ᐅ 12 x 9.6 m, 2 full stories, basement, attic, 4 children's bedrooms

Hello everyone,

After more than six years of searching, we will soon be able to purchase a plot of land, so it’s time to advance the planning.

Since we are still undecided whether to build with an architect or a developer, we started drawing ourselves and have been diligently browsing internet forums like this one. The floor plans below are the result, thanks to SketchUp.

I hope we understand the floor area ratio correctly, meaning the basement is not included. Otherwise, we have a problem...

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 15.6 x 29.95 m = 436 sqm (51.2 x 98.3 ft = 4,692 sq ft)
Slope no
Site coverage ratio 0.4 = 174.4 sqm (1,878 sq ft)
Floor area ratio 0.8 = 348.8 sqm (3,753 sq ft)
Building envelope, building line and boundary 12 m depth (39 ft)
Setbacks 3 m (10 ft) on right and left
Number of parking spaces only in front of the garage planned
Number of storeys 2 full storeys
Roof type Gable roof 42 degrees
Style brick + Wienerberger Poroton T7 P 36.5
Orientation garden facing east-northeast
Maximum height restrictions 10 m (33 ft) high
Other requirements finished floor level at least 30 cm (12 inches) above reference mark

Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type gable roof is mandatory
Basement, number of storeys 2 full
Number and ages of occupants 6 (37, 36, 6, 4, 2, 0)
Space requirements on ground and upper floors (see plan)
Office: family use or home office? both
Guests sleeping per year the attic provides enough space
Open or closed architecture
Traditional or modern design it will be a smart home with KNX, photovoltaic system, heat pump, possibly battery storage…
Open kitchen, kitchen island open kitchen
Number of dining seats 6
Fireplace no
Music/stereo wall I was thinking of multi-room audio, i.e. one ceiling speaker per room
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport garage
Utility garden, greenhouse later
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, also reasons why certain things are required or excluded The house should be divisible in 25 years, hence the staircase placement. There is a kitchen shown on the upper floor, but it will only be relevant in 25 years. I roughly marked the ventilation system, indicating where ceiling or wall outlets might be and where ducts lead to the upper floors. The two offices are important. The master bedroom on the ground floor is future-proof. Everyone gets old!

House design
Who designed the plan: us amateurs
What do you like most? Why? four equally sized children’s rooms
What do you like least? Why? the upstairs hallway might be somewhat dark
Price estimate according to architect/planner: if only we knew
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 400 + building allowance
Preferred heating technology: ground-source heat pump

If you have to give up features or extensions
- what can you do without: I hope we don’t have to
- what can you not do without: we definitely want to keep the base dimensions and the basement is a must, but we may have to save on components.

Why is the design like it is now? 4 children’s rooms, two offices, ground floor master bedroom, divisibility in 25 years…
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad? that’s what we want to know from you

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What would you do differently and why?

Johannes L schrieb:
What would you do differently and why?

The answers are in the pictures – PDFs are more cumbersome even for me as a desktop forum user, and mobile users probably find them mostly a barrier. So please upload jpg / png files.

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

Hello 11ant,

thank you for the hint. Attached are the JPEGs.

Best regards
Johannes

For six people, the living area seems simply too small to me. You have a long hallway because you enter through the gable end. You really can’t afford that. Every centimeter counts here, I would say—especially since the budget in my opinion is likely far too tight.

Maybe you could also share the site plan so we can understand why you definitely want to enter through the gable end. My first goal would then be to eliminate that long hallway and add that space to the living area.

Without specifically addressing your floor plan, your budget for the large house (including the basement and attic) seems somewhat low. You also want brick cladding, a staircase to the attic, two large bathrooms, KNX home automation, a ventilation system, photovoltaic panels, and a ground source heat pump. I would have this calculated in detail.

Best regards
Sabine

Hello Katja, hello Sabine,

thank you for your replies. Attached is the site plan. Regarding the budget, the plan is not to finish the basement and attic for now, except for the windows and stairs in the attic... but regardless of the budget, the main question is how the floor plan could possibly be improved. I generally like the idea of a side entrance, but can I still achieve a good separation between the floors that way? Another point is that we have the garage on one side and our caravan on the other. This means there isn’t much space left on either side when a car or the caravan is parked there. How would you design the ground floor to make the side entrance work? Apart from the "long" hallway, is there anything else you see as a disadvantage in our floor plan?

Best regards
Johannes