ᐅ Single-family house design with garage/carport – request for feedback
Created on: 16 Apr 2015 14:06
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elVincentE
elVincent16 Apr 2015 14:06Hello,
I have been following the forum for a while and now want to become active myself. My wife (29) and I (32) have reserved a plot of land for which we have created a first draft to check if our ideas are feasible on this site. We have already gone into great detail, so by now there is an almost finished plan. I would like to present this today and ask for your evaluation/critique. Please feel free to be brutally honest ;-)
First, the list of questions:
Development plan/restrictions: Everything except flat roofs is allowed, max. building height 9.0m (30 feet), two stories, site coverage ratio 0.4, floor area ratio 0.6, 2 parking spaces, no requirement for ridge direction, border development with garage possible, building permit inquiry has already been submitted and approved positively.
Plot size: 830m² (8,930 sq ft), completely flat
Owners’ requirements:
Style, roof type, building type: somewhat modern look, gable roof (15°), single-family house with office (permanent home office)
Basement, floors: usable basement under main building, 2 full floors
Number of people, age: currently 2 people, 29 and 32 years old, two more planned :-)
Space requirements on ground and upper floor: approx. 160-180 m² (1,720-1,940 sq ft)
Office: home office
Overnight guests per year: about 5
Open or closed architecture: open style
Conservative or modern construction:
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: permanently four, option to expand to 10-12
Balcony, roof terrace: no balcony, possibly the flat roof annex could be used as a roof terrace
Garage, carport: double garage
House design:
Who created the plan: self-drawn; the basic requirements were discussed with a friend who is an architect (though she does not have much experience with single-family houses yet!)
What do you like most? Exterior views, bright office with garden view
What do you dislike? Rooms on the upper floor are somewhat oversized
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: –
Personal budget limit for house including features: €330,000
Preferred heating system: wood pellets (condensing technology), underfloor heating
I hope the design is clear in all aspects. I am a mechanical engineer and created the entire design with SolidWorks, which is certainly not the standard software for this purpose. But in return, you get everything in 3D and nicely colored :-)
The main problem I currently see with the design is that because a certain amount of space program is assigned to the ground floor, the footprint becomes so large that the upper floor and basement end up hopelessly oversized. Perhaps the overall length could be slightly reduced by enlarging the annex (the guest room would then shift further into the office cube). But maybe a completely new arrangement would also be sensible.
A quick note on our life situation: I work for a small engineering office where everyone works full-time from home for flexibility reasons. Therefore, the boundary between living and working sometimes blurs for me. So I need a room where I am sufficiently secluded to have peace and quiet, but still close enough to participate in family life.
We want to have two children, but they should only be born after the homebuilding project is completed. The planned construction start is mid-2016.
If anything is unclear or if information is missing, please just ask. I look forward to criticism and hopefully a pleasant discussion. When you create the design yourself, there are certainly things you don’t notice because you can’t see the forest for the trees.
I have been following the forum for a while and now want to become active myself. My wife (29) and I (32) have reserved a plot of land for which we have created a first draft to check if our ideas are feasible on this site. We have already gone into great detail, so by now there is an almost finished plan. I would like to present this today and ask for your evaluation/critique. Please feel free to be brutally honest ;-)
First, the list of questions:
Development plan/restrictions: Everything except flat roofs is allowed, max. building height 9.0m (30 feet), two stories, site coverage ratio 0.4, floor area ratio 0.6, 2 parking spaces, no requirement for ridge direction, border development with garage possible, building permit inquiry has already been submitted and approved positively.
Plot size: 830m² (8,930 sq ft), completely flat
Owners’ requirements:
Style, roof type, building type: somewhat modern look, gable roof (15°), single-family house with office (permanent home office)
Basement, floors: usable basement under main building, 2 full floors
Number of people, age: currently 2 people, 29 and 32 years old, two more planned :-)
Space requirements on ground and upper floor: approx. 160-180 m² (1,720-1,940 sq ft)
Office: home office
Overnight guests per year: about 5
Open or closed architecture: open style
Conservative or modern construction:
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: permanently four, option to expand to 10-12
Balcony, roof terrace: no balcony, possibly the flat roof annex could be used as a roof terrace
Garage, carport: double garage
House design:
Who created the plan: self-drawn; the basic requirements were discussed with a friend who is an architect (though she does not have much experience with single-family houses yet!)
What do you like most? Exterior views, bright office with garden view
What do you dislike? Rooms on the upper floor are somewhat oversized
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: –
Personal budget limit for house including features: €330,000
Preferred heating system: wood pellets (condensing technology), underfloor heating
I hope the design is clear in all aspects. I am a mechanical engineer and created the entire design with SolidWorks, which is certainly not the standard software for this purpose. But in return, you get everything in 3D and nicely colored :-)
The main problem I currently see with the design is that because a certain amount of space program is assigned to the ground floor, the footprint becomes so large that the upper floor and basement end up hopelessly oversized. Perhaps the overall length could be slightly reduced by enlarging the annex (the guest room would then shift further into the office cube). But maybe a completely new arrangement would also be sensible.
A quick note on our life situation: I work for a small engineering office where everyone works full-time from home for flexibility reasons. Therefore, the boundary between living and working sometimes blurs for me. So I need a room where I am sufficiently secluded to have peace and quiet, but still close enough to participate in family life.
We want to have two children, but they should only be born after the homebuilding project is completed. The planned construction start is mid-2016.
If anything is unclear or if information is missing, please just ask. I look forward to criticism and hopefully a pleasant discussion. When you create the design yourself, there are certainly things you don’t notice because you can’t see the forest for the trees.
elVincent schrieb:
We have already gone into great detail, so that there is now an almost finished design.I hope not.... 🙂
Well, I'll start cautiously. At first, without looking at the elevations, I had to search for a while just to find the front door. I assume it’s “top right”?
You plan to build a large two-story house and yet the entrance is hidden?
To put it briefly, the ground floor layout feels to me like beads on a string; in other words, the desired rooms were just added one after another (which explains this dark corridor in the middle) until everything was checked off.
There is plenty of space, but the arrangement isn’t very practical. For example, the distance from the garage/carport to the kitchen is quite long, and you have to go through four doors to reach the pantry.
Upstairs there are fairly large children’s bedrooms, but in return a narrow, corridor-like hallway. I would suggest enlarging the hallway and redesigning the master bedroom. Your walk-in closet is also not wide enough. If there are wardrobes on both sides, the total width should be around 2.30–2.40 m (7.5–7.9 feet).
T
toxicmolotof16 Apr 2015 15:09I seriously wonder where the open-plan design actually begins and where the closed layout ends. Apart from the open living-dining-kitchen area, the design is very closed off, narrow, and not appealing to me.
Are the 330,000 EUR only the direct construction costs plus additional building-related expenses? Then it might be reasonable. Otherwise, probably not, especially not including a basement.
Are the 330,000 EUR only the direct construction costs plus additional building-related expenses? Then it might be reasonable. Otherwise, probably not, especially not including a basement.
E
elVincent16 Apr 2015 16:03Thank you for the initial feedback.
Regarding the hidden entrance: The idea of placing the front door on the side is based on the thought that the path from the garage to the house would be shorter since the garage is located a bit further away compared to the front edge of the vestibule, so you wouldn’t have to walk around the vestibule. It is not meant to be deliberately hidden and can certainly be solved differently.
There is definitely room for improvement in the ground floor layout. The hallway exists because I believe it is structurally advantageous to have a load-bearing wall running through the center. This inevitably results in a division of the floor plan with this hallway. To align walls vertically between floors, the upper floor is designed similarly (even though there is plenty of space to arrange it differently).
Basically, I want the office to be separated at least to the extent that you don’t have to go through any living spaces to get there. If there is no direct connection from the entrance area of the house, some kind of hallway is necessary, right?
The four doors on the way to the pantry might be reduced to three if the vestibule is not separated by a wall with a door/window. Would it still function effectively as a vestibule then? The required width adjustment for the dressing room is noted.
There seems to be a misunderstanding regarding the open-plan concept: I was only referring to an open kitchen/living/dining area and apologize for any confusion. We do not want a gallery or similar open feature, so it will probably be more of a closed layout.
The 330,000 EUR is our current estimate for the available budget including the basement. If the design cannot be realized within this, we will need to either adjust the budget or the design (or possibly both :-)). We have several craftsmen in the family, so a considerable amount of work can be done by ourselves. For example, my father will take care of the entire heating and plumbing systems, as he will be retiring in time for the start of construction.
Regarding the hidden entrance: The idea of placing the front door on the side is based on the thought that the path from the garage to the house would be shorter since the garage is located a bit further away compared to the front edge of the vestibule, so you wouldn’t have to walk around the vestibule. It is not meant to be deliberately hidden and can certainly be solved differently.
There is definitely room for improvement in the ground floor layout. The hallway exists because I believe it is structurally advantageous to have a load-bearing wall running through the center. This inevitably results in a division of the floor plan with this hallway. To align walls vertically between floors, the upper floor is designed similarly (even though there is plenty of space to arrange it differently).
Basically, I want the office to be separated at least to the extent that you don’t have to go through any living spaces to get there. If there is no direct connection from the entrance area of the house, some kind of hallway is necessary, right?
The four doors on the way to the pantry might be reduced to three if the vestibule is not separated by a wall with a door/window. Would it still function effectively as a vestibule then? The required width adjustment for the dressing room is noted.
There seems to be a misunderstanding regarding the open-plan concept: I was only referring to an open kitchen/living/dining area and apologize for any confusion. We do not want a gallery or similar open feature, so it will probably be more of a closed layout.
The 330,000 EUR is our current estimate for the available budget including the basement. If the design cannot be realized within this, we will need to either adjust the budget or the design (or possibly both :-)). We have several craftsmen in the family, so a considerable amount of work can be done by ourselves. For example, my father will take care of the entire heating and plumbing systems, as he will be retiring in time for the start of construction.
Hello,
to be clear right from the start: this would work much better with a complete fresh start!
You can’t say that when you yourself realize that a certain room program is being packed into the ground floor, making the floor plan so large in its external dimensions that the upper floor and basement will be hopelessly oversized.
Unfortunately, the colors then distract you and you don’t see the mistakes. @marv45 put it well:
What should be changed specifically:
Guests per year: why then have a separate guest room on the ground floor? For 5 guests you can either free up a sofa bed in the office, put a guest room in the basement, or book a hotel with the money you save.
Office: it might be worth considering if self-employment could be an option in the next 30 years, so the office should ideally be located close to the guest bathroom and the entrance. The guest room door is also too far from the guest bathroom.
For the argument "to use as a bedroom in old age," it might be better to simply designate the office as such.
Hallway is just dreadful — very dark and not suitable for furnishing.
Ground floor overall: if the facade is structured with recessed cubes (currently entrance, office), the resulting corners should also be integrated into the rest of the layout, for example by planning a terrace there, since corners provide visual and weather protection. Otherwise, these cubes are just too expensive if they only serve to reduce the size of the upper floor. Also, a two-story design is specified for you — your cubes turn the house effectively into a single-story building, or this would need to be recalculated and checked against the building regulations (building permit/planning permission) in Bavaria to see what is considered two-story there.
Kitchen has too little workspace: the corner will be filled with kitchen appliances and bottles, leaving only the island for working.
Walk-in closet is too narrow at 190cm (75 inches), it won’t work if you want real wardrobes on both sides. Also, you might get dizzy quickly when you try to access it from below. With the laundry basket, the workflows are somewhat disorganized.
I don’t know how fast you work with your program, but pencil and graph paper are still the favorite for being able to erase! A bit of sketching wouldn’t hurt either 😉
Now something positive: the facades! I really like the facades with the window positions and arrangements. The front has character! Unfortunately, this is lost with a new design.
Suggestion: don’t make the basement just a utility cellar, but accommodate guests there. This relaxes the room program (work is supposed to be family-related, right?).
Create a practical hallway that can be furnished; you can do without an entrance vestibule.
Pay attention to the two-story aspect.
Regards, Yvonne
to be clear right from the start: this would work much better with a complete fresh start!
elVincent schrieb:
We have gone into great detail already, so by now an almost finished plan has been created.
You can’t say that when you yourself realize that a certain room program is being packed into the ground floor, making the floor plan so large in its external dimensions that the upper floor and basement will be hopelessly oversized.
elVincent schrieb:
In the end, you get everything in 3D and nicely colored
Unfortunately, the colors then distract you and you don’t see the mistakes. @marv45 put it well:
marv45 schrieb:
To summarize briefly, the ground floor plan feels to me like beads on a string; in other words, the desired rooms were just slapped in one after another (which is why there is that dark corridor in the middle), until everything was ticked off.
What should be changed specifically:
Guests per year: why then have a separate guest room on the ground floor? For 5 guests you can either free up a sofa bed in the office, put a guest room in the basement, or book a hotel with the money you save.
Office: it might be worth considering if self-employment could be an option in the next 30 years, so the office should ideally be located close to the guest bathroom and the entrance. The guest room door is also too far from the guest bathroom.
For the argument "to use as a bedroom in old age," it might be better to simply designate the office as such.
Hallway is just dreadful — very dark and not suitable for furnishing.
Ground floor overall: if the facade is structured with recessed cubes (currently entrance, office), the resulting corners should also be integrated into the rest of the layout, for example by planning a terrace there, since corners provide visual and weather protection. Otherwise, these cubes are just too expensive if they only serve to reduce the size of the upper floor. Also, a two-story design is specified for you — your cubes turn the house effectively into a single-story building, or this would need to be recalculated and checked against the building regulations (building permit/planning permission) in Bavaria to see what is considered two-story there.
Kitchen has too little workspace: the corner will be filled with kitchen appliances and bottles, leaving only the island for working.
Walk-in closet is too narrow at 190cm (75 inches), it won’t work if you want real wardrobes on both sides. Also, you might get dizzy quickly when you try to access it from below. With the laundry basket, the workflows are somewhat disorganized.
I don’t know how fast you work with your program, but pencil and graph paper are still the favorite for being able to erase! A bit of sketching wouldn’t hurt either 😉
Now something positive: the facades! I really like the facades with the window positions and arrangements. The front has character! Unfortunately, this is lost with a new design.
Suggestion: don’t make the basement just a utility cellar, but accommodate guests there. This relaxes the room program (work is supposed to be family-related, right?).
Create a practical hallway that can be furnished; you can do without an entrance vestibule.
Pay attention to the two-story aspect.
Regards, Yvonne
At the risk of repeating points made by others, too many extensions and projections give the whole layout a restless appearance. Long hallways are narrow and dark. The staircase is difficult to access from the living areas. I would place the staircase at the center of the house, either straight, quarter-turn, or possibly as a landing staircase along an exterior wall.
The 45-degree corner in the bathroom is awkward and suggests a makeshift solution. The living, dining, and kitchen areas feel cramped, yet there is a 13 m² (140 sq ft) guest room for five people per year along with a large office...
With this building plan, you could achieve much more. Don’t skimp on good planning!
The 45-degree corner in the bathroom is awkward and suggests a makeshift solution. The living, dining, and kitchen areas feel cramped, yet there is a 13 m² (140 sq ft) guest room for five people per year along with a large office...
With this building plan, you could achieve much more. Don’t skimp on good planning!
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