Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 1100sqm (1,1840 sq ft)
Slope: Yes (west to east)
Building coverage ratio / Floor area ratio: none
Building envelope, building line and boundary: none
Edge development: Theoretically possible, as neighboring plot belongs to parents
Number of parking spaces: 2 per housing unit (relevant if split into two apartments)
Number of floors: none
Roof type: only gable roof & hip roof (also for garage!)
Architectural style: none
Orientation: none
Maximum heights/restrictions: none
Other requirements: roof overhang of at least 50cm (20 inches)
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: hip roof urban villa
Basement, floors: yes, 2 full floors
Number of people, ages: 36, 35, 4, 0
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor:
Office: family use or home office? Home office once a week
Guest overnight stays per year: 1-2
Open or closed architecture: semi-open
Conservative or modern style: rather modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes, yes
Number of dining seats: 4-8
Fireplace: not necessary, also can’t find a suitable place
Music / stereo wall: TV wall yes
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony (only due to possible split into two apartments)
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or shouldn’t be: bay window with balcony, even if it gets expensive…
House Design
Who designed it: do-it-yourself with SweetHome3D
What do you like most? Why? Everything. I think I spent so long working on the floor plan that I’m in love with it and probably totally “blind” to its flaws.
What do you dislike? Why?
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 750,000€
Preferred heating system: gas
If you had to give up, which details/extensions
- could you do without: somehow nothing
- could you not do without: large entrance/wardrobe; large children’s rooms; master bedroom facing east (I want to watch the sunrise); large aquarium as a highlight in the living area; platform staircase; children’s bathroom; and my wife absolutely wants a gallery.
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
I looked at almost every floor plan from all prefabricated house manufacturers and, annoyed by the “cookie-cutter” designs (keyword: living room/kitchen/dining all in one long corridor and stairs always immediately by the dirty entrance), I started working out my own floor plan. Many thanks to this forum because I have learned a lot from the floor plan discussions here! I even dealt with Feng Shui for the layout.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
The rooms are ideally oriented to the sun: living spaces face south, unoccupied rooms face north. In addition, the slight slope (to the east) allows for nice walk-out basement rooms. The layout can also be easily split into two apartments, making it flexible for a barrier-free future. Technical aspects and piping were also considered: the utility room is on the street side and pipes/water lines don’t run erratically but are kept close together.
The only downside I see is that the kitchen is “far” from the entrance. However, I don’t find this very problematic and only mention it because it would probably be a common criticism.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
I’m grateful for suggestions or optimizations of any kind! Especially tips for the master bathroom. I’m not 100% satisfied yet.
Good luck
Alro
Plot size: 1100sqm (1,1840 sq ft)
Slope: Yes (west to east)
Building coverage ratio / Floor area ratio: none
Building envelope, building line and boundary: none
Edge development: Theoretically possible, as neighboring plot belongs to parents
Number of parking spaces: 2 per housing unit (relevant if split into two apartments)
Number of floors: none
Roof type: only gable roof & hip roof (also for garage!)
Architectural style: none
Orientation: none
Maximum heights/restrictions: none
Other requirements: roof overhang of at least 50cm (20 inches)
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: hip roof urban villa
Basement, floors: yes, 2 full floors
Number of people, ages: 36, 35, 4, 0
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor:
Office: family use or home office? Home office once a week
Guest overnight stays per year: 1-2
Open or closed architecture: semi-open
Conservative or modern style: rather modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes, yes
Number of dining seats: 4-8
Fireplace: not necessary, also can’t find a suitable place
Music / stereo wall: TV wall yes
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony (only due to possible split into two apartments)
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or shouldn’t be: bay window with balcony, even if it gets expensive…
House Design
Who designed it: do-it-yourself with SweetHome3D
What do you like most? Why? Everything. I think I spent so long working on the floor plan that I’m in love with it and probably totally “blind” to its flaws.
What do you dislike? Why?
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 750,000€
Preferred heating system: gas
If you had to give up, which details/extensions
- could you do without: somehow nothing
- could you not do without: large entrance/wardrobe; large children’s rooms; master bedroom facing east (I want to watch the sunrise); large aquarium as a highlight in the living area; platform staircase; children’s bathroom; and my wife absolutely wants a gallery.
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
I looked at almost every floor plan from all prefabricated house manufacturers and, annoyed by the “cookie-cutter” designs (keyword: living room/kitchen/dining all in one long corridor and stairs always immediately by the dirty entrance), I started working out my own floor plan. Many thanks to this forum because I have learned a lot from the floor plan discussions here! I even dealt with Feng Shui for the layout.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
The rooms are ideally oriented to the sun: living spaces face south, unoccupied rooms face north. In addition, the slight slope (to the east) allows for nice walk-out basement rooms. The layout can also be easily split into two apartments, making it flexible for a barrier-free future. Technical aspects and piping were also considered: the utility room is on the street side and pipes/water lines don’t run erratically but are kept close together.
The only downside I see is that the kitchen is “far” from the entrance. However, I don’t find this very problematic and only mention it because it would probably be a common criticism.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
I’m grateful for suggestions or optimizations of any kind! Especially tips for the master bathroom. I’m not 100% satisfied yet.
Good luck
Alro
T
Traumhaus202018 Feb 2019 14:08Yosan schrieb:
For example, I would always prefer any standard suburban villa over the look of an architect-designed flat-roof Bauhaus house, simply because I find the latter completely ugly (at least all the ones I have seen so far) I totally agree. Besides, the zoning plan only allows hip roofs and gable roofs. So, quirky styles like Bauhaus or shed roofs are simply not an option. I find such houses interesting to look at, but I definitely wouldn’t want to live in one. I also think I would get tired of the look fairly quickly. But yes, nowadays it feels like almost only suburban villas are being built. I don’t like the small square ones without bay windows either, as they resemble a cube. In contrast, a more rectangular suburban villa with a bay window that softens the look a bit strikes me as timelessly beautiful.
Traumhaus2020 schrieb:
On the other hand, I find a rather rectangular city villa with a bay window, which softens the look a bit, to be timelessly beautiful.Hipped roof with bay window, timelessly beautiful:
Can we expect this?
T
Traumhaus202018 Feb 2019 14:28Personally, I find one and a half stories very appealing, but I don’t like the interior layout because of the sloped ceilings.
For me, the interior design is much more important.
I told my architect, “I want to build two stories.”
He then assumed a city villa with a hip roof, even though I never mentioned that to him. In hindsight, I’m really glad we ended up planning a gable roof. The attic will be used as a bedroom/children’s room.
As long as it’s functional, the roof style doesn’t matter—it’s more a matter of taste.
For me, a roof without eaves is a no-go, or it looks like an industrial/factory facade, which, in my opinion, lacks a residential feel.
For me, the interior design is much more important.
I told my architect, “I want to build two stories.”
He then assumed a city villa with a hip roof, even though I never mentioned that to him. In hindsight, I’m really glad we ended up planning a gable roof. The attic will be used as a bedroom/children’s room.
As long as it’s functional, the roof style doesn’t matter—it’s more a matter of taste.
For me, a roof without eaves is a no-go, or it looks like an industrial/factory facade, which, in my opinion, lacks a residential feel.
kaho674 schrieb:
The architect will probably get a little heartache when he hears that he’s not allowed to just wildly plan a flat-roof designer villa into the hillside. Architects should buy their own plots of land for their dreams.
Yosan schrieb:
I don’t understand why hipped roof builders get so much criticism. Apart from budget considerations, it’s primarily a matter of personal taste. For example, I would always prefer a standard suburban villa in terms of appearance over an architect’s flat-roof Bauhaus-style house, kaho674 schrieb:
The hipped roof is so widespread and built everywhere, even the last fool is now building a town house with a hipped roof. Many of us (myself included) are fed up with it, and there are entire neighborhoods that look like a block playground because of it. An architect with culture will not want to copy a variation of the “Bauhaus meets late 70s” era; personally, I would always prefer a suburban villa over a “suburban-anything” villa. This is probably one of the oldest aesthetic debates—whether having no taste should be considered a matter of taste.
What is built in excess today by the “last fools” may be technically correct to call a “hipped roof,” yet it borders on mislabeling to use the term for the attractive traditional stone-oven hipped roofs when referring to these modern microwave-style hipped roofs. They are not really roofs—they are more like lids.
A roof “belongs” to a roof framework, but in “modern” designs, the frame turns into a beanbag seat. The compressed pyramids made from trusses bear the same names mathematically, but the elegance of original hipped or pyramid roofs is lost.
That instant-design leaves a dull aftertaste is probably the nature of factory-produced architecture.
Traumhaus2020 schrieb:
On the other hand, a rather rectangular suburban villa with a bay window that softens the look a bit strikes me as timelessly beautiful. Well-proportioned designs don’t need platform shoes or push-up bras. Unfortunately, bay windows are often used as Disney-style elements. But I’m already glad when they are only paired with “or” rather than “and” with smoky window frames or diamond-patterned cladding. Thankfully, the carmine red “accent areas” have already gone out of fashion.
kaho674 schrieb:
Just look here for example: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/efh-172qm-fragen-zum-schnitt-Dachstuhl-und-Klinker.27213/
That is individual and I really like it. Indeed, that is a house I quite like among the “current offerings.” Unfortunately, the realization here also falls short of the original potential (of the “industrial look”), since steel frame windows would have been appropriate. PVC profiles—and I say this unusually not as an aluminum fan—dilute this concept toward “plastic.”
kaho674 schrieb:
I have a hipped roof myself—but I wouldn't build it the same way today. Why? Tell us more...
By the way, hipped roofs and “suburban villas” do not have to look tasteless—even without the architect doing elaborate design—our forum member @RobsonMKK has a successful example.
Traumhaus2020 schrieb:
Why exactly? Is a hipped roof so much more expensive than a gable roof? Are we talking 1.5 times or twice as expensive? A hipped roof has four hips, whereas a gable roof has gable ends where purlins can rest. With a “true” hipped roof (with a ridge, so not a pyramid roof), there is an added layer of complexity, but on a rectangular floor plan the cost factor is closer to 1.3. The factor of 2 can be reached (or even exceeded) if the floor plan has projections or recesses that cause the roof surface to fold and add more hips. With a truss “lid” rather than a proper roof, though, the extra cost from pyramid to gable is still roughly negligible.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Architects should buy their own plots for their dreams. If you’re good, you build what you like and the clients want it.
11ant schrieb:
Why? — tell me... With the experience I have now, I would first perfectly plan the rooms and then see how to best shape them into a beautiful house. So, adapt the roof and facade to the building volume. If I realize my plot plus desired rooms lean toward a Tuscan villa, I’d just make one of those. If it looks more Scandinavian, then that’s what it becomes. If it’s very symmetrical, I might go for something classical.
However, only as long as it fits reasonably well with the surroundings, and there are also no-go styles. If I were to start again, I would try to build a country house on my land, because I live in the countryside and am actually a bit of a cheesy old lady with two cats.
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