ᐅ Floor plan: 2 full stories, KfW 55 energy standard, 136 sqm, flat roof

Hello dear building community!

We are planning our single-family home in an area with a development plan and would like to present our floor plan for your critical feedback. Thank you in advance for your time and comments – feel free to be straightforward!

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 530 sqm (5700 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line and boundary
Edge development: no
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 2
Roof shape: flat roof, extensively greened
Architectural style: Bauhaus
Orientation: street on the south side
Maximum heights / limits: 7.50 m (24.6 ft) maximum height of attic flat roof; minor building parts may exceed building boundaries up to a maximum width of 5.0 m (16.4 ft) and depth of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) for windbreaks, staircases, entrance canopies, air source heat pumps, and balconies exceptionally permitted
Additional specifications:
- Base height limited to max. 0.50 m (1.6 ft)
- Garages and carports only allowed within the building envelope or the window for garages and parking spaces
- Driveway from the street may be max. 4 m (13.1 ft) wide
- Extensive or intensive green roofing
- Chimney not allowed

Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Bauhaus, flat roof, solid construction, full stories, straight concrete staircase
Basement: no, number of floors: 2
Number of occupants, ages: 3 persons; 30 years, 30 years, 6 months
Ground floor space needs: open living-dining area, study, utility room, pantry, shower-toilet
Upper floor: master bedroom with walk-in closet, 2 children’s rooms, bathroom with tub and shower and 2 washbasins
Office: family use or home office? Home office / guest room
Number of overnight guests per year: 10-20
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes, possibly island or U-shape
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: probably carport
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: maybe
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or should not be included

House Design
Who designed it:
- designer from a construction company
- based on the floor plan of a pitched roof house by a South German ecological prefabricated wood construction company
What do you particularly like? Why? Seating window and the staircase dividing the living-dining area, open ground floor, discreet upper floor
What do you dislike? Why? Storage space might be tight, utility room possibly too small
Price estimate according to architect/designer: not yet known
Personal budget limit for the house, including equipment: –
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump

If you had to give up, on which details/extensions?
- could you give up: KFW 55 standard, T-solution in bathroom, kitchen island, if good reasons: possibly rotate the straight staircase 180 degrees to access it from the hallway
- cannot give up: in our opinion, the design does not reflect exaggerated demands already

Why has the design ended up like it is now? For example:

What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes? The garden is important to us. In our opinion, the rectangular footprint is better suited than a square one to get the optimum out of the plot (sun on the west terrace). The floor-to-ceiling window on the south side in the kitchen.

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
The ground floor is nicely open and cozy and connects the garden and terrace with the house, while the upper floor offers enough privacy both inside and protection from outside views. We searched a long time for the optimal plot and want to use the land as the garden ideally as a retreat, with a possible swimming pond / pool later and a small vegetable garden.

You can overdo the shoebox design as well. The staircase is positioned sideways and will have to be rotated before birth. As it stands, it blocks the entire floor plan. The boiler won’t fit through the door ;-)

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Why is there a door in the kitchen? Patio doors are usually in the living room, right? Without the door, you would have considerably more kitchen and storage space.

I would get rid of the straight staircase. Your hallway on the upper floor is almost as big as the children’s rooms because of the staircase.

Put the bedroom facing north.

The guest room will actually become a storage room.

We have a very similar house size, but somehow your layout feels quite cramped to me... This is probably largely due to the staircase.
However, I would reconsider the staircase for more reasons than that alone. Are you sure you want future visits from your children to have to walk through your living area every time? Personally, I appreciate peace in the evening, relaxing on the sofa in my pajamas, and that staircase would drive me crazy.
I like the window seating idea and might even do something similar in hindsight, but your setup still feels very tight to me.
The hallway upstairs is way too large in comparison, which again is due to the staircase.
Unfortunately, your cloakroom won’t work as it is—it’s much too small.

You basically have no storage space—are you sure you want it like that?