ᐅ Corner Lot Townhouse 150 sqm + Conservatory, East-West Orientation

Created on: 15 Nov 2021 04:12
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Ella123
Hello,
we are planning to build a city villa of about 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft) plus a 12 sqm (130 sq ft) conservatory on an east-west oriented plot. Unfortunately, the purchase of the plot was delayed by a full year, which has caused our construction costs for the same scope of work to increase significantly. I hope you might be able to help us save a few square meters on the floor plan. Another option would be to build a carport instead of a solid garage, but then we would lose a storage room. A further option would be to do without the conservatory entirely, but I would regret that later because, without meaning to offend anyone, I am not a fan of a modern "city villa cube" look and prefer a more classic style. According to the construction company, reducing the size of the conservatory would only lead to higher costs per square meter, so that is not feasible.
I hope you can help.
Many thanks!

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 705 sqm (7,590 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor space ratio: 0.4
Plot ratio: II
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 12 m x 33 m (39 ft x 108 ft)
Edge development: possible on the western street side and eastern neighboring plot
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 2 full floors
Roof type: hipped roof (max 25° pitch)
Style: classic
Orientation: east-west
Maximum heights / limits:
Other requirements:

Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: city villa with hipped roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, 2 children (3 years)
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: ground floor – 80 sqm (860 sq ft), upper floor – 60 sqm (645 sq ft)
Office, family use or home office: 1 office / guest room
Number of overnight guests per year: 1-2 (possible in office)
Open or closed architecture: open layout
Conservative or modern style: conservative
Open kitchen with island: closed kitchen-dining room
Number of dining seats: 4
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: 1 single garage with storage room
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are wanted or not: Garden with terrace in the northeast, as better privacy from the two adjoining streets (to the south and west) and to avoid higher connection costs since the house connections are on the west side

House Design
Who planned it: architect provided by construction company
What do you particularly like? Why? Closed kitchen and terrace to the northeast garden (due to privacy), entrance on the west side, overall room layout on the upper floor
What do you not like? Why? Difficult building window with street exposure, so a compromise on the location of the bathroom and office windows on the ground floor to maintain a symmetrical exterior appearance. Also, about 5 sqm (54 sq ft) smaller would help reduce costs, but the architect says smaller is not possible because of the staircase (note the floor height requiring 16 steps). Floor-to-ceiling window in the living room is unnecessary and better replaced by a double terrace door from the kitchen and a double instead of single door between kitchen and living room.
Cost estimate according to the architect/planner: 400,000 including conservatory, solid garage, and special features
Personal budget limit for house including features: 400,000
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump

If you have to give up something, which details / expansions
- can you give up: carport instead of solid garage, walk-in closets in bedroom and children’s rooms
- cannot give up: 2 children’s rooms, office on ground floor, closed kitchen

Why does the design look like it does now?
We have been planning with the architect for almost a year (with breaks of several months because the plot was only reserved and could only be purchased recently). The delay in purchasing the plot was not clear at the beginning and was repeatedly postponed by the city. Now it is one year later, and the construction company charges significantly more for the same offer due to the 1-year delay. We now hope to save some floor space because we have no financial buffer left.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Can we save about 5 sqm (54 sq ft) on the floor plan (excluding garage and conservatory) without giving up the conservatory? I know the conservatory is a luxury, but I’ve always dreamed of it and would prefer not to let that dream go. To avoid making the upper floor rooms too small, I would like to remove the walk-in closets.

Thank you very much in advance for your help and suggestions!

Two-story house with gable roof, garage on left, window fronts; southeast and northeast.


Floor plan of house with garage, kitchen, living room, office and dining area, dimensions


Upper floor plan: bedroom, two children’s rooms, walk-in closets, bathroom, gallery, stairs.


Site plan of building plot with yellow marked boundaries and blue boundary lines
11ant15 Nov 2021 16:05
What the development plan hardly requires is the square shape of the floor plan and the symmetrically arranged windows. Twin girls were the last thing I would have guessed; I would have assumed another single child and was about to point out that child number 2 might feel like an unwanted child, given how their room is designed as a leftover when comparing the two children’s rooms. The most feasible (in terms of being “minimally invasive”) solution to save about 5 square meters (54 square feet) on the price would be to reduce the floor plan by 25 centimeters (10 inches) in both dimensions, specifically at the bottom and the right side of the plan.
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H
hampshire
15 Nov 2021 23:18
Ella123 schrieb:

Therefore, a compromise regarding the location of the bathroom and office windows on the ground floor to maintain a symmetrical exterior appearance.

If in doubt, I would prioritize "inside over outside."
Ella123 schrieb:

You could live without: carport instead of a solid garage, walk-in closets in the master bedroom and kids’ rooms.

Good list to cross off, but giving up walk-in closets (which I find amusing for the twins) won’t save you much.
Ella123 schrieb:

We have the price per square meter from the construction company and could manage well again with these savings.

That’s too rough and incorrectly calculated because the price per square meter includes all the technical installations and fittings, which you are not actually reducing.

If you decide to build the conservatory or formal dining area later, you will still hit your savings target and have a great family dining space. For large gatherings, it will simply be either summer (outdoors) or you improvise.
F
fab101
16 Nov 2021 05:36
If the limit remains 400,000€ (approximately 400,000 USD), then at current prices we are looking at a total of about 133sqm (400,000€ / 3,000€ per sqm). That is almost 10sqm less on each floor.

If that reduction is too much, in my opinion the only option left is to do a lot of the work yourself in order to lower the price per sqm.

Or, of course, increase the budget...
Y
Ysop***
16 Nov 2021 06:34
Where is the building site located? Prices can vary significantly depending on the region.