ᐅ Feedback on Our Floor Plan and House Design

Created on: 23 Mar 2017 21:14
B
baumhaus815
Hello House Building Forum,

We have been thinking about our floor plan for a while now – attached is the current design status.
What do you think of the draft? What do you consider good or improvable?
Many thanks in advance for your feedback!

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 510 sqm (5,489 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line and limit: 3 m (10 ft) setback from the street
Edge development: no, in a new development area with 3 neighboring houses
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic, modern
Orientation: main entrance: north, garden: south
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height 9.75 m (32 ft)
Further requirements

Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: classic, modern, gable roof, single-family house
Basement, floors: yes
Number of occupants, age: 4 (37, 38, 2.5)
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor
Office: family use or home office? Family use, occasional home office
Overnight guests per year: 15
Open or closed architecture: (partly) closed kitchen
Conservative or modern construction: partly, partly
Open kitchen, kitchen island: no
Number of dining seats: 6-8 (in the dining room)
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: no

House Design
Design by: architect, own ideas
Preferred heating technology: gas condensing boiler + solar + controlled mechanical ventilation

What do you particularly like?
Layout of the living and dining room, overhang above the main entrance area, walk-in closet with en-suite master bathroom

What don’t you like? Why?
Due to the placement of the stairs between ground and upper floor, the main entrance is not centered in the house; we are considering how to center the entrance with the stairs
In the entrance area on the ground floor, there is no space for a generous coat storage...?
Upper floor: one child’s room is unnecessarily large, while the master bathroom feels rather small...?
We are still unsure about placing the fireplace next to the door

Looking forward to your opinions!
J
j.bautsch
24 Mar 2017 07:56
I also don't like the walk-in closet situation at all. Without dimensions, it’s hard to say much about many of the rooms.
The kitchen also seems very poorly planned to me (I often recommend starting detailed planning early).
Additionally, I am not a fan of houses where you stumble over the stairs as soon as you enter, and you should keep in mind that dirt will always be carried up to the upper floor.
D
daniels87
24 Mar 2017 08:14
I would simply try to furnish the walk-in closet, for example, using the Pax planner. We have a similarly sized walk-in closet, and it is more than sufficient. However, the floor plan is different. Maybe shift the doors to the east and arrange the wardrobe in a U-shape? Probably the space in the middle would then be too tight.

Overall, the room layout could be realized in less space, but of course, that depends on the budget.
Climbee24 Mar 2017 08:32
Overall, I don’t find the floor plan particularly impressive either.

But briefly on the walk-in closet/bathroom situation: swapping the closet and bathroom could be an option. The doors in the closet could be moved to one side or another.

Child 1 drew the short straw. I would consider a completely different room layout and give the best rooms at the front to the children.
However, that would also mean no direct access from the master bedroom to the bathroom/walk-in closet, or a completely different concept with the staircase in a different location.
C
Curly
24 Mar 2017 09:31
With two children, I would definitely plan for rooms that are approximately the same size. The child with the noticeably smaller room will always feel disadvantaged.

Best regards,
Sabine
B
baumhaus815
24 Mar 2017 12:33
Ok, I forgot to mention that the kitchen will definitely be redesigned: Either the overall area will remain the same and we will add a dining area there, or we will move the wall in the hallway area to create more space for a cupboard (making the kitchen narrower and reducing wasted space in the middle). We will definitely change the kitchen furnishings.

We are also not happy with the situation of the children’s rooms and are still looking into making their sizes more comparable.

The kitchen and children’s rooms should be relatively easy to alter. What worries us more is the staircase, including the hallway. As you have already noticed, the location of the staircase entrance right next to the main entrance door is not ideal. We are considering alternative solutions for this… It is important to us that the kitchen remains at the front facing the street and that the covered entrance provided by the dormer on the upper floor is preserved. So far, we haven’t come up with a solution. Maybe someone here has an idea?
11ant24 Mar 2017 13:05
Regarding the symmetry of the bay window, I understand the desire for a centered front door – although I wouldn’t place much importance on that myself (but it could be easily achieved by mirroring the door-stair unit).

The children will always be three years apart, so I don’t see differing room sizes as a problem.

Considering the clients’ own initial criticisms, I wonder how this design came about at all – is the architect hard of hearing, or are you not speaking clearly?

I see the fireplace here only as a chimney – however, it looks visually awkward.

The recess that shades the dining room seems excessive given the narrow windows. The bay window also gives me the impression that the attic was accidentally ordered one size too large.
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