ᐅ Floor plan design ~138 m² of living space, two full stories, urban villa

Hello everyone,

For weeks now, we have been gathering ideas from model home parks and our local area. In our opinion, the result is now good. However, since I am concerned that we might be missing some common pitfalls, I kindly ask for your honest feedback. Unfortunately, we will only work with an architect to create a detailed plan with measurements later on.

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 393 m² (4,226 ft²)
Slope: no
Floor space ratio (FSR): 0.4
Gross floor area ratio (GFAR): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 3m (10 ft) to all property boundaries, garage can be built on the property line
Number of parking spaces: 1 garage + 1 open
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: hipped roof, 22° pitch, square footprint
External house dimensions: 9.50m x 9.50m (31 ft x 31 ft)
Maximum heights/restrictions: none
Other specifications: none

Homeowners’ requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: urban villa
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: 2, both 30 years old
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: approximately 140 m² (1,507 ft²) in total. Large open living/dining/kitchen area
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guest bedrooms per year: rare
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 4–6
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage extra long to provide additional storage space (min. 7 m / 23 ft)
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions

House design
Who designed the plan: DIY

What do you particularly like? Why?
- Kitchen and dining area on the south side
- Large living/kitchen/dining space
- Walk-in closet with direct access to the bathroom
- Shower recessed into a niche
- Storage room under the straight concrete staircase

What do you not like? Why?
- Distance between sofa and opposite wall (TV wall) only 3.50 m (11.5 ft)
- Bedroom on the north side, while the garden will be on the south side
- We are considering adding a small open space between the children’s room and the bedroom, directly adjacent to the doors of both rooms. It should not be too large. Windows would be planned at the top and bottom. Any opinions? We are aware of potential noise and odor disturbance.
- I would like a direct access from the garage into the house.
- The plot is not optimally utilized.

I can provide necessary wall dimensions on request.
Perhaps you also see a better way to position the house on the plot in combination with the garage.

Thank you in advance!

Best regards,
Raphael

Good morning,
I have two questions:
- Is the office intended for daily work from home?
- How is access from the garage to the house supposed to work if the garage is not attached to the house?

And a note about the kitchen: the island seems rather small.
Finally, the 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) of space between the TV and the sofa should actually be sufficient. Just try searching for a calculator to determine the optimal viewing distance.

Regarding orientation:
Is it necessary to comply with the building envelope?
Often, a distance of 5 m (16 feet) from the street must be maintained. Do the mentioned 3 m (10 feet) also apply there? Is it at least 3 m (10 feet), depending on the height?

... and continuing with the critique:
the small ventilation gap is ridiculous, and yet you lack storage space everywhere! (luggage, cleaning and ironing supplies, sports equipment, garden cushions, beverage stock, seasonal decorations, summer/winter blankets, etc.)

Between the children's rooms, I would recess the corridor wall by the depth of a closet and create storage space there for bathroom and bed linen, ironing board, etc. At the end of the corridor above the front door, add a small room with the washer and dryer, plus a ceiling rack to hang delicate items; since laundry is mostly done in the sleeping area, this keeps everything within short reach. At the other end of the corridor, another small room for travel luggage.

Move the door under the stairs about 70cm (28 inches) to the left according to the plan and make it a flush door, with large drawers installed in the low space underneath.

The so-called 'kitchen island' is unfortunately a bad joke.

I’ll never understand why semi-detached houses are not generally built on such small plots – that way, the gardens would be more usable.

Nofret schrieb:


I will never understand why semi-detached houses are not built by default on such tiny plots – it would result in more usable garden space.

Better to have such a small plot than a direct neighbor. The total area doesn’t change, only the layout does.

... exactly, the UTILITY VALUE changes ... I already wrote that.

Your neighbor is no less 'direct' just because there is a narrow strip of land between you.