ᐅ Design / Improvement of a Single-Family House 150-175 m² with Hipped Roof and Basement

Hello everyone,

I am currently planning my house and have received the first drafts. However, I would like to gather more opinions and ideas. Please share your feedback, suggestions, possibilities, and also any criticisms of the current design. I am open to everything.

THANK YOU =)

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 535m² (5756 ft²)
Slope: Flat
Site and floor area ratio: No specification
Building envelope, building line, and boundary:

- North (street): setback approximately 2m (6.5 ft)
- West: minimum setback 3m (10 ft)
- South: as much space as possible left free for the garden
- East: building allowed up to 1m (3 ft) from property line

Number of parking spaces: double garage plus parking space in front of the building
Number of floors: Basement, ground floor, upper floor
Roof type: Hip roof
Architectural style: Modern
Orientation: Open toward the south, closed toward the north (street)
Additional requirements:

- According to the municipality, the house should not align with the street building line but rather follow the typical orientation of the surrounding houses, either north-south or east-west.

- Kitchen and living room should be separately accessible from the hallway
- Ground floor terrace ideally faces southeast to enjoy the evening sun
- Access from garage into the house

Clients’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Modern, single-family house
Basement, floors: Basement yes, plus ground and upper floor
Space requirements on ground floor: Kitchen (with island) plus dining room, study, hallway, pantry, living room, guest toilet
Space requirements on upper floor: 2 children’s rooms (approx. 15m² (160 ft²) each), children’s bathroom, master bathroom, laundry room (washing machine, etc.), master bedroom with walk-in closet

Guest bedrooms per year: -
Number of dining seats: approx. 8
Fireplace: yes, through fireplace between kitchen and living room
Balcony, roof terrace: walkable terrace on the upper floor
Garage, carport: Double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: Utility garden
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons for preferences or exclusions

House draft
Who created the design: independent planner
What do you particularly like? Why?
Use of the plot, although there might be a better alternative

What do you not like? Why?
On the upper floor: Bathroom is not ideal because it is actually too large, and the space in the center of the room cannot be used. Perhaps a different layout would work better...

Price estimate according to architect/planner: -
Preferred heating system: Groundwater heat pump

Why is the design like this? Result of discussions and input from us and friends

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters? Separation of living room and kitchen/dining with access from the hallway, south-facing orientation

In general: The house must not be aligned parallel to the street, but it could be moved further north if it were slightly narrower and the garage a bit smaller. At the moment, it feels like half of your plot is taken up by the huge garage, driveway, and parking space, while the garden is just a very narrow strip. Good for the cars, not so good for you.

Hello Mottenhausen,

Mottenhausen schrieb:
In general: The house is not allowed to be parallel to the street, but it could be moved further north if it were a bit narrower and the garage somewhat smaller.

Yes, the house must not be parallel to the street because all houses in this area are aligned this way, and changing that would disrupt the local streetscape.

Mottenhausen schrieb:
At the moment, it feels like half of your plot is taken up by the huge garage, driveway, and parking space, while the garden is only a very narrow strip. Nice for the cars, bad for you.

Yes, that is currently not 100% ideal, but many different designs have not really helped us to create more usable space in the south or southwest.

Best regards, PitFlocke

What about building garages right on the property boundary? Would it be allowed, for example, to place them directly against the left-side boundary?

I also find the garage too large, especially the sharp angle on the north side, which would bother me. On the other hand, there is hardly a better way to use the space. Moving the garage further north would make it narrower.

- The windows on the front side of Bedroom 1 on the upper floor seem too large. They appear to take up about a third of the wall area.
- Having the dressing room as a walk-through space is rather suboptimal.
- The door between the living room and dining room might interfere with the door to the hallway.
- I wouldn’t be very keen on having direct access from the kitchen to the study.
- The staircase is positioned far to the side. For such a long house (15m (50 feet)), I would try to place it more centrally.
- Is the door in the kitchen really necessary?
- It might also be worth considering building the upper floor over the garage and then designing the house in a more compact L-shape instead of such a long layout. This would include an integrated garage.

sco0ter schrieb:

Moving the garage further north would make it narrower.

I wanted to move it further west up to the boundary first, and then shift it north. That way, the cars can park in front, and the tip could possibly be straightened.