Hello everyone,
we have already read quite a bit in the forum and are impressed by your ideas. This motivated us to take the planning into our own hands and create some drawings. After several planning attempts, we now have a version we’d like to share with you :-)
Currently, we do not have an architect and are not yet sure if we will build with a prefabricated house company or a general contractor.
Development plan / restrictions
-> The plot is 1270 sqm (13659 sq ft) and is not solely owned by us. We would like to divide it and build for two families. For this purpose, we created a first draft plan. It includes our considerations regarding the plot size, boundary alignment (preferably a real division), surrounding environment, and the general spatial orientation.
The plot slopes, and the elevation difference is also shown in the plan. Since it is located in the old village center, there is no formal development plan, resulting in relatively few regulations.
The property is situated at a dead-end street with very limited parking options. For this reason, cars must be accommodated on the property.
Requirements from the building owners
For the roof design, we considered a shallow gable roof or a hip roof. We have currently not planned a basement for cost reasons. The house planning is based on a total of 4 residents (2 children, 2 adults). Initially, however, the house will only be occupied by two people, both in their late twenties.
Space requirements on the ground floor: open kitchen, large living and dining area, pantry, shower bathroom, office, utility room, spacious hallway
Space requirements on the upper floor: master bedroom with walk-in closet, bathroom, storage room, 2 bedrooms
On the ground floor, it is important to create a workspace suitable for working from home. The hallway should be welcoming and spacious, offering enough storage and shelving options.
The living and dining area should be as bright and spacious as possible (preferably with the option for a fireplace) and integrate the kitchen. An additional pantry allows for food storage. The utility room also serves as a laundry room. It was important for us to include a shower in the guest bathroom. Another idea was to be able to separate the floors for independent living. This would require conversion measures.
The upper floor should include a master bedroom with walk-in closet and two additional rooms. The bathroom should have enough space for a bathtub, two sinks, toilet, and shower. A separate storage room on the upper floor for storing items is important to us! Current planning includes two full stories.
We have planned the garage in the rear corner of the plot to also store garden equipment.
Building services:
- Controlled mechanical ventilation
- Gas heating
- Fireplace still undecided
- Underfloor heating
- Electric roller shutters throughout
- KFW70 standard
Open questions – plot:
- Effort for earthworks
- Long distances for utility connections
- Long driveway on the property
- Clarification on plot division – whether this is possible at all
…
The detailed room planning is included in another plan but is not yet finalized.
- Little light in the upper-floor hallway?
- Staircase – is a straight staircase better?
- Staircase directly in the entrance area – too narrow?
- Kitchen garden
- Is the utility room sufficiently sized?
- Office on the ground floor – is the space between desk and wall too small?
- Window distribution
What are your thoughts?
We look forward to your comments / assessments / ideas.
Thank you very much & best regards
Thomas
we have already read quite a bit in the forum and are impressed by your ideas. This motivated us to take the planning into our own hands and create some drawings. After several planning attempts, we now have a version we’d like to share with you :-)
Currently, we do not have an architect and are not yet sure if we will build with a prefabricated house company or a general contractor.
Development plan / restrictions
-> The plot is 1270 sqm (13659 sq ft) and is not solely owned by us. We would like to divide it and build for two families. For this purpose, we created a first draft plan. It includes our considerations regarding the plot size, boundary alignment (preferably a real division), surrounding environment, and the general spatial orientation.
The plot slopes, and the elevation difference is also shown in the plan. Since it is located in the old village center, there is no formal development plan, resulting in relatively few regulations.
The property is situated at a dead-end street with very limited parking options. For this reason, cars must be accommodated on the property.
Requirements from the building owners
For the roof design, we considered a shallow gable roof or a hip roof. We have currently not planned a basement for cost reasons. The house planning is based on a total of 4 residents (2 children, 2 adults). Initially, however, the house will only be occupied by two people, both in their late twenties.
Space requirements on the ground floor: open kitchen, large living and dining area, pantry, shower bathroom, office, utility room, spacious hallway
Space requirements on the upper floor: master bedroom with walk-in closet, bathroom, storage room, 2 bedrooms
On the ground floor, it is important to create a workspace suitable for working from home. The hallway should be welcoming and spacious, offering enough storage and shelving options.
The living and dining area should be as bright and spacious as possible (preferably with the option for a fireplace) and integrate the kitchen. An additional pantry allows for food storage. The utility room also serves as a laundry room. It was important for us to include a shower in the guest bathroom. Another idea was to be able to separate the floors for independent living. This would require conversion measures.
The upper floor should include a master bedroom with walk-in closet and two additional rooms. The bathroom should have enough space for a bathtub, two sinks, toilet, and shower. A separate storage room on the upper floor for storing items is important to us! Current planning includes two full stories.
We have planned the garage in the rear corner of the plot to also store garden equipment.
Building services:
- Controlled mechanical ventilation
- Gas heating
- Fireplace still undecided
- Underfloor heating
- Electric roller shutters throughout
- KFW70 standard
Open questions – plot:
- Effort for earthworks
- Long distances for utility connections
- Long driveway on the property
- Clarification on plot division – whether this is possible at all
…
The detailed room planning is included in another plan but is not yet finalized.
- Little light in the upper-floor hallway?
- Staircase – is a straight staircase better?
- Staircase directly in the entrance area – too narrow?
- Kitchen garden
- Is the utility room sufficiently sized?
- Office on the ground floor – is the space between desk and wall too small?
- Window distribution
What are your thoughts?
We look forward to your comments / assessments / ideas.
Thank you very much & best regards
Thomas
Hello Thomas,
What does that mean?
What is the floor area ratio, and what is the minimum plot size required for an independent lot in your area?
Is it for 2 or 3 families?
A quick look at the ground floor showed me that the door under the stairs doesn’t work. Is the size of the WC also due to the problematic location?
The sloped ceiling in the pantry seems questionable... The hallway can probably be optimized...
My colleagues will need to write more here 😉 No time...
Best regards
Yvonne
Tschi schrieb:
-> This is about a 1270 sqm (13,673 sq ft) plot of land, which we do not own solely. We would like to divide it and build with two families
What does that mean?
What is the floor area ratio, and what is the minimum plot size required for an independent lot in your area?
Is it for 2 or 3 families?
A quick look at the ground floor showed me that the door under the stairs doesn’t work. Is the size of the WC also due to the problematic location?
The sloped ceiling in the pantry seems questionable... The hallway can probably be optimized...
My colleagues will need to write more here 😉 No time...
Best regards
Yvonne
I prefer the other house’s ground floor layout, except that I would rotate it 90 degrees so the kitchen and dining area are not on the north side.
Regarding your floor plan:
You have a large room program for the ground floor. In our 10.8 x 10.2 m (35.4 x 33.5 ft) space, that wouldn’t have fit. We couldn’t fit the office on the ground floor.
Your shower toilet on the ground floor is very large (which I really like, as nothing is worse for me than a 3 sqm (32 sq ft) wet room), but of course, it takes up quite a bit of space!
The entrance area is actually too tight for my taste. Also, the staircase is located within the dirty zone, meaning you’re always tracking dirt upstairs. How about space for a stroller and a car seat? Do you already have two children or are they planned?
In my opinion, the utility room is too small. It might work, but since it’s your only storage space on the ground floor, where will you store sports gear, spare shoes/jackets, household and cleaning supplies, vacuum cleaner, etc.?
We have almost 12 sqm (129 sq ft) for utility and technical purposes, and it’s definitely full! We hoped for more free space, but with every device, there was less room (air-to-water heat pump, water storage tank, water connections, electrical panel, house connections, controlled residential ventilation, washer, dryer...). You have only half of that!
I also generally don’t like the slanted walls and recesses. They look like a makeshift solution.
I would try planning the staircase differently. This would change the entire floor plan accordingly. The other house really has a nice solution for the staircase location.
Regarding your floor plan:
You have a large room program for the ground floor. In our 10.8 x 10.2 m (35.4 x 33.5 ft) space, that wouldn’t have fit. We couldn’t fit the office on the ground floor.
Your shower toilet on the ground floor is very large (which I really like, as nothing is worse for me than a 3 sqm (32 sq ft) wet room), but of course, it takes up quite a bit of space!
The entrance area is actually too tight for my taste. Also, the staircase is located within the dirty zone, meaning you’re always tracking dirt upstairs. How about space for a stroller and a car seat? Do you already have two children or are they planned?
In my opinion, the utility room is too small. It might work, but since it’s your only storage space on the ground floor, where will you store sports gear, spare shoes/jackets, household and cleaning supplies, vacuum cleaner, etc.?
We have almost 12 sqm (129 sq ft) for utility and technical purposes, and it’s definitely full! We hoped for more free space, but with every device, there was less room (air-to-water heat pump, water storage tank, water connections, electrical panel, house connections, controlled residential ventilation, washer, dryer...). You have only half of that!
I also generally don’t like the slanted walls and recesses. They look like a makeshift solution.
I would try planning the staircase differently. This would change the entire floor plan accordingly. The other house really has a nice solution for the staircase location.
ypg schrieb:
...
What does that mean?
What is the plot ratio? What minimum size does an independent plot need to have where you live?
For 2 or 3 families?
...Since there is no development plan, we don’t know the plot ratio (floor area ratio). Where can I find this information? I will try contacting the building authority / planning office next week.
We are currently two people plus a second family.
milkie schrieb:
...
You have a large room layout for the ground floor. In our case, with 10.8 x 10.2 m (35.4 x 33.5 ft), it didn’t fit. We couldn’t fit the office on the ground floor.
Your shower toilet on the ground floor is very large (which I think is great, because nothing is worse for me than a 3 sqm (32 sq ft) shower bath), but of course that takes up quite a bit of space!
The entrance area is actually too narrow for my taste. Also, the staircase is located in the “dirty” zone, so you always carry dirt upstairs. What about strollers and baby car seats? Do you already have two children or are they planned?
In my opinion, the utility room is too small. It might work, but since it’s your only storage room on the ground floor: where will sports gear, spare shoes/jackets, household/cleaning supplies, vacuum cleaner, etc. be stored?
We have nearly 12 sqm (130 sq ft) for our utility/technical room, and it’s definitely full! We had hoped for more leftover space, but with every appliance it got less (air-to-water heat pump, water tank, water connections, electrical panel, service connections, controlled ventilation system, washing machine, dryer...). You only have about half that!
I also generally don’t like the slanted walls and recesses. That looks like a makeshift solution.
I would try to plan the staircase differently. That would change the entire floor plan. The other house really solved the staircase location nicely.-Currently just the two of us!
-Yes, right; we are quite stuck with the staircase position/layout. Maybe we should consider something different. Our previous attempts with the stairs didn’t really get us anywhere.
The bathroom could be a bit smaller, but then the door becomes problematic. The utility room should be bigger. The storage room could be changed, maybe alongside the study.
The reason the kitchen was placed there is that it gives a good view of the entrance area. But it’s not absolutely necessary.
Stroller and such are a good point! Currently, that doesn’t really fit well.
Tschi schrieb:
The reason the kitchen was placed there is to have a good view of the entrance area. Maybe consider whether it would be better to have a view from the kitchen of the kids playing in the garden rather than the entrance 😉
Regarding the entrance:
Especially since you will be passing the possibly dirty stroller right past the staircase to then park it somewhere out of the way at the back.
Try to separate the hallway from the staircase like your neighbors have done, because the sequence should be: come inside, unload stroller, car seat, shoes, jackets, bags, and only then enter the living area or go upstairs.
Perhaps you could place the entrance on the north side, the utility room then on the northeast, the staircase on the east, and arrange the remaining rooms in the leftover space. Alternatively, try entrance on the east and staircase on the north to find a better room layout.