Z
zahni19927 Apr 2024 12:23Hello dear homebuilding community,
a user from another thread suggested that we share our house plans/floor plan to get possible improvement ideas.
We are at the beginning of our planning phase and are currently deciding on Heinz von Heiden.
The size of the house is based on our wish to have 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom on the upper floor.
We basically like the standard floor plan. There are a few changes we want, such as a larger utility room, a closed kitchen, a shower in the guest toilet, and a smaller living room.
We would really appreciate tips and suggestions.
Below you will find a summary of additional information.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 700 m² (7,535 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Gross floor area ratio:
Building window, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) from the outer plot boundary each
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: up to 2 full floors possible
Roof type: hip roof
Style: urban style
Orientation
Maximum ridge height: 9.5 m (31 ft)
Clients’ requirements
Building type: townhouse / urban villa
Floors: 2
Number of occupants: 4 (1 still in planning), 3 children’s bedrooms
Room requirements on ground floor: kitchen (closed), bathroom, living room, study, hallway, utility room
Room requirements on upper floor: 3 children’s bedrooms, 1 master bedroom, 1 walk-in closet, bathroom, hallway
Office: study with use as a guest room (sleeper sofa)
Number of dining seats:
Garage: single garage with potential for storage use, approx. 4 x 9 m (13 x 30 ft)?
House design
Designer: Heinz von Heiden
What do you especially like? Why? Upper floor layout of the children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with walk-in closet
What do you dislike? Why? No shower on ground floor, open kitchen
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: €312,000
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings:
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
Why is the design as it is now?
Standard design from the planner
Rooms on the ground floor
(Living areas according to living space regulations)
Living room: 45.62 m² (491 sq ft)
Kitchen: 9.83 m² (106 sq ft)
Guest room: 13.60 m² (146 sq ft)
Toilet: 4.18 m² (45 sq ft)
Hallway: 12.26 m² (132 sq ft)
Utility room: 7.61 m² (82 sq ft)
Rooms on the upper floor
(Living areas according to living space regulations)
Master bedroom: 17.25 m² (186 sq ft)
Walk-in closet: 8.43 m² (91 sq ft)
Children’s bedroom I: 15.44 m² (166 sq ft)
Children’s bedroom II: 14.04 m² (151 sq ft)
Children’s bedroom III: 14.04 m² (151 sq ft)
Bathroom: 11.48 m² (124 sq ft)
Hallway: 11.91 m² (128 sq ft)
Best regards
a user from another thread suggested that we share our house plans/floor plan to get possible improvement ideas.
We are at the beginning of our planning phase and are currently deciding on Heinz von Heiden.
The size of the house is based on our wish to have 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom on the upper floor.
We basically like the standard floor plan. There are a few changes we want, such as a larger utility room, a closed kitchen, a shower in the guest toilet, and a smaller living room.
We would really appreciate tips and suggestions.
Below you will find a summary of additional information.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 700 m² (7,535 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Gross floor area ratio:
Building window, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) from the outer plot boundary each
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: up to 2 full floors possible
Roof type: hip roof
Style: urban style
Orientation
Maximum ridge height: 9.5 m (31 ft)
Clients’ requirements
Building type: townhouse / urban villa
Floors: 2
Number of occupants: 4 (1 still in planning), 3 children’s bedrooms
Room requirements on ground floor: kitchen (closed), bathroom, living room, study, hallway, utility room
Room requirements on upper floor: 3 children’s bedrooms, 1 master bedroom, 1 walk-in closet, bathroom, hallway
Office: study with use as a guest room (sleeper sofa)
Number of dining seats:
Garage: single garage with potential for storage use, approx. 4 x 9 m (13 x 30 ft)?
House design
Designer: Heinz von Heiden
What do you especially like? Why? Upper floor layout of the children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with walk-in closet
What do you dislike? Why? No shower on ground floor, open kitchen
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: €312,000
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings:
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
Why is the design as it is now?
Standard design from the planner
Rooms on the ground floor
(Living areas according to living space regulations)
Living room: 45.62 m² (491 sq ft)
Kitchen: 9.83 m² (106 sq ft)
Guest room: 13.60 m² (146 sq ft)
Toilet: 4.18 m² (45 sq ft)
Hallway: 12.26 m² (132 sq ft)
Utility room: 7.61 m² (82 sq ft)
Rooms on the upper floor
(Living areas according to living space regulations)
Master bedroom: 17.25 m² (186 sq ft)
Walk-in closet: 8.43 m² (91 sq ft)
Children’s bedroom I: 15.44 m² (166 sq ft)
Children’s bedroom II: 14.04 m² (151 sq ft)
Children’s bedroom III: 14.04 m² (151 sq ft)
Bathroom: 11.48 m² (124 sq ft)
Hallway: 11.91 m² (128 sq ft)
Best regards
B
Bertram1007 Apr 2024 12:35At first glance, the budget seems really too low. You want a house about 10x10 meters (33x33 feet), which is 200 square meters (2,150 square feet), for 315,000?
Otherwise, I find the hallway too small for a family, the kitchen too large and not practical for a family, the guest bedroom nice for guests, but you do have an extra children’s room. A shower on the ground floor is possible if you reduce the size of the guest room or place the toilet under the stairs.
I would prefer to plan the kitchen and dining room in a row and separate the living room a bit, instead of having the dining and living areas combined and the kitchen around the corner.
Personally, I don’t like the straight staircase and wouldn’t want it in the middle of the house. But that is a matter of taste. The same goes for the walk-in closet: what exactly is the advantage?
The bathroom is difficult to furnish and equip with sanitary fixtures because it has more open space in the middle than useful wall space. It is too large.
Overall, I think the design is a good way to waste money. The house is too big, impractical, and too square for my taste.
Otherwise, I find the hallway too small for a family, the kitchen too large and not practical for a family, the guest bedroom nice for guests, but you do have an extra children’s room. A shower on the ground floor is possible if you reduce the size of the guest room or place the toilet under the stairs.
I would prefer to plan the kitchen and dining room in a row and separate the living room a bit, instead of having the dining and living areas combined and the kitchen around the corner.
Personally, I don’t like the straight staircase and wouldn’t want it in the middle of the house. But that is a matter of taste. The same goes for the walk-in closet: what exactly is the advantage?
The bathroom is difficult to furnish and equip with sanitary fixtures because it has more open space in the middle than useful wall space. It is too large.
Overall, I think the design is a good way to waste money. The house is too big, impractical, and too square for my taste.
O
Odyssee777 Apr 2024 12:45zahni1992 schrieb:
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 312,000€ For 185 sqm (1991 sq ft)? Never. Not even with Heinz von Heiden.
Unfortunately, the site plan and the house’s positioning on the plot are missing.
Additionally, some individual measurements are missing. The staircase looks rather short.
I agree with the previous commenters regarding the price—it seems completely unrealistic or unclear what level of completion is included.
I would suggest placing the bedroom access through the dressing room; this might also allow the bedroom to be somewhat smaller. But, as mentioned, specific measurements are missing here. For a household of five people, I would also try to include the washing machine on the upper floor, preferably not in the bathroom, so rather a small utility room for the vacuum cleaner and similar items.
Doors should not be placed directly in corners of rooms, such as in Child 3’s room.
Additionally, some individual measurements are missing. The staircase looks rather short.
I agree with the previous commenters regarding the price—it seems completely unrealistic or unclear what level of completion is included.
I would suggest placing the bedroom access through the dressing room; this might also allow the bedroom to be somewhat smaller. But, as mentioned, specific measurements are missing here. For a household of five people, I would also try to include the washing machine on the upper floor, preferably not in the bathroom, so rather a small utility room for the vacuum cleaner and similar items.
Doors should not be placed directly in corners of rooms, such as in Child 3’s room.
It seems to be the Arcus B10.
I assume you haven’t spoken to Heinz von Heiden yet and have only looked online to find who offers 3 children's bedrooms — and also focused on the price?!
The €310,000 is the basic catalog price. That’s how it usually is with general contractors. They naturally list the lowest price on the internet. Although we didn’t build with Heinz von Heiden ourselves, we had a nearly identical scope of work, so I can say that roughly an additional 20–25% in cost comes on top if you want to reach approximately today’s technical standards. The exterior designs are also full of extra charges and upgrades. You can see that clearly by comparing the floor plan and the color images. Completed houses look different.
The scope of work back then already left out items that an average general contractor would include, such as a container, exterior painting, etc. I think now you even have to paint your staircases yourself.
But all this is just a side note, as there is a moderated forum here for such discussions — where you can also read up on these topics. Also, I believe Heinz von Heiden has its own house-building forum where homeowners exchange information with each other.
The website clearly shows a starting price. At least a ventilation system and photovoltaic panels are included. Of course, they want to build according to the Building Energy Act, so those things are naturally part of the package. I bet they compensate elsewhere, for example in the tiling of wet rooms.
However, there is no need for complicated construction or to shy away from doing some work yourself — that’s fine. You just need to be aware that quite a bit will still be added on top.
About the floor plan:
It’s neither here nor there. A utility room of just over 7 sqm (75 sq ft) is not enough for a five-person household, especially if laundry is also done there.
You have no storage space: you won’t be able to use the hipped roof much. Maybe you can awkwardly slide in a few boxes once in a while.
With a 700 sqm (7,535 sq ft) plot and a floor area ratio of 0.4, and the wish for a “large family,” the townhouse is the wrong choice. In my opinion, a more appropriate choice, especially if the budget is tight, would be a gable roof house, where you get enough storage space in the attic and better room usability thanks to the knee wall — yes, that means roof slopes in the upper floor. That’s just how it is.
I assume you haven’t spoken to Heinz von Heiden yet and have only looked online to find who offers 3 children's bedrooms — and also focused on the price?!
The €310,000 is the basic catalog price. That’s how it usually is with general contractors. They naturally list the lowest price on the internet. Although we didn’t build with Heinz von Heiden ourselves, we had a nearly identical scope of work, so I can say that roughly an additional 20–25% in cost comes on top if you want to reach approximately today’s technical standards. The exterior designs are also full of extra charges and upgrades. You can see that clearly by comparing the floor plan and the color images. Completed houses look different.
The scope of work back then already left out items that an average general contractor would include, such as a container, exterior painting, etc. I think now you even have to paint your staircases yourself.
But all this is just a side note, as there is a moderated forum here for such discussions — where you can also read up on these topics. Also, I believe Heinz von Heiden has its own house-building forum where homeowners exchange information with each other.
zahni1992 schrieb:
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €312,000
The website clearly shows a starting price. At least a ventilation system and photovoltaic panels are included. Of course, they want to build according to the Building Energy Act, so those things are naturally part of the package. I bet they compensate elsewhere, for example in the tiling of wet rooms.
However, there is no need for complicated construction or to shy away from doing some work yourself — that’s fine. You just need to be aware that quite a bit will still be added on top.
About the floor plan:
It’s neither here nor there. A utility room of just over 7 sqm (75 sq ft) is not enough for a five-person household, especially if laundry is also done there.
You have no storage space: you won’t be able to use the hipped roof much. Maybe you can awkwardly slide in a few boxes once in a while.
With a 700 sqm (7,535 sq ft) plot and a floor area ratio of 0.4, and the wish for a “large family,” the townhouse is the wrong choice. In my opinion, a more appropriate choice, especially if the budget is tight, would be a gable roof house, where you get enough storage space in the attic and better room usability thanks to the knee wall — yes, that means roof slopes in the upper floor. That’s just how it is.
Z
zahni19927 Apr 2024 22:24Good evening,
thank you first of all for your responses.
@kbt09
I have attached a plan. The plot is number 90.
There are also pictures with more precise measurements attached. We like the idea of a “small utility room” on the upper floor, but we are unsure to what extent this is feasible, or how Heinz von Heiden manages the costs for it. We have added it to our list.
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
@ypg
We had an appointment with Heinz von Heiden, where we went through three house variants.
First, the fixed design that is not customizable.
Arcus 152:
We wanted to slightly enlarge this (165–170m² (1776–1830 sq ft)) due to a missing children’s room. We wanted a larger living room and utility room. Then the price was roughly the same as for the B10.
Lastly, we looked at the Arcus B10. We immediately liked the upper floor because of the three children’s rooms of equal size, so we had no complaints about the upper floor.
Photovoltaics are included, but at 1.5 kWp probably somewhat undersized.
On the ground floor, we wanted a closed kitchen, which was also included in the offer. Additionally, we wanted a larger utility room and a shower in the guest bathroom.
To make the utility room larger, our idea was to move both the kitchen and utility room somewhat to the left on the floor plan, and correspondingly reduce the size of the living room a little.
We received an offer including standard services and additional options (colored walls in the utility room, side entrance door, etc.). Complete overview further down.
With the extra features, the offer totaled €312,500.
The guest room is also meant to be used as a study, as I sometimes work from home.
Why do you think the townhouse is exactly the wrong choice? “Only” because of storage options?
Now a rough list of the included services.
We appreciate any tips (even if they deviate somewhat from the floor plan).
Best regards
Christoph and Kathleen
thank you first of all for your responses.
@kbt09
I have attached a plan. The plot is number 90.
There are also pictures with more precise measurements attached. We like the idea of a “small utility room” on the upper floor, but we are unsure to what extent this is feasible, or how Heinz von Heiden manages the costs for it. We have added it to our list.
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
@ypg
We had an appointment with Heinz von Heiden, where we went through three house variants.
First, the fixed design that is not customizable.
Arcus 152:
We wanted to slightly enlarge this (165–170m² (1776–1830 sq ft)) due to a missing children’s room. We wanted a larger living room and utility room. Then the price was roughly the same as for the B10.
Lastly, we looked at the Arcus B10. We immediately liked the upper floor because of the three children’s rooms of equal size, so we had no complaints about the upper floor.
Photovoltaics are included, but at 1.5 kWp probably somewhat undersized.
On the ground floor, we wanted a closed kitchen, which was also included in the offer. Additionally, we wanted a larger utility room and a shower in the guest bathroom.
To make the utility room larger, our idea was to move both the kitchen and utility room somewhat to the left on the floor plan, and correspondingly reduce the size of the living room a little.
We received an offer including standard services and additional options (colored walls in the utility room, side entrance door, etc.). Complete overview further down.
With the extra features, the offer totaled €312,500.
The guest room is also meant to be used as a study, as I sometimes work from home.
Why do you think the townhouse is exactly the wrong choice? “Only” because of storage options?
Now a rough list of the included services.
We appreciate any tips (even if they deviate somewhat from the floor plan).
Best regards
Christoph and Kathleen
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