Good morning,
we plan to build on a south-facing slope. The plot offers an unobstructed long-distance view. Here is a design from the architect, which is however too large/too expensive (600,000 €) and therefore needs to be scaled down. I would like to hear your general opinion about it. Note: There is space in the bedroom upstairs to also place a toddler or baby bed, which will probably be necessary at first.
Size of the plot: 850 sqm (9,150 sq ft) on a slope
Number of floors: Basement, ground floor, attic
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: modern, simple "barn house"
Orientation: South (plans are oriented to the north)
Number of occupants, age: 2 x 30 years old, two toddlers
Room requirements on ground and upper floors
Office: home office
Guest stays per year: about 1 night per month on average
Open or closed architecture: very open and modern desired
Number of seats at dining table: 8 with kitchen island, as we like to cook and sit with friends
Fireplace, small loggia at the bedroom upstairs, and carport desired
Planning by: architectural firm
What do you especially like? Cozy seating area and the openness created by the high ceiling in the ground floor, the solution in the bedroom to have a phenomenal view and separate the dressing area from the bedroom, the seat window in the living room
What do you not like? We are unsure about the exterior view. It is supposed to be plastered, but possibly fully gray or partly clad with wood.
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: 600,000 € including everything (except the plot, which is ours)
Personal budget limit for house, including fittings: 500,000 €
Preferred heating system: geothermal heat pump or simply gas
The house will be made smaller by removing the corridor above in the living room, making the house about 1.5 m (5 feet) narrower. In the basement, the entrance vestibule will be cut off and the terrace will no longer be on the basement but directly on the earth.
My questions to you:
Do you have further ideas for savings concerning the floor plan?
Any general ideas about the floor plan type, what would you change?
The picture shows the long-distance view from the neighbor's property.
we plan to build on a south-facing slope. The plot offers an unobstructed long-distance view. Here is a design from the architect, which is however too large/too expensive (600,000 €) and therefore needs to be scaled down. I would like to hear your general opinion about it. Note: There is space in the bedroom upstairs to also place a toddler or baby bed, which will probably be necessary at first.
Size of the plot: 850 sqm (9,150 sq ft) on a slope
Number of floors: Basement, ground floor, attic
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: modern, simple "barn house"
Orientation: South (plans are oriented to the north)
Number of occupants, age: 2 x 30 years old, two toddlers
Room requirements on ground and upper floors
Office: home office
Guest stays per year: about 1 night per month on average
Open or closed architecture: very open and modern desired
Number of seats at dining table: 8 with kitchen island, as we like to cook and sit with friends
Fireplace, small loggia at the bedroom upstairs, and carport desired
Planning by: architectural firm
What do you especially like? Cozy seating area and the openness created by the high ceiling in the ground floor, the solution in the bedroom to have a phenomenal view and separate the dressing area from the bedroom, the seat window in the living room
What do you not like? We are unsure about the exterior view. It is supposed to be plastered, but possibly fully gray or partly clad with wood.
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: 600,000 € including everything (except the plot, which is ours)
Personal budget limit for house, including fittings: 500,000 €
Preferred heating system: geothermal heat pump or simply gas
The house will be made smaller by removing the corridor above in the living room, making the house about 1.5 m (5 feet) narrower. In the basement, the entrance vestibule will be cut off and the terrace will no longer be on the basement but directly on the earth.
My questions to you:
Do you have further ideas for savings concerning the floor plan?
Any general ideas about the floor plan type, what would you change?
The picture shows the long-distance view from the neighbor's property.
K
Karlstraße30 Jun 2017 10:03Hello everyone,
Thank you very much for the feedback! For better understanding, I plan to upload the exterior views we are still waiting on in two weeks. The house will be a dark gray/black color.
The living floor is on the upper floor, as we live on a south-facing slope with a very nice view and access to the terrace (on the west side) and the garden to the north (terrace is covered). So, there are two terraces.
We no longer have dormers, only several skylights. The gallery will be accessible by a ladder, although it is still unclear whether it really overhangs like that or basically starts at the kitchen cabinets and therefore can only be accessed via the master bathroom.
The door to the bedroom is still missing; we noticed that during the review. Otherwise, it really doesn’t work.
The roof over the bedroom will be a shed roof, so basically a trapezoidal shape at the end.
The closet niche currently assigned to the bathroom will be reassigned to the kitchen and used for storing the vacuum cleaner/mop. The rest will be in the utility room. And that brings us to an open question on our side:
The bathroom in the basement (rear is the hillside, so the cellar, front south side has a window) should have natural daylight, and ideally the utility/technical room should have daylight as well. We want to use the space under the stairs with a built-in cabinet made by a carpenter. We just can’t get used to a bathroom without natural daylight or only with a small cellar window. An alternative would be a light well toward the east, although that comes with higher costs again. Does anyone have any suggestions?
@ Solveigh: How far along are you? I really liked your design back then!!
Thank you very much for the feedback! For better understanding, I plan to upload the exterior views we are still waiting on in two weeks. The house will be a dark gray/black color.
The living floor is on the upper floor, as we live on a south-facing slope with a very nice view and access to the terrace (on the west side) and the garden to the north (terrace is covered). So, there are two terraces.
We no longer have dormers, only several skylights. The gallery will be accessible by a ladder, although it is still unclear whether it really overhangs like that or basically starts at the kitchen cabinets and therefore can only be accessed via the master bathroom.
The door to the bedroom is still missing; we noticed that during the review. Otherwise, it really doesn’t work.
The roof over the bedroom will be a shed roof, so basically a trapezoidal shape at the end.
The closet niche currently assigned to the bathroom will be reassigned to the kitchen and used for storing the vacuum cleaner/mop. The rest will be in the utility room. And that brings us to an open question on our side:
The bathroom in the basement (rear is the hillside, so the cellar, front south side has a window) should have natural daylight, and ideally the utility/technical room should have daylight as well. We want to use the space under the stairs with a built-in cabinet made by a carpenter. We just can’t get used to a bathroom without natural daylight or only with a small cellar window. An alternative would be a light well toward the east, although that comes with higher costs again. Does anyone have any suggestions?
@ Solveigh: How far along are you? I really liked your design back then!!
K
Karlstraße30 Jun 2017 10:05kaho674 schrieb:
I have to admit, I find the plan hard to read. What is that wall on the left side in the basement? What is the purpose of the mezzanine? Also, I’m really not a fan of these narrow corridors. They remind me of an office building. Naturally, this results in a lot of "walking area," which all has to be paid for. The living space is nicely large but somewhat impractical. Where do you keep the vacuum cleaner and similar items? And where do you store the beverage crates? Overall, it just seems rather flashy and representative, no offense intended. So it looks nice but without staff to clean, carry groceries into the kitchen, clean windows, do laundry, etc., I would find it too exhausting.We only ever have one crate of drinks, as we drink tap water. But that will have its place in the kitchen. The wall in the basement is a support; there will be a covered walkway under the terrace leading to the house (between the basement exterior wall and the concrete wall). I will upload a cross-section drawing in the next few days, which might make it clearer.
Why flashy? It is a fairly simple house (at least in my opinion) – so I’m very interested to hear why it feels that way to you.
Karlstraße schrieb:
We only ever have one crate of drinks, we drink tap water. But there will be space for it in the kitchen. Ah, okay. Well, if that works for you. We have a pantry of just under 5m² (54 ft²). It’s full. First, there’s the waste sorting with four bins (yellow bag recycling, paper, residual waste, glass), then a tall cabinet with food supplies, cat canned food – okay, not everyone has that – a wine rack, and of course the famous drink crates – my husband has started drinking beer occasionally – well, that’s not available from the tap here yet. (THANK GOODNESS!!!)
Karlstraße schrieb:
Why showy? It’s a fairly simply designed house (at least that’s my impression) – so I’m really interested why it comes across to you that way. Maybe it’s just an illusion, that’s possible. Huge glass fronts are naturally something special at first. You only have one side with light – of course. But that also means everything is visible – you’re not shy to show everything – to present it. If functionality has to give way to beauty, everyone immediately wonders what the reason is. Showing off? But as I said, it might be a completely wrong impression.
Over 14m (46 ft) wide on the facade isn’t exactly subtle either. That’s perfectly logical – the depth is missing for that. But when you stand in front of it, you don’t notice that. At first, you’re just amazed by the huge “movie screen.” The exterior design always matters too. How does the house fit into the neighboring buildings and the landscape? You’re not exactly planning it small there either, right?
Okay, I deliberately exaggerated to make the point – so don’t be upset.
Thanks for asking, we are just about to submit the building permit / planning application. I am still struggling with the side terrace on the living floor in our design and am glad to see you are planning something similar, so we are not entirely alone.
Personally, I don’t find your house flashy, even if that may have been an exaggerated description. On the contrary, your house adapts well to the site conditions, which unfortunately a sloped plot always brings. As I have often seen in the forum, you can’t simply place a standard floor plan on a slope.
The ladder to the mezzanine wouldn’t be my choice, as I wouldn’t want to climb it often. I actually preferred your first design.
Also, I like the separation of the bedrooms. I understand your reasons for reducing the building volume to save costs.
Do you have a truss structure in the open space above the living area? That probably explains the 3.20m (10.5 feet) grid spacing?
Personally, I don’t find your house flashy, even if that may have been an exaggerated description. On the contrary, your house adapts well to the site conditions, which unfortunately a sloped plot always brings. As I have often seen in the forum, you can’t simply place a standard floor plan on a slope.
The ladder to the mezzanine wouldn’t be my choice, as I wouldn’t want to climb it often. I actually preferred your first design.
Also, I like the separation of the bedrooms. I understand your reasons for reducing the building volume to save costs.
Do you have a truss structure in the open space above the living area? That probably explains the 3.20m (10.5 feet) grid spacing?
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