ᐅ Initial floor plan draft of the ground floor including a double garage

Hello everyone,

we have just purchased a plot of land (see image) on which we want to build a single-family house. After looking at quite a few houses and floor plans, we have arrived at the attached first self-designed draft. I would appreciate it if you could share your opinions on it – especially regarding where you would place windows. At the moment, we have mainly planned the ground floor, as the upper floor will be large enough to accommodate all the required rooms anyway.

Best regards and many thanks for your time
g00dy

Here is the completed questionnaire:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 544sqm (5855 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: -
Floor area ratio: 0.3
Building window, building line, and boundary: see image (gray area = building window, green area = plot, dark gray area = street); a small stream runs 15m (49 feet) away along the southern boundary of the plot (-> nice view, no construction allowed), no trees
Adjacent development: only possible on the east side
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: none specified
Roof type: none (flat roofs must be greened if less than 7°)
Architectural style: none specified
Orientation: none specified
Maximum height/limits: 9.0m (30 feet)
Other requirements: max. wall height 6.5m (21 feet)

Client requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: pitched roof ~25°
Basement, number of basement storeys, upper floor knee wall height: 1.5-2.2m (5-7 feet) (still undecided here)
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults (+2 children planned)
Space requirements ground floor/upper floor: Ground floor: kitchen (closed), living/dining area, office (possibly bedroom in old age), passage to garage, utility room (passage not through utility room), shower bathroom; Upper floor: 3 bedrooms, small office/playroom, bathroom
Office: family use or home office? Ground floor office for home office, upper floor office possibly for family use/playroom
Overnight guests per year: none
Open or closed architecture: closed kitchen, but with large sliding door to living/dining area, hallway closed off from living/dining area
Conventional or modern building style: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: no, kitchen island if possible
Number of dining seats: 4-8
Fireplace: possibly later
Music/stereo wall: yes, including TV lowboard
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons for or against certain features: Passage from double garage into the house, but not through the utility room since the utility room should not be used as a mudroom

House design
Who planned it:
-Built-company planner: no
-Architect: no
-Do-it-yourself: yes (adaptation of Weberhaus Balance 300)
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you not like? Why?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: open
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 500,000€
Preferred heating technology: ventilation concept with underfloor heating (does this make sense?)

If you have to give up on certain details/extensions
-Can give up: utility room (since a basement is planned)
-Can’t give up: office on the ground floor

Why did the design turn out as it is now?
A mix of many examples from various magazines combined with our own requirements

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is the living/dining area, as it is now, spacious/enough for an 8-person dining table?
Is the kitchen too large?
Is the shower bathroom sufficiently sized?

For heaven’s sake! That’s a fail for sure 😀

The hallway is a disaster—far too narrow and awkwardly shaped. There is no cloakroom at all. Kitchen faces south. Study faces north.
Where is the basement staircase?

The living room with dining area is too small.

In short: nothing fits at all.

How about having the entrance from the garage side, with the shower bathroom facing north? This way, you can eliminate the unnecessary second entrance from the garage...

This is good enough to take to an architect so they can understand your requirements. In your place, however, I would go without the sketch. The list of rooms and special requests is sufficient for them to make a proposal.

I would relocate the entrance.
Put the utility room in the basement.

Take the room layout to the architect.

For every design, whether created yourself or by the architect, accurately draw in the desired furniture to scale.

There is no wardrobe; the narrow hallway is terrible and a waste of space.

Uh… floor area ratio 0.3 (excluding ancillary buildings)
Do you know what that means? You might want to calculate where you end up with the desired knee wall height and roof pitch.
The ground floor is already over 100sqm (1,076 sq ft).

What will happen in the basement? What kind of rooms are planned there?

The spiral staircase isn’t very appealing… and considering the size of the house, everything feels a bit “unattractive.”
Unfortunately, none of the Balance 300 remains either 🙁