ᐅ Will our house be too dark? Opinions on the floor plan

A house is being planned, and then an extension (conservatory) is added below because there isn’t enough space due to the office, and from the planner’s perspective, it is considered finished… Then the use of the rooms is rearranged. The annex remains because no further redesign takes place. Whether a utility room on the ground floor requires its 8 sqm (86 sq ft) despite having a basement is not considered.

The living room windows are blocked by furniture, so they could be fixed at ground level, but the terrace is planned across the entire front. Why? The practical exits to the terrace would be a corner door and dining area. This offers many design options for the other half of the house, including the elimination of some light wells.

I don’t see you having parties in the large basement room; due to the stairs leading to the garden, it is very likely that everything that doesn’t fit in the garage will be stored there.

Basically, the concept should be established BEFORE planning. Here, I don’t see one. There are also a great many planning errors incorporated: for example, the rules for window calculation have not been applied.

So, I generally like the layout. There are still a few small things that could be improved:
- Kitchen: definitely a bigger window.
- Ground floor hallway: I would align the wall of the office (utility room) with the living room wall to avoid that awkward offset in the hallway.
- I don’t like the corner windows in the living/dining area. For the dining area, I would skip the small window on the garage side and instead install a floor-to-ceiling double casement window facing the terrace.
- I would swap the powder room with the pantry (cloakroom).
- Change the door swing of the front door to the opposite side. This will make the hallway feel more open when entering, and you can access the cloakroom directly on the right (where the powder room is now).

Now, for the upper floor:
- You will never be able to place a bathtub in front of the knee wall window in the bathroom, or a bed in front of it in the bedroom. The knee wall windows sit right at floor level. I would skip these. They don’t add anything but visual distraction and limit your furniture layout too much.
- The children’s rooms will definitely be too dark. Either larger windows (which is not possible in one of the rooms) or an additional skylight, but please with a roller shutter.

First of all, thank you for your response.

ypg schrieb:

A house is being planned, and then an extension (conservatory) is added on below because there isn’t enough space due to the office, and from the planner’s point of view, it’s considered finished... Then the use of the rooms is rearranged... The annex remains because no more redesign is done.

This is actually not meant to be an annex to enlarge the office, but because my husband wanted a corner in the floor plan instead of just a rectangular shape, so that the living and dining areas are visually somewhat separated.

ypg schrieb:

Whether a utility room needs its 8 m² (86 sq ft) on the ground floor despite having a basement is not considered.

Yes, that's intentional. I want a large utility/storage room to accommodate many things. It should hold supplies, cleaning products, vacuum cleaner, waste paper, and quite a few other things without feeling cramped. We currently have a 10 m² (108 sq ft) room and it’s already quite full.

ypg schrieb:

The windows in the living room will be blocked by furniture, so on the ground floor they could be fixed panes, but the terrace is planned across the entire front. Why? The logical exits to the terrace would be corner doors and the dining area. This leaves many design options for the second half of the house, among other things some light wells are eliminated.

That’s true; the doors in front of the sofa will be removed so that the furniture can go all the way to the wall. I forgot to mention that.

ypg schrieb:

I don’t see you having parties in the large basement room; most likely everything that doesn’t fit in the garage will be stored there due to the stairway leading to the garden.

For certain celebrations like New Year’s Eve, the room will definitely be used. Our old kitchen will also be installed there right away.

ypg schrieb:

As a rule, the concept should be finalized BEFORE planning. I don’t see one here. There are also many planning mistakes included: even the rules for window calculations were not applied here.

Could you please explain the rule to me? The draft is actually made by a professional planner.

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I tried to edit the post for better readability

Regards, Bauexperte
Bauexperte

It would be helpful if you did not include your answers within the quotation. That way, your responses are not immediately visible.

Trillian78 schrieb:
We now have a 10 m² (108 sq ft) room, and it’s quite full

Yes, but in the future, you will also have a basement! The original office was in the nice, bright west side, now the space requirements are mixed up, with the utility room going to the west and the office moving into the dark basement.
May I ask who came up with this idea? Was the wardrobe originally missing, and now the builder or a lazy planner looked for a replacement, seeing the room swap as a solution?

Of course, you can do that, but I would question whether this is the right decision and whether the house will still be what you initially wanted.

Trillian78 schrieb:
The room will definitely be used for certain occasions like New Year’s Eve, etc. The old kitchen will also be moved in there

You don’t seem to understand what I meant: if you plan an exterior staircase there, that room will automatically become a storage room – whether you want it or not. Sooner or later, you will be storing outdoor equipment there.

Trillian78 schrieb:
Can you explain the rule to me? The design was actually created by a planner

Yes, gladly:
DIN 5034 and state building regulations set the minimum daylight requirements for living and common rooms. One rule says that the window width must be 55% of the living space width; another refers to the window’s rough opening dimension being between one-eighth and one-tenth of the living area’s square meters.

These regulations are somewhat outdated (according to many opinions), as nowadays daylight has a different importance in living spaces.

Those who specialize in living environments know that windows are the positive connection to the outside and therefore should be larger in living spaces (i.e., private rooms, not commercial spaces). Some even recommend 20% instead of 10%. Of course, beyond the regulations, the use of the room and whether the window faces north or south must be considered.
Example for the current planned utility room: 8.5 m² (91 sq ft). Required window area: at least 0.85 m² (9 sq ft). Actual: (1.0 x 2.10 m) 2.1 m² (23 sq ft) window area, which is more than double the minimum. More daylight is never a bad thing, as you know if you look at the planning for your living room windows.
Kitchen: 11.5 m² (124 sq ft), minimum 1.15 m² (12 sq ft). Actual: (1.0 x 1.20 m) 1.2 m² (13 sq ft). Just within the standard, but the kitchen window faces north and should provide enough working light, which is needed for longer periods during the day. Doubling the window area would be the minimum.
Child’s room 2: 17.5 m² (188 sq ft). Minimum 1.75 m² (19 sq ft), actual: (1.0 x 0.9 m) 1.2 m² (13 sq ft). That is too small.
The east-facing sun will likely not reach the school-age child’s room. Intuition suggests that a children’s room this size should have 2 to 3 m² (22–32 sq ft) of window area (about 2 m² for a south or west-facing room, 3 m² for east-facing).

It would be great if you could also answer the questions from the other forum participants.

Best regards,
Yvonne

Oh, I would also take @Manu1976’s suggestions into consideration.
If I were your planner, I would advise against the exterior staircase or at least include it in the design in a way that protects it from rain. Changing the garage roof would also be beneficial.
By the way, it is neither a sin nor the homeowner’s fault if the planner does not think things through. This is not a criticism directed at you or your team.