ᐅ Conversion of a Two-Family House into a Single-Family Home – Floor Plan?
Created on: 12 Jul 2021 11:18
S
stunningsteve
Hello everyone,
We have owned a typical two-family house from the 1970s for a few years now (a large apartment on the ground floor, a smaller granny flat on the upper floor), which we are currently converting into a single-family home. Until about a year ago, only the lower apartment was occupied, and the upper granny flat was vacant. Last year, we began the process of combining the two apartments by installing a new staircase and creating a large opening inside the building to connect them.
Now, we plan to gradually (but still fairly quickly within 1-2 years) redesign first the upper floor and later the ground floor so that the entire property can be used as a single-family home (which is currently difficult because there are two separate apartments with two living rooms, two kitchens, etc.). An energy retrofit will also be implemented as part of the renovation – but this is not the main focus here. My main concern is a practical layout optimization. The goal is not to carry out a full structural renovation, but we do plan several larger measures as needed to fulfill our key requirements.
Given the large available area including the extension (about 250 m² (2700 sq ft)), finding a practical layout is not easy. Additionally, the existing building volume and key elements (e.g., the staircases) set certain limits on the design. After many drafts and planning exercises, I now have a version that I would like to present for discussion here. I will try to answer questions regarding the remodeling as much as possible. I have omitted the basement floor plan for now as I fear it would make things too confusing.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size – 750 m² (8000 sq ft)
Number of floors – 1.5 stories
Roof style – gable roof
Client Requirements
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, and upper floor
Number of people, ages: 3 (soon 4), ages 37, 34, 2, 0
Office: one person working regularly from home
Guests per year: rare, possibly more as the children grow older
Open or closed architecture: open plan
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes, desired
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: not currently present; only if it fits in logically somewhere
Balcony, roof terrace: no; possibly feasible as part of a dormer but not essential
Garage, carport: two garages integrated into the basement
House Design
Designed by: mostly by ourselves, partially discussed with an architect and an energy consultant
What do you especially like? Large open living/dining area with kitchen island, big windows facing the terrace, separate master bedroom area on the ground floor
What do you dislike? The layout of the children’s rooms upstairs is a bit awkward (due to roof supports in the masonry), the laundry room in the basement means long distances, no pantry (but we managed so far without one), basement access is located in the living/dining area
Personal budget limit for renovation including fittings: €300,000 (including energy retrofit)
If you had to give up something, which details or additions could you do without?
- Dormer, walk-in closet
Why is the design the way it is? For example,
While the kids are still toddlers, we will probably use the planned office/guest room upstairs as our bedroom. In the medium term, we want to sleep downstairs and have the children upstairs. In the long term, when the children move out, the plan is to occupy only the ground floor in our older age.
I am attaching the existing floor plans, the version with changes, and the final version. Please let me know if anything is missing.
We have owned a typical two-family house from the 1970s for a few years now (a large apartment on the ground floor, a smaller granny flat on the upper floor), which we are currently converting into a single-family home. Until about a year ago, only the lower apartment was occupied, and the upper granny flat was vacant. Last year, we began the process of combining the two apartments by installing a new staircase and creating a large opening inside the building to connect them.
Now, we plan to gradually (but still fairly quickly within 1-2 years) redesign first the upper floor and later the ground floor so that the entire property can be used as a single-family home (which is currently difficult because there are two separate apartments with two living rooms, two kitchens, etc.). An energy retrofit will also be implemented as part of the renovation – but this is not the main focus here. My main concern is a practical layout optimization. The goal is not to carry out a full structural renovation, but we do plan several larger measures as needed to fulfill our key requirements.
Given the large available area including the extension (about 250 m² (2700 sq ft)), finding a practical layout is not easy. Additionally, the existing building volume and key elements (e.g., the staircases) set certain limits on the design. After many drafts and planning exercises, I now have a version that I would like to present for discussion here. I will try to answer questions regarding the remodeling as much as possible. I have omitted the basement floor plan for now as I fear it would make things too confusing.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size – 750 m² (8000 sq ft)
Number of floors – 1.5 stories
Roof style – gable roof
Client Requirements
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, and upper floor
Number of people, ages: 3 (soon 4), ages 37, 34, 2, 0
Office: one person working regularly from home
Guests per year: rare, possibly more as the children grow older
Open or closed architecture: open plan
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes, desired
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: not currently present; only if it fits in logically somewhere
Balcony, roof terrace: no; possibly feasible as part of a dormer but not essential
Garage, carport: two garages integrated into the basement
House Design
Designed by: mostly by ourselves, partially discussed with an architect and an energy consultant
What do you especially like? Large open living/dining area with kitchen island, big windows facing the terrace, separate master bedroom area on the ground floor
What do you dislike? The layout of the children’s rooms upstairs is a bit awkward (due to roof supports in the masonry), the laundry room in the basement means long distances, no pantry (but we managed so far without one), basement access is located in the living/dining area
Personal budget limit for renovation including fittings: €300,000 (including energy retrofit)
If you had to give up something, which details or additions could you do without?
- Dormer, walk-in closet
Why is the design the way it is? For example,
While the kids are still toddlers, we will probably use the planned office/guest room upstairs as our bedroom. In the medium term, we want to sleep downstairs and have the children upstairs. In the long term, when the children move out, the plan is to occupy only the ground floor in our older age.
I am attaching the existing floor plans, the version with changes, and the final version. Please let me know if anything is missing.
It doesn’t leave me speechless – that’s just how it is with the existing house. It seems to me like a fairly modern older house?!
I would slightly reduce the size of the kitchen and create a backup kitchen behind it, basically a huge pantry 😀
Could you please mark the support pillar up there? There should still be some more space to gain.
……
You could, of course, place the kitchen and dining area where you currently plan the living room, then divide the other part not horizontally, but vertically on the floor plan, with the bedroom area on the left side of the plan and a smaller living room where the dining table is now. But you’ve probably already gone through all the versions and know what advantages this current one offers, right?
I would slightly reduce the size of the kitchen and create a backup kitchen behind it, basically a huge pantry 😀
Could you please mark the support pillar up there? There should still be some more space to gain.
……
You could, of course, place the kitchen and dining area where you currently plan the living room, then divide the other part not horizontally, but vertically on the floor plan, with the bedroom area on the left side of the plan and a smaller living room where the dining table is now. But you’ve probably already gone through all the versions and know what advantages this current one offers, right?
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Myrna_Loy12 Jul 2021 17:45stunningsteve schrieb:
We had also discussed this; it is probably less complicated since the bathroom could remain in its current location. However, we find the layout as shown more balanced. And since the bathroom needs to be renovated anyway, we would relocate it at the same time.
Why? 😳People spend more time in the bathroom than in a walk-in closet. And a 2.50 m (8 feet) wide bathroom is quite narrow. Why give up a larger bathroom? Especially when you have to squeeze the shower awkwardly against the pillar. When entering the master area, you look straight into the walk-in closet. From the dining table, with the door open, you can see directly into the closet, which I don’t find very harmonious.
Also, as mentioned, two children's bedrooms of different sizes, with only one having a large window, doesn’t seem very fair to me. My brother had the better room. That was really frustrating and often caused arguments. We were next door to each other, and there were constant conflicts because one of us would always complain about the other’s noise. Having a room between us as a buffer would have been welcome.
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Myrna_Loy12 Jul 2021 17:52And the speechless comment refers to the walls that need to be removed, both inside and outside. A few steel beams are not enough to support the loads. The first step before playing around with the floor plan is to hire a structural engineer.
I would plan such a major conversion with an architect. What if they see much better options that aren’t obvious to a layperson? You really don’t know whether much better designs could emerge than what seems possible at first. Maybe they say: everything inside the walls can be removed except for one. And now you are planning to remove exactly that one wall and holding on to other walls, even though the whole thing could be done much better.
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hanghaus200012 Jul 2021 21:19stunningsteve schrieb:
We should be able to manage that. What exactly are you referring to?
Oh, is that so? My apologies! I marked demolition in red and new construction in yellow. If I have more time this evening, I will update the plans. From the outside on all sides. Inside, important elements like roof support posts that must remain in place.
You can save yourself the trouble of redrawing. The architect will handle that properly—hopefully even better. I’m not happy with the ground floor at all.
Can you sketch out the current status for us? "Last year, we started merging the two apartments by installing a new staircase and creating a large opening inside to connect them."
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stunningsteve12 Jul 2021 21:45hanghaus2000 schrieb:
From outside on all sides. From inside the important parts like roof supports that must remain in place. All right, thanks!
hanghaus2000 schrieb:
You can skip the work of redrawing. The architect will do that properly. Hopefully even better. I really don’t like the ground floor. Well, I hope so 😉 Of course, the architect also incorporates our wishes and is influenced by our preliminary discussions. What exactly don’t you like? And what would you do differently? Just curious.
hanghaus2000 schrieb:
Can you sketch the current status for us? "Last year we started merging and connected both apartments by installing a new staircase and making a large opening inside." The first two floor plans of the ground floor and upper floor show the current status. The new staircase leads from the upper floor into the entrance area of the ground floor. Previously, the wall in the entrance area was closed, and the access to the separate apartment on the upper floor was from outside.
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