ᐅ Floor Plan 155 sqm in Baden-Württemberg – Tips and Suggestions for Improvement

Hello everyone, my wife and I are planning to build a house.

We have now received the first draft from the architect and are already quite satisfied.
There will surely always be room for improvement.
We are not entirely happy with the garage/carport solution and hope for some additional ideas here.
Unfortunately, the plan does not include any dimensions yet ("first plans are always without measurements" with this architect).

Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: 597 sqm (6420 sq ft)
Slope: gently sloping to the north, max. 1.5 m (5 feet) over 25 m (82 feet) length
Site occupancy index: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: see plan
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 1.5 per residential unit
Number of storeys: 2
Roof type: gable roof between 20° and 30°
Style
Orientation: Priority is east-west orientation
Maximum heights / limits: max. height 9 m (30 feet)
Other requirements: plant a tree

Clients’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: timber frame construction
Basement, number of storeys: 2
Number of occupants, ages: 4-5 (currently 3 / 26 / 26 / 1 month)
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: max. 160 sqm (1720 sq ft) total for L-Bank funding
Office: family use or home office? (playroom for children / initially home office with one child)
Overnight guests per year: almost none
Open or closed layout: open area with kitchen, dining and living
Conservative or modern construction
Open kitchen, cooking island: U-shaped kitchen
Number of dining seats: at least 6, preferably 8-10
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: living room unit with TV
Garage, carport: storage room for bicycles etc.

House design
Who created the design:
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why? The exterior view is very successful. The entrance area on the north side with wooden cladding softens the appearance. Large hallway for arriving / stair landing / if needed 3 children’s rooms (on ground floor)
What do you dislike? Why? Swap the shower and washbasin in the ground floor bathroom / we are still unsure about the carport solution / upstairs, a door will be added from the walk-in closet to the bedroom
Estimated price according to architect/planner: €650,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €750,000 including plot
Preferred heating technology: air source heat pump and solar/storage (KFW40+)

If you have to give up something, which details / extensions
- can you do without:
- can you not do without:

Why did the design turn out the way it is now? For example,

Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect?
Our wishes were implemented by the architect.
Kitchen, living, dining in L-shape / possibility for 3 children

What do you consider particularly good or bad about it?
Lots of storage space even without a basement

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What would still bother you about the floor plan?
Is there any wasted space?
Are there any cost drivers that could be avoided?

Thank you very much in advance!

Benzeller schrieb:

additional guidelines. Plant a tree

How cute! I’m happy to follow that 🙂
I’m surprised there hasn’t been much activity here. Either everyone likes it, or the thread got lost due to good weather and lots of work.
First of all: I find the ground floor bathroom acceptable as it is. Better to have the toilet before the shower than before the washbasin. An open washbasin with space to move behind it is always preferable since you often just need the washbasin quickly.

Overall, everything looks very logical! And also appealing. Clean work from the architect!

However, there are a few things I wouldn’t like. It’s not much, but it could lead to rotating or mirroring some parts of the house.
- For me, the hallway feels too long, especially with the bend and then a corridor as wide as the stairs, leading to the living area.
- If optimizing, I would place the bedroom on the south side.
- It’s a large house, but not providing space or option for a side-by-side refrigerator is not ideal in my view.
- The door between the walk-in closet and bedroom ruins the walk-in closet.
- There is little storage space.
- The facade is quite tiring for me (with the apparent beams, too much uniformity, no variation).
I will take a closer look at it this evening… For now, due to lack of resolution, I can’t even tell the square meters.

Overall, there is nothing seriously wrong with the design. What bothers me most is the very long route to the living area. The hallway leading to the entry is less of an issue than the narrow corridor past the restroom. This wall feels awkward—neither one thing nor the other. On the one hand, having a separate restroom for the upper floors is important with three children, but on the other hand, you can’t really close it off completely. You’ll still hear pots and pans clattering upstairs.
When coming down from above, you literally run into this wall—it’s not very welcoming. It’s lacking that “welcome effect.”
The distance for carrying laundry to and from the washing machine is also something to consider.

Apart from that, the many wood panelings are quite attractive—depending on personal taste, but I’d be curious to know how much they would cost. Have you asked already? If they are removed for cost reasons, the overall look loses half its charm.

In the end, I would probably rotate and mirror the layout or start from scratch.
It’s not a disaster overall, but I wouldn’t build it like this. I would consider this a good first attempt.

K a t j a schrieb:

What bothers me most is the very long walk to the living area. The hallway for arriving is less of an issue than the narrow corridor past the living room.

I agree. With my old design, the corner is not inviting and dark...
A bright, light-filled entrance is priceless.

Is this staircase what you wanted?
It might be possible to lead it upward from the hallway below at a 90° angle. This way, the "problem wall" could be removed, and the staircase would be farther away from the open living area (reducing odors and noise).

However, this would require swapping the kitchen and living areas and finding a new solution for the wardrobe.

I actually think the design is quite good. Some points for optimization have already been mentioned.
What bothers me most is that the bedroom and walk-in closet aren’t connected. You would have to walk through the hallway half-naked, which I find inconvenient. I would connect the walk-in closet directly to the bedroom. Personally, I also find the master area a bit oversized, but everyone has their own opinion on that.
It seems like you don’t have a basement, so you might be lacking storage space. Or have you planned something in the attic?
And what bothers you about the garage?