Hello,
we have completed the preliminary planning and would like to get some opinions, especially regarding natural light and windows.
The guest WC window is planned to face north, and the floor-to-ceiling window in the upstairs bathroom will definitely be removed.
The office on the ground floor is now intended to become a utility room, and the pantry will be converted into a cloakroom.
For this reason, the office will be moved to the 15m² (160 sq ft) basement room, as it is rarely used. However, I have serious concerns that the basement will become too dark. Since there will be a terrace on the south side, no light wells can be installed there. The large basement room is actually intended for social gatherings. The light well will still serve as an outdoor staircase. This means there will be no additional windows in that room, and the future office in the basement will also be quite dark because the garage restricts the window size.
I have similar concerns about the kitchen, which only has a window on the north side due to the garage.
The same applies to the bedroom. There is a window facing east, but it is directly under the garage roof. The narrow window on the north side will be removed as we do not like it. I think a skylight is necessary here. What do you think? Should we also consider adding skylights to the south-facing children’s rooms?
Does anything else stand out to you at first glance as potentially problematic?
Thanks for your feedback!
we have completed the preliminary planning and would like to get some opinions, especially regarding natural light and windows.
The guest WC window is planned to face north, and the floor-to-ceiling window in the upstairs bathroom will definitely be removed.
The office on the ground floor is now intended to become a utility room, and the pantry will be converted into a cloakroom.
For this reason, the office will be moved to the 15m² (160 sq ft) basement room, as it is rarely used. However, I have serious concerns that the basement will become too dark. Since there will be a terrace on the south side, no light wells can be installed there. The large basement room is actually intended for social gatherings. The light well will still serve as an outdoor staircase. This means there will be no additional windows in that room, and the future office in the basement will also be quite dark because the garage restricts the window size.
I have similar concerns about the kitchen, which only has a window on the north side due to the garage.
The same applies to the bedroom. There is a window facing east, but it is directly under the garage roof. The narrow window on the north side will be removed as we do not like it. I think a skylight is necessary here. What do you think? Should we also consider adding skylights to the south-facing children’s rooms?
Does anything else stand out to you at first glance as potentially problematic?
Thanks for your feedback!
T
Trillian7817 Feb 2015 00:02Thanks for your answers!
There are some points we will definitely take into account and address at the next meeting. We have zero knowledge ourselves and have therefore relied on the planner. So many thanks also for the explanation about the windows – we will certainly bring it up at the next appointment.
What other planning mistakes are there? Should we consider consulting a different planner? I’m feeling quite uncertain now.
I can’t answer that unfortunately; the planner designed the staircase that way, and we assumed it was the best option.
Office in the basement... what will the office be used for? More file storage or actual work from home?[/QUOTE]
Just storage and things like doing taxes once a year, occasionally bank statements, and sporadic insurance paperwork.
Let me add something... why is there a shaft about 80cm (31 inches) wide in the living room ceiling? It was supposed to look more “modern”… but we’re removing it because we don’t like it. I forgot it was still in the plan, sorry.
Also, imagine carrying a laundry basket into the closet area in the bedroom. The space between the wardrobes is too narrow. That’s true!
Where is the coat closet? The pantry is supposed to become the coat closet.
And sorry for the confusing answers. It’s very difficult for me to write here because the left half of the screen constantly shows ads that won’t go away, and I haven’t figured out yet how to reply directly to a post normally. I feel a bit lost.
There are some points we will definitely take into account and address at the next meeting. We have zero knowledge ourselves and have therefore relied on the planner. So many thanks also for the explanation about the windows – we will certainly bring it up at the next appointment.
What other planning mistakes are there? Should we consider consulting a different planner? I’m feeling quite uncertain now.
kbt09 schrieb:
Then the staircase... 14 risers? What are the rise/run measurements of the stairs?
I can’t answer that unfortunately; the planner designed the staircase that way, and we assumed it was the best option.
Office in the basement... what will the office be used for? More file storage or actual work from home?[/QUOTE]
Just storage and things like doing taxes once a year, occasionally bank statements, and sporadic insurance paperwork.
Let me add something... why is there a shaft about 80cm (31 inches) wide in the living room ceiling? It was supposed to look more “modern”… but we’re removing it because we don’t like it. I forgot it was still in the plan, sorry.
Also, imagine carrying a laundry basket into the closet area in the bedroom. The space between the wardrobes is too narrow. That’s true!
Where is the coat closet? The pantry is supposed to become the coat closet.
And sorry for the confusing answers. It’s very difficult for me to write here because the left half of the screen constantly shows ads that won’t go away, and I haven’t figured out yet how to reply directly to a post normally. I feel a bit lost.
T
Trillian7817 Feb 2015 11:29ypg schrieb:
What kind of planner is this?An architect—one my husband’s coworker worked with before. He has already built several houses in our area, so we thought it would be fine.
Should we get a second opinion? What should we do now?
Formatted properly again, Yvonne
Trillian78 schrieb:
An architect — a colleague of my husband’s coworker worked with him. He has already built several houses in our area, so we thought it would be fine.
Should we get a second opinion? What should we do now?
Formatted properly again, YvonneI thought architects and professional planners work with CAD?!
This software was used by architects about 20 years ago intermittently; now it is actually mostly used by amateurs, like @kbt09 and me.
What you do with the information from this forum is your decision. Often it is also a financial matter, where we should not always presume to give advice.
Does the architect bill according to HOAI?
asks Yvonne
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