ᐅ Floor plan of an urban villa with a request for suggestions for improvement
Created on: 10 Jul 2015 23:32
M
muejohHello everyone
After some time of reading, gathering information, and searching for a suitable plot, we were able to start further planning our house project and would appreciate great suggestions for improvements and feedback on our current floor plan.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 440m2 (approximately 4,735 sq ft)
Slope: none
Building window, building line, and boundary: setback distance: 3m (10 feet) from the street, 4m (13 feet) from the neighboring property
Edge development: no
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: hip roof
Architectural style: townhouse villa
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: townhouse villa with a hip roof, 30° pitch
Basement: yes, 2 levels
Number of occupants: 5 (2 adults, 3 children between 1 and 6 years old)
Space requirements on the ground floor: closed kitchen, living room with bay window, office, guest WC with shower
Space requirements on the upper floor: 4 bedrooms and bathroom
Office: intended to be used as a playroom and guest room
Closed kitchen with dining table
Fireplace
Garage
House Design
Planning by: together with the planner from the construction company
Challenges:
- The plot is not very large and has an irregular shape, which limits options for the house layout. Could it be designed differently?
Access is only possible from the west/southwest side. The minimum setback to the street must be 3m (10 feet), and 4m (13 feet) to the neighboring property. We would prefer the garage not to be directly attached to the house, but are uncertain how to realize this.
- The staircase has no natural light and might be somewhat dark.
- Is the living room too narrow?
Thank you very much in advance for your opinions and suggestions.
After some time of reading, gathering information, and searching for a suitable plot, we were able to start further planning our house project and would appreciate great suggestions for improvements and feedback on our current floor plan.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 440m2 (approximately 4,735 sq ft)
Slope: none
Building window, building line, and boundary: setback distance: 3m (10 feet) from the street, 4m (13 feet) from the neighboring property
Edge development: no
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Roof type: hip roof
Architectural style: townhouse villa
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: townhouse villa with a hip roof, 30° pitch
Basement: yes, 2 levels
Number of occupants: 5 (2 adults, 3 children between 1 and 6 years old)
Space requirements on the ground floor: closed kitchen, living room with bay window, office, guest WC with shower
Space requirements on the upper floor: 4 bedrooms and bathroom
Office: intended to be used as a playroom and guest room
Closed kitchen with dining table
Fireplace
Garage
House Design
Planning by: together with the planner from the construction company
Challenges:
- The plot is not very large and has an irregular shape, which limits options for the house layout. Could it be designed differently?
Access is only possible from the west/southwest side. The minimum setback to the street must be 3m (10 feet), and 4m (13 feet) to the neighboring property. We would prefer the garage not to be directly attached to the house, but are uncertain how to realize this.
- The staircase has no natural light and might be somewhat dark.
- Is the living room too narrow?
Thank you very much in advance for your opinions and suggestions.
Hmm ...
So the exterior staircase leads to a basement door located basically below the kitchen?
Is the kitchen supposed to be the only dining area in the house? If so, I find it very difficult to furnish and too small. The living area has quite a lot of space that can only be used as circulation space.
In general, you should try placing furniture of appropriate sizes throughout the plan, roughly as you envision it.
I also find the staircase very narrow and, with a floor-to-ceiling height of 301 cm (9 ft 11 in), quite steep.
Overall, I would say there is a lack of storage in suitable places, for example, the master bedroom only has 300 cm (10 ft) of closet space, and there is no general storage area in the attic for bedding, towels, vacuum cleaner, mop, etc.
Where are bicycles, lawnmower, and similar items supposed to go? In the basement? That could be tricky, especially if each child is expected to push their bike upstairs in the mornings during school days. The exterior stairs should definitely have a slope or ramp to make this possible.
Is a 4 m (13 ft) setback required from all neighboring properties? Does this also apply to the garage?
Why not from the cul-de-sac?
Does it have to be a hipped roof? I could also imagine a more rectangular-shaped house here.
So the exterior staircase leads to a basement door located basically below the kitchen?
Is the kitchen supposed to be the only dining area in the house? If so, I find it very difficult to furnish and too small. The living area has quite a lot of space that can only be used as circulation space.
In general, you should try placing furniture of appropriate sizes throughout the plan, roughly as you envision it.
I also find the staircase very narrow and, with a floor-to-ceiling height of 301 cm (9 ft 11 in), quite steep.
Overall, I would say there is a lack of storage in suitable places, for example, the master bedroom only has 300 cm (10 ft) of closet space, and there is no general storage area in the attic for bedding, towels, vacuum cleaner, mop, etc.
Where are bicycles, lawnmower, and similar items supposed to go? In the basement? That could be tricky, especially if each child is expected to push their bike upstairs in the mornings during school days. The exterior stairs should definitely have a slope or ramp to make this possible.
Is a 4 m (13 ft) setback required from all neighboring properties? Does this also apply to the garage?
muejoh schrieb:
Driveway access only possible from the west/southwest side.
Why not from the cul-de-sac?
Does it have to be a hipped roof? I could also imagine a more rectangular-shaped house here.
- The children's room by the stairs gets quite dark at the back,
- The bedroom is located far from the bathroom,
- Where will everyday items like brooms, vacuum cleaners, toilet paper, etc. be stored?
- I’m also interested in the furniture layout in the living room,
- The access from the garage to the kitchen doesn’t seem very practical. Everyone would have to walk through the kitchen and living room wearing outdoor shoes first,
- Regarding the garage: the car is parked inside, and the trunk usually faces the garage door. Now try carrying a crate of water to the kitchen door. That will be a tight squeeze,
- Speaking of drinks: where will they be stored? If in the basement, it’s very inconvenient to get there from the garage. I would prefer an access from the garage to the hallway.
- The bedroom is located far from the bathroom,
- Where will everyday items like brooms, vacuum cleaners, toilet paper, etc. be stored?
- I’m also interested in the furniture layout in the living room,
- The access from the garage to the kitchen doesn’t seem very practical. Everyone would have to walk through the kitchen and living room wearing outdoor shoes first,
- Regarding the garage: the car is parked inside, and the trunk usually faces the garage door. Now try carrying a crate of water to the kitchen door. That will be a tight squeeze,
- Speaking of drinks: where will they be stored? If in the basement, it’s very inconvenient to get there from the garage. I would prefer an access from the garage to the hallway.
- Consider adding an extra row of bricks for higher ceilings and possibly a lintel height of 2.20 meters (7 ft 3 in) or more.
- Try furnishing the kitchen—off the cuff, I’m not very impressed with it—and also think about the lighting in the kitchen, as well as naturally in the children's room near the staircase (Manu already mentioned this).
- The protrusion in the living room feels counterintuitive—furnish it and see how it works. Is a dining table meant to fit into the window recess there?
- Do you really need a shower on the ground floor?
- Maybe the children’s rooms could be more evenly sized—although that’s always a contentious issue (11 square meters (118 sq ft) with a heating pipe versus 17 square meters (183 sq ft)).
- What kind of interior walls are those—are they really 7 centimeters (2.8 inches)? I find that hard to believe. What about sound insulation? Can something like that even be load-bearing?
Thank you for your previous suggestions, which we enjoyed reading and which also gave us new ideas.
We especially need to address the lack of storage space and are currently considering how to cleverly incorporate more.
We are now furnishing the living room as we envision it. The combination of the fireplace and TV is proving a bit challenging for us at the moment. The window alcove is planned to be separated from the living room later by a glass wall and door.
Does anyone have experience with a partition wall and how it might look in the living room? Could it possibly create or allow for more usable space?
The house has a full basement, and the internal stairs lead down to it. We probably won’t include the external basement stairs anymore, as they were initially considered as an option to get a price estimate.
After having the kitchen planning appointment, we realized that the door to the garage takes up a lot of space and, as you mentioned, is not very practical. This way, we get more room for cabinets and storage for brooms and vacuum cleaners, which we hadn’t accounted for before.
Next to the garage, we plan to build a carport for our second car, with a connection and a garden shed where bicycles and gardening tools can be stored. According to regulations, the garage is not even allowed to be built on the property boundary. However, we are still waiting for the final response from the local authority, as the building regulations here are not entirely clear.
The access must be via the main road only; the north side would be our preferred option as well.
Do you mean a flat roof?
I don’t fully understand what is meant by this or what advantage it would bring – in the upper floor?
We plan to install a built-in wardrobe in the back corner of the children’s room, so it shouldn’t be too dark.
Good point. We will see if we can swap it with the rear children’s room. That way, the children’s room will be brighter and the bathroom closer to the bedroom.
Yes, that is currently the plan, but the wall thickness will be increased to 10 cm (4 inches) with special sound insulation. According to the specifications, load capacity is not a problem—the walls can support wall-mounted cabinets (even several).
We have another meeting with the architect on Wednesday and will discuss whether more space can be created by widening the house or moving the garage closer to the street.
Best regards,
muejoh
We especially need to address the lack of storage space and are currently considering how to cleverly incorporate more.
We are now furnishing the living room as we envision it. The combination of the fireplace and TV is proving a bit challenging for us at the moment. The window alcove is planned to be separated from the living room later by a glass wall and door.
Does anyone have experience with a partition wall and how it might look in the living room? Could it possibly create or allow for more usable space?
kbt09 schrieb:
The external stairs lead to a basement door located just below the kitchen?
Is the kitchen supposed to be the only dining area in the house? If so, I find it very difficult to furnish and too small. The living area then contains a lot of space that can only be used as circulation area.
The house has a full basement, and the internal stairs lead down to it. We probably won’t include the external basement stairs anymore, as they were initially considered as an option to get a price estimate.
After having the kitchen planning appointment, we realized that the door to the garage takes up a lot of space and, as you mentioned, is not very practical. This way, we get more room for cabinets and storage for brooms and vacuum cleaners, which we hadn’t accounted for before.
Next to the garage, we plan to build a carport for our second car, with a connection and a garden shed where bicycles and gardening tools can be stored. According to regulations, the garage is not even allowed to be built on the property boundary. However, we are still waiting for the final response from the local authority, as the building regulations here are not entirely clear.
kbt09 schrieb:
Why not access via the side street?
The access must be via the main road only; the north side would be our preferred option as well.
kbt09 schrieb:
Does it have to be a hip roof? I could also imagine a more rectangular house here.
Do you mean a flat roof?
BeHaElJa schrieb:
Check whether you might consider adding an extra row of bricks for higher ceilings and maybe a lintel height of 2.20 meters (7.2 feet) or more.
I don’t fully understand what is meant by this or what advantage it would bring – in the upper floor?
Manu1976 schrieb:
The children’s room by the stairs will be quite dark in the back,
We plan to install a built-in wardrobe in the back corner of the children’s room, so it shouldn’t be too dark.
Manu1976 schrieb:
Bedroom far from the bathroom
Good point. We will see if we can swap it with the rear children’s room. That way, the children’s room will be brighter and the bathroom closer to the bedroom.
BeHaElJa schrieb:
What kind of interior walls are those – only 7 cm (2.8 inches)? I can hardly imagine that – what kind of sound insulation is there? Can such walls actually support weight?
Yes, that is currently the plan, but the wall thickness will be increased to 10 cm (4 inches) with special sound insulation. According to the specifications, load capacity is not a problem—the walls can support wall-mounted cabinets (even several).
ypg schrieb:
Garage access from the hallway with storage opportunity.
We have another meeting with the architect on Wednesday and will discuss whether more space can be created by widening the house or moving the garage closer to the street.
Best regards,
muejoh
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