ᐅ Floor plan for a 160 sqm urban villa – Requesting advice!
Created on: 28 Jan 2019 09:23
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Bauherrin92
Hello everyone,
we are planning to build an urban villa with 160 sqm (1720 sq ft) plus a basement in rural Bavaria. Since we are now in the crucial phase of floor plan design, we would really appreciate your opinions and suggestions for improvements.
The following issues concern us the most:
1. Arrangement of the house and garage on the plot: The garage has been deliberately placed on the west side to create distance from the neighbor. To catch the evening sun, the house has been set back. However, I wonder if this looks "good," as I have never seen such an arrangement before. We are also undecided whether the garage should be detached or attached to the house (possibly with access through the pantry?). On the plans, the garage is at the neighbor’s boundary. There is currently no house there.
2. The cloakroom and dressing room seem too small to comfortably place proper wardrobes and move around freely.
3. In general, I feel the overall design could still be improved, including the arrangement of windows.
Here is the questionnaire:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 800 sqm (8,600 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: 0.35
Floor space index: 0.7
Building window, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) to the street
Edge development: garage yes
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: 2
Roof style: open construction
Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa, 2 full storeys, hipped roof
Basement, storeys: basement, ground floor, first floor
Number of people, age: two adults, schoolchild, expecting a baby
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: three bedrooms, spacious living-dining area, separate cloakroom, shower toilet on the ground floor
Office: none
Guest bedrooms per year: none
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 4–10 (when guests visit)
Fireplace: yes
Garage, carport: prefabricated double garage
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be included:
- Cloakroom in a niche
- Shower toilet on the ground floor, later for the teenage daughter
- Large children’s rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the garden
- Dressing room in the master bedroom
- Pantry for yellow bags (recycling waste bags), vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies, pasta stock, etc.
House design
Who made the plan: planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Basement: fine as is
- Ground floor: large pantry, L-shaped kitchen/living/dining area
- Upper floor: large children’s rooms
What don’t you like? Why?
- Ground floor: layout of toilet and cloakroom
- Upper floor: dressing room and bathroom possibly too small
- detached garage
Preferred heating technology: undecided so far
If you had to give up something, which details/upgrades would you skip?
- Could give up: access from garage into the house
- Could not do without: pantry, dressing room, cloakroom
Why has the design turned out as it is now? Our wishes were implemented by the planner
We look forward to your advice!!!
P.S.: The red circle is supposed to indicate north, sorry, it couldn’t be done otherwise!
we are planning to build an urban villa with 160 sqm (1720 sq ft) plus a basement in rural Bavaria. Since we are now in the crucial phase of floor plan design, we would really appreciate your opinions and suggestions for improvements.
The following issues concern us the most:
1. Arrangement of the house and garage on the plot: The garage has been deliberately placed on the west side to create distance from the neighbor. To catch the evening sun, the house has been set back. However, I wonder if this looks "good," as I have never seen such an arrangement before. We are also undecided whether the garage should be detached or attached to the house (possibly with access through the pantry?). On the plans, the garage is at the neighbor’s boundary. There is currently no house there.
2. The cloakroom and dressing room seem too small to comfortably place proper wardrobes and move around freely.
3. In general, I feel the overall design could still be improved, including the arrangement of windows.
Here is the questionnaire:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 800 sqm (8,600 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: 0.35
Floor space index: 0.7
Building window, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) to the street
Edge development: garage yes
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: 2
Roof style: open construction
Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa, 2 full storeys, hipped roof
Basement, storeys: basement, ground floor, first floor
Number of people, age: two adults, schoolchild, expecting a baby
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: three bedrooms, spacious living-dining area, separate cloakroom, shower toilet on the ground floor
Office: none
Guest bedrooms per year: none
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 4–10 (when guests visit)
Fireplace: yes
Garage, carport: prefabricated double garage
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be included:
- Cloakroom in a niche
- Shower toilet on the ground floor, later for the teenage daughter
- Large children’s rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the garden
- Dressing room in the master bedroom
- Pantry for yellow bags (recycling waste bags), vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies, pasta stock, etc.
House design
Who made the plan: planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Basement: fine as is
- Ground floor: large pantry, L-shaped kitchen/living/dining area
- Upper floor: large children’s rooms
What don’t you like? Why?
- Ground floor: layout of toilet and cloakroom
- Upper floor: dressing room and bathroom possibly too small
- detached garage
Preferred heating technology: undecided so far
If you had to give up something, which details/upgrades would you skip?
- Could give up: access from garage into the house
- Could not do without: pantry, dressing room, cloakroom
Why has the design turned out as it is now? Our wishes were implemented by the planner
We look forward to your advice!!!
P.S.: The red circle is supposed to indicate north, sorry, it couldn’t be done otherwise!
Bauherrin92 schrieb:
@face26
Regarding the positioning of the house, nothing has been discussed here yet, except for the question of whether the driveway can be accessed from the northeast, which I have denied. Or what do you mean by positioning?
At the model home park in Günzburg, the 12sqm (130 sq ft) bedrooms were enough for us, in case you’re interested. As I said, there only needs to be a bed in the room.
Maybe I gave the wrong impression, I am very open to your criticisms and would naturally improve the floor plan accordingly. I only state my opinion when I say: we want a small bedroom, the pantry is big enough, etc. And I can say that because, as mentioned, everything was measured and tested.
And how to better divide the 160sqm (1,722 sq ft)... that’s why I’m here.
@Zaba12
We have to shovel snow on the walkway on the east side.
At first, our floor plan was like you suggested: living room and kitchen swapped. But we had it changed because neither of us cooks much; I just cook something quick once a day, otherwise we’re all in the living room. I also think it’s more practical that way, for example, when I’m ironing in the living room and the kids are playing on the terrace. Just my opinion: If the staircase isn’t going to be changed, then the bathroom won’t be any bigger either. In other words, no T-shaped bathroom. You could still swap the master bedroom with one of the children’s rooms, but that’s about it.
And the entrance hall downstairs is still a mess (well, that’s a matter of taste, but wasting over 15sqm (160 sq ft) on secondary living space is silly). But you can’t really fix that either because many things are so set in stone!
Is Katja on vacation? She’s always the first to come up with better ideas!
EDIT: Have you considered different dimensions for the exterior walls?
My point was simply that even a plot of land that initially seems straightforward can present certain challenges regarding the positioning of the building. This is precisely where a general contractor who applies a standard design with only minor adjustments to the site (resulting in, for example, a view of the garage wall from the kitchen window) differs from a planner (who can also be a general contractor) or an architect who harmoniously fits the building structure and floor plan to the plot.
It’s not always as simple as one might think.
It’s not always as simple as one might think.
Zaba12 schrieb:
Is Katja on vacation? She’s usually the first to come up with better ideas!I’m sick. *cough* Besides, I already mentioned that the site plan has to be finalized first.
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Bauherrin9228 Jan 2019 14:38@face26
I understand your views and share this opinion, but we will definitely build with this main contractor. The floor plan isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. So I’m optimistic that the few issues bothering me can still be resolved.
@Zaba12
Improving the floor plan without moving the staircase—and potentially negatively affecting one of the floors—is indeed difficult.
What’s the benefit of thinner exterior walls?
@kaho674
First of all, get well soon!
The site plan is fixed. Access is only possible from the north and south (though south is less likely). On the east side, the 3m (10 feet) building setback must be respected, including for garages. That’s why the garage is located on the west side, to maintain distance from the neighbor.
We don’t have the exact dimensions yet, but it should be about 21m x 38m (69 feet x 125 feet). 21m (69 feet) wide minus the 3m (10 feet) setback leaves 18m (59 feet) for the house (10.59m / 35 feet) and garage (6m / 20 feet) up to the neighboring boundary on the west side.
I understand your views and share this opinion, but we will definitely build with this main contractor. The floor plan isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. So I’m optimistic that the few issues bothering me can still be resolved.
@Zaba12
Improving the floor plan without moving the staircase—and potentially negatively affecting one of the floors—is indeed difficult.
What’s the benefit of thinner exterior walls?
@kaho674
First of all, get well soon!
The site plan is fixed. Access is only possible from the north and south (though south is less likely). On the east side, the 3m (10 feet) building setback must be respected, including for garages. That’s why the garage is located on the west side, to maintain distance from the neighbor.
We don’t have the exact dimensions yet, but it should be about 21m x 38m (69 feet x 125 feet). 21m (69 feet) wide minus the 3m (10 feet) setback leaves 18m (59 feet) for the house (10.59m / 35 feet) and garage (6m / 20 feet) up to the neighboring boundary on the west side.
Bauherrin92 schrieb:
I understand your views and share this opinion, but we will definitely be building with this general contractor.You actually can. Designing with an independent architect and building with the same general contractor are not mutually exclusive; rather, they complement each other.
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