ᐅ Are Additional Costs for Building on a Sloped Plot Predictable?

If you plan the building structure correctly and position it well on the site, you can save yourself a lot of slope stabilization work. For example, my double garage also functions as a 6m (20 feet) retaining wall.

Otherwise, have the planner include the retaining walls on the hillside in the design and, if you are building with a general contractor, get a price estimate for these in advance.

Zaba12 schrieb:

I also assume it’s at least one full story. With a sufficient budget, all of this is feasible. I wouldn’t build here without a basement. Where is the terrace supposed to be? If it’s facing the street, then a daylight basement would make sense. If it’s meant to face the field, you’ll need quite a few L-shaped retaining walls or something similar to hold back the soil pressing from above.

I don’t see anything that could be leveled toward the street. It’s more likely that you’ll build into the slope, expose the basement, and create an elevated terrace overlooking the street.

It seems that after just 10–15 meters you are about 1.5 meters (5 feet) higher than the street—is that correct? The plot looks to be around 35 meters (115 feet) deep if I judge by the neighbor’s fence.

EDIT: I wouldn’t want to build something like this with a general contractor who only does standard construction or has never worked on sloped lots.

You have accurately identified the depth. It is approximately 21 meters (70 feet) wide and 35 meters (115 feet) deep!

BauherrFranken schrieb:

You correctly identified the depth. It is approximately 21 meters (70 feet) wide and 35 meters (115 feet) deep!

With 21 meters (70 feet), I would perhaps avoid placing the garage directly on the property line and instead partially integrate the garage into the house, using the garage roof as a terrace. Usually, having the garage on the boundary is not legally permitted. Maybe also consider a corner design facing southwest. Consult an architect. It’s a very nice plot where you can create something truly beautiful.

I think it’s quite manageable. On our south-facing slope, there is a 3m (10 feet) height difference over a length of 10m (33 feet). However, we—or rather the landscape gardener—significantly underestimated the costs.
Good planning is essential. You can usually spread the excavation material across the property. If necessary, a neighbor might also need some soil. In that case, you would essentially only have the excavation work on the property itself. Transport and disposal costs could then be avoided. Do you already have ideas regarding one or more terraces? How should the transitions be designed (natural slopes, L-shaped retaining walls, gabions, natural stone walls, etc.)? There is also potential for doing some of the work yourself.

So, I wouldn’t be generally discouraged by the property. From an energy perspective, a south-facing slope is ideal.

What is the building envelope/planning boundary? Do you want to build as close to the street as possible, or rather as far away as feasible?

The neighbor has basically solved it like this (I cropped the photo for privacy reasons). It’s actually not a bad solution. The house is then positioned relatively high up. I could imagine something similar for our own project. However, at the moment we don’t have any concrete ideas yet, as we have only just discovered the plot.

The building envelope seems to be located quite far back. The neighbors mentioned that the ground is probably quite rocky. They also had issues with groundwater runoff on the slope. In any case, a lot of effort has apparently gone into retaining walls. I’m torn about it.