ᐅ Dissatisfied with the architect’s design plan

Here are the site plan and development plan (many regulations were later relaxed in the bylaws). It is a challenging building plot, and positioning the garage is not straightforward due to the required setback distances that must be observed.

Alex85 schrieb:
Split-level designs are something you have to want and like. You end up walking up and down stairs for every little thing, and kids feel a strong "evolutionary pressure" to learn how to climb stairs quickly, because nobody installs half a dozen safety gates—that would drive you crazy. We currently live in a split-level home, our kids are still young (not a single gate installed), and we would never want to build like this ourselves. Even to go to the bathroom, I have to climb five steps. Never again.

To be honest, I think the same. We have two babies, and I wouldn’t find a split-level home very practical. I also don’t really like the look, and the stairs would annoy me.

But I don’t like any of the solutions for building on a slope :-(

Ideally, I would prefer to ignore the slope when designing the house and instead accept higher costs for landscaping and exterior work. At least that’s my amateur idea. I thought we would have a sloping driveway, a level house, and then build a retaining wall at the back...

Oh, our plot is 297 or 35/5
So, the corner plot at the small cul-de-sac

Linda85 schrieb:


Personally, I would prefer not to take the slope of the site into account in the house design and instead accept higher costs for the exterior landscaping. At least, that's my layperson's idea. I was thinking we have an ascending driveway, a level house, and at the back we start with a retaining wall...

That would have been my preference as well. Is that feasible? I would rather accept having the living room on the upper floor and stepping out from there onto a raised terrace or something similar.

Linda85 schrieb:
Personally, I would prefer not to take the slope of the site into account at all in the house design and instead accept higher costs for the landscaping. At least, that’s my layperson’s idea. I was thinking we’d have a sloped driveway, a level house, and then retain the land at the back with a wall…

I can understand that, and if possible, it would usually be my preferred solution as well, provided the slope isn’t too steep. I’m also not a fan of split-level designs; I’ve never seen one in person and find it hard to picture. How steep is your slope exactly? Your site looks quite steep. Our building plot also has a slight slope; the difference in elevation across our 21 m (69 feet) wide lot is about 1.20 m (4 feet) (so here the slope runs from left to right along the street frontage, not from front to back like yours). We cut into the ground on one side and built up on the other, essentially ignoring the slope within the house itself. So far, everyone in our development — including those with a slope running along the depth of their lots like yours — has followed the solution you mentioned: a gently sloping driveway, a level house sitting above street level, and then adjusting the terrain behind the house with a retaining wall or something similar. What does your architect say about your preferred solution? If the slope is significantly steeper than ours, I imagine it might be more challenging. Have any neighbors already built? How have they dealt with the slope?