Hello everyone,
I have been reading here for a while, and now it’s time for us to start planning the floor plan. We had our first appointment with the architect this week and have already shared our ideas with him as preparation. We received a first draft, which we will discuss during our meeting. Additionally, we created some rough sketches ourselves (without considering structural issues, windows, the staircase is drawn way too small, etc. – really just very basic to clarify our ideas, I’m attaching those as well).
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 635 sqm (6,840 sq ft)
House size: 135 sqm (1,450 sq ft)
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: Gable roof
Maximum heights / limits: Knee wall 1.20 m (4 ft)
(We would have preferred a bungalow or a townhouse, but unfortunately, there are no plots available here. We are happy to have found one at all, even if that means we have to accept 1.5 floors and a knee wall.)
Client requirements
Basement, floors: no basement
Number of occupants, age: 2 persons, 39 years old (children are 90% unlikely to be planned)
Office: Home office about once a week – although I usually work from the living room with my laptop
Guest stays: maybe 2 to 3 times a year, so far managed without a guest room in the apartment
Architecture: open plan
Construction style: modern
Kitchen: an island kitchen probably won’t fit, but it should be an open kitchen, possibly with a breakfast bar
Dining seats: 4 to 6 – for occasional visitors – but that could also work by putting in a dining table as needed and otherwise using a kitchen breakfast bar daily
Fireplace: rather no, due to cost and space reasons
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace
Garage, carport: carport
Desired ground floor layout:
Includes utility room, guest WC, hallway, living area (consisting of living room, kitchen, dining area/other)
Entrance and ancillary rooms:
- small hallway with space for a coat rack
- utility room about 8 sqm (86 sq ft), space for technical equipment, washing machine, dog food & co.
- guest WC max. 3 sqm (32 sq ft); no guest shower needed
Living area:
- quick access from the entrance to the living area, ideally directly to the kitchen
- living/kitchen/dining area as large as possible (ideally approx. 50 sqm (540 sq ft)), minimizing space wasted by other areas/rooms on the ground floor
- kitchen possibly with island/breakfast bar if space allows
- book corner with window seat if space allows (for info: I have about 1,000 books and a piano – these need to be accommodated somewhere)
- space-saving staircase, preferably open/integrated in the living area to save hallway space
Desired upper floor layout:
Includes bathroom, bedroom, dressing room, hobby room, another room (possibly office, guest room)
Bathroom:
- bathroom with walk-in shower + bathtub (freestanding = nice to have)
- possible wall separation for the toilet (if it fits)
Sleeping area and dressing room:
- bedroom with walk-in closet/dressing room, if feasible given house size
- access from bedroom to dressing room and bathroom
Additional rooms:
- hobby room with space for desk, crafting corner, small seating area
- another room as office/sports/guest room or possibly a child’s room after all – alternatively, a larger hallway/gallery with seating area and light well to the floor below
House design
Designed by: planner/architect from a design-build company
What don’t we like? Why?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: $240,000 – that is also the financial plan (excluding kitchen or additional furniture, plot and landscaping – total budget is about $400,000)
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump
If you had to give up something, which features/finishes could you do without? very reluctantly the dressing/walk-in closet
What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
How should we best proceed with the draft? Are there ideas that could help us align better with our wishes for the discussion? Which ideas should we discard?
A few more remarks: Reading other posts here sometimes makes me feel guilty because we are “only” building 135 sqm and everything seems so “small.” Still, I want to get the best possible value for my money. Financially, this size is the most reasonable for now.
(PS: And in case the question arises: Why are children only 90% excluded? There are many reasons – for example, difficulties conceiving, but not completely giving up hope.)
Thank you in advance for your opinions.
I have been reading here for a while, and now it’s time for us to start planning the floor plan. We had our first appointment with the architect this week and have already shared our ideas with him as preparation. We received a first draft, which we will discuss during our meeting. Additionally, we created some rough sketches ourselves (without considering structural issues, windows, the staircase is drawn way too small, etc. – really just very basic to clarify our ideas, I’m attaching those as well).
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 635 sqm (6,840 sq ft)
House size: 135 sqm (1,450 sq ft)
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: Gable roof
Maximum heights / limits: Knee wall 1.20 m (4 ft)
(We would have preferred a bungalow or a townhouse, but unfortunately, there are no plots available here. We are happy to have found one at all, even if that means we have to accept 1.5 floors and a knee wall.)
Client requirements
Basement, floors: no basement
Number of occupants, age: 2 persons, 39 years old (children are 90% unlikely to be planned)
Office: Home office about once a week – although I usually work from the living room with my laptop
Guest stays: maybe 2 to 3 times a year, so far managed without a guest room in the apartment
Architecture: open plan
Construction style: modern
Kitchen: an island kitchen probably won’t fit, but it should be an open kitchen, possibly with a breakfast bar
Dining seats: 4 to 6 – for occasional visitors – but that could also work by putting in a dining table as needed and otherwise using a kitchen breakfast bar daily
Fireplace: rather no, due to cost and space reasons
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace
Garage, carport: carport
Desired ground floor layout:
Includes utility room, guest WC, hallway, living area (consisting of living room, kitchen, dining area/other)
Entrance and ancillary rooms:
- small hallway with space for a coat rack
- utility room about 8 sqm (86 sq ft), space for technical equipment, washing machine, dog food & co.
- guest WC max. 3 sqm (32 sq ft); no guest shower needed
Living area:
- quick access from the entrance to the living area, ideally directly to the kitchen
- living/kitchen/dining area as large as possible (ideally approx. 50 sqm (540 sq ft)), minimizing space wasted by other areas/rooms on the ground floor
- kitchen possibly with island/breakfast bar if space allows
- book corner with window seat if space allows (for info: I have about 1,000 books and a piano – these need to be accommodated somewhere)
- space-saving staircase, preferably open/integrated in the living area to save hallway space
Desired upper floor layout:
Includes bathroom, bedroom, dressing room, hobby room, another room (possibly office, guest room)
Bathroom:
- bathroom with walk-in shower + bathtub (freestanding = nice to have)
- possible wall separation for the toilet (if it fits)
Sleeping area and dressing room:
- bedroom with walk-in closet/dressing room, if feasible given house size
- access from bedroom to dressing room and bathroom
Additional rooms:
- hobby room with space for desk, crafting corner, small seating area
- another room as office/sports/guest room or possibly a child’s room after all – alternatively, a larger hallway/gallery with seating area and light well to the floor below
House design
Designed by: planner/architect from a design-build company
What don’t we like? Why?
- Narrow galley kitchen. I already have this in my apartment and don’t want it anymore. Is it really not possible to do it differently? Structural or other reasons?
- Staircase located in the dirty area. Shoes, dirt, etc. I don’t want to walk through that every time I go upstairs.
- Dressing room under a sloped ceiling. Not much space left for wardrobes...
- Office only 7 sqm (75 sq ft). Does that make sense? If, against expectations, a child arrives, this would be the hobby room, which would then be much too small.
- Bathrooms. Does the layout make sense? I always thought they should be arranged above/below each other.
- Technical equipment. Could it also be located in the attic?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: $240,000 – that is also the financial plan (excluding kitchen or additional furniture, plot and landscaping – total budget is about $400,000)
Preferred heating technology: air-source heat pump
If you had to give up something, which features/finishes could you do without? very reluctantly the dressing/walk-in closet
What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
How should we best proceed with the draft? Are there ideas that could help us align better with our wishes for the discussion? Which ideas should we discard?
A few more remarks: Reading other posts here sometimes makes me feel guilty because we are “only” building 135 sqm and everything seems so “small.” Still, I want to get the best possible value for my money. Financially, this size is the most reasonable for now.
(PS: And in case the question arises: Why are children only 90% excluded? There are many reasons – for example, difficulties conceiving, but not completely giving up hope.)
Thank you in advance for your opinions.
@ Ypg Of course, you can live without dormers. The original plan was for 2 full floors, and the OP has a huge number of books that require shelf space. Retrofitting would be really expensive.
It’s not my decision either. The OP has to consider everything carefully. Whether it’s comfortable for two people or a bit tight for three, and whether 500 books will need to be removed. There is enough space.
It’s not my decision either. The OP has to consider everything carefully. Whether it’s comfortable for two people or a bit tight for three, and whether 500 books will need to be removed. There is enough space.
kaho674 schrieb:
I didn’t know it was possible to build a 55° roof until now. It looks really awkward:
Has anyone actually seen one in real life?Are you serious? Wondering if anyone has seen that before? Have you ever walked through an old town?
I’ve seen that quite often, and I’d even say with even steeper roofs. Whether you like it or not is another matter, but I’ve also seen renovated houses with similar roofs that incorporated a very modern style... I wouldn’t buy one myself, but it doesn’t look that bad.
With roof pitches between 35° and 55° and a knee wall height of 120cm (4 feet), dormers are generally less necessary, and other types of roof windows don’t make much sense either.
Above approximately 42° to 48° (which feels like about 45° due to perspective distortion), in my opinion, it’s better to avoid floor-to-ceiling or otherwise very tall vertical windows on the gable ends; otherwise, the vertical emphasis becomes too strong.
Whether a village scene must be preserved exactly as it looked during the early days of the railway is something I question. The past cannot be brought back.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Above approximately 42° to 48° (which feels like about 45° due to perspective distortion), in my opinion, it’s better to avoid floor-to-ceiling or otherwise very tall vertical windows on the gable ends; otherwise, the vertical emphasis becomes too strong.
Whether a village scene must be preserved exactly as it looked during the early days of the railway is something I question. The past cannot be brought back.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
kaho674 schrieb:
I didn’t realize until now that you can build a 55° roof pitch. It actually looks really awkward:
Has anyone seen this in real life?All of our older residential areas are full of them. Brick houses from the 1950s...
R
Reluctance22 Feb 2019 21:53kaho674 schrieb:
Unfortunately, I can’t identify your Google site plan. Is the plan oriented to north, or is the small compass in the top right corner relevant? To which street do you have to orient the eaves now? Is there currently a road running through the plot to your left, or will it be removed?Attached is a brief explanation. The eaves must face the street. North should be to the left. The driveway through the left plot will be removed; instead, there will be a new one between the plots.
kaho674 schrieb:
I didn’t even know you could build a 55° roof pitch until now. That looks really awful:
Has anyone actually seen this in real life?Yes, we have a street here where only houses like that stand. We won’t go up to 55°, we’ll stay at 45°.
haydee schrieb:
The original poster has to work through everything. Whether it’s comfortable for two people or a bit tight for three, and 500 books will go away. There is space.We will at least have it calculated. Let’s see.
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