to the house
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: N/A

House Design
Planning by: Architect
What do you like most? Why? We like almost everything in the floor plan very much, especially the option to use the office upstairs while the children are small and move the office downstairs, and then later move it back downstairs when the children are older.
What do you not like? Why? Only minor details that we would still like to adjust. As nothing will be revised over Christmas, feel free to point out anything we might have missed.
Price estimate by architect/planner: €790,000 including additional costs / photovoltaic / kitchen / driveway / terrace, excluding finished basement apartment
Personal price limit for the house including features: €800,000
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump

If you have to give up on certain details / expansions
- What can you do without: Basement (but ideally not because of the slope), basement apartment (guest room would otherwise suffice)
- What you cannot do without: 2 shower bathrooms for parents/children, straight staircase

Why did the design turn out as it is now?
For example:
At first, we really wanted to build simply without a basement to avoid exceeding our budget. The initial plans, however, had very steep driveways or the driveway was on the south side. Since we have been reading intensively here for many months, we decided to hire a surveyor because of the slight slope to clarify the planning. And yes, what can I say—our plot became a victim of the “11ant’s basement rule” 😱. Consequently, we continued planning, a bit smaller but this time with a basement. As we do not really need the space in the basement, we now have a basement apartment prepared for finishing, where we would initially only complete the bathroom and finish the rest ourselves. To have a parking space already, the garage was placed inside the house.
We thought a lot about whether we wanted a proper hallway. In the end, we left it open in the current plan because the designs with a hallway made the kitchen and dining areas feel very tight.
The furniture positions in the floor plan are only examples, and we would probably still adjust a few things, for example, arranging the kitchen in an L-shape with a passage through a cabinet to the pantry, or possibly placing the sofa more in the corner of the living room and slightly moving the corresponding window with a lower sill height forward. Also, the terrace should only be on the west side with doors leading out from both the kitchen and dining area. The south side of the dining area would have a fixed window only.

Since we are now slowly moving towards signing the contract, I would like to get your feedback on whether it makes sense to change or add anything and include it in the offer, or if we should reconsider the floor plan entirely.

Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!

UG:

GF:

UF:

Attic:

North view:

East view:

South view:

West view:

huhxkux schrieb:

At first, we really wanted to build without a basement to stay within our budget. However, the initial plans ended up with very steep driveways or the driveway was on the south side. Since we have been following this forum closely for many months, and because of the slight slope of the land, we decided to hire a surveyor to get clarity for the planning. And yes, what can I say, our plot fell victim to 11ant's basement rule 😱. Accordingly, we continued planning, making the house a bit smaller but this time with a basement. Since we don’t actually need the space in the basement, we have prepared a granny flat for future finishing, where we would initially only complete the bathroom and then finish the rest ourselves. To have a parking space from the start, we placed the garage within the house. We considered whether we wanted a proper hallway. In the end, in the current plan, we left it open again because layouts with a hallway made the kitchen and dining areas very tight.

I’m always glad when “my” basement rule helps avoid someone spending a fortune on skipping a basement at the last minute. Whether a granny flat as a “makeshift” solution is the smartest use of space, I find at least questionable. Also, putting the garage inside the house and thus inside the thermal envelope sounds, to me, like a doubtful choice. Is this really an architect, without quotation marks, proposing this design?

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

11ant schrieb:

Whether a secondary dwelling unit is the smartest use of space out of sheer necessity is something I consider at least questionable.

One thing led to another: originally, a guest bedroom was supposed to be added downstairs. Then it should at least have a toilet, and ideally also a shower. Then the idea came up to make it a whole apartment. The main advantage here was that we could do the interior finishing ourselves after moving in, since we didn’t need the space right away, and later we would be very flexible in case we needed extra income due to any life circumstances.
Additionally, the apartment as planned qualifies for KfW funding, and we definitely plan to have an internal doorway, as we intend to use it initially as a guest bedroom and bathroom. The living area could then also be used as a second home office. Of course, we would still have the additional costs now for the slightly thicker wall, the second entrance door, and the prepared connections for a possible kitchenette.
What would be the better alternative? More basement space instead?

11ant schrieb:

Putting the garage inside the house and thus within the thermal envelope sounds questionable to me.

Well, we’re partly to blame there, since the idea came from us. We wanted two protected car parking spaces, and since the costs for the basement had already risen significantly, this way we’d at least have a garage included.
Also, I probably forgot to mention a key piece of information: the plot is about 17x30m (56x98 feet). The buildable area starts 3m (10 feet) from the street and is about 15m (49 feet) long. That means there is the possibility for a parking space on each side of the house. We found the idea quite smart to have a third parking space inside the house. What are the disadvantages of not including the garage within the house?

11ant schrieb:

Is that really an architect—without quotation marks—who proposed this design?

Yes, that is a real, paid architect.

The entrance area to the main house is like a dark cave and offers no, absolutely no space for a coat rack, a place to put shoes, or to get dressed and undressed. You will soon have two small children—where are you supposed to keep the two strollers? In cellar 1? Good luck with that... In the garage? There’s a vehicle parked there...

You come up the stairs and find yourself right in the middle of the living room. This causes a significant amount of heat to be lost down to the basement... and you constantly look down the stairs into a dark hole...

I really don’t like it at all. For just under a million, there should be a better solution.

MachsSelbst schrieb:

The entrance area to the main house is like a dark cave and offers no space at all—absolutely none—for a coat rack, a place to put shoes, or for dressing and undressing.

Good point, which could possibly argue against the granny flat and in favor of a larger entrance area.

MachsSelbst schrieb:

You will soon have two small children, so where are you going to put the two strollers? In basement 1? Good luck with that… in the garage? There is a vehicle parked there…

So far, I have actually thought about placing them next to the garage, which probably wouldn’t work for two strollers (we are currently planning for only one stroller).

MachsSelbst schrieb:

You come up the stairs and end up right in the middle of the living room. That also causes significant heat loss to the basement… and you’re always looking down the stairs into a dark hole…

We have actually explored that option once but then went back. With the design that includes a closed hallway, we face the issue that the stairs need to go up in the middle of the house to have enough space for rooms both on the west and east sides. In that case, the kitchen area and passage to the dining room would become very narrow and not really airy. We also expect this layout to allow more natural light to enter the hallway.

However, the point that really makes me pause is the heat loss toward the basement. Is that really the case? I mean, the lower level is also heated, so there shouldn’t be such a significant temperature difference, right? Or am I being too naive?

Site plan with house and north arrow?
A few dimensions of the house would also be helpful.

Basically, I think the layout is acceptable so far. The parents' area looks a bit tight... I’m also not very happy with the basement, and

huhxkux schrieb:

Additionally, the apartment as planned is eligible for KfW funding, although we definitely plan an internal knockout

only one of the two should be possible. If it’s eligible for funding, then it should also meet the purpose of the funding.