ᐅ Floor plan after initial planning meeting, 140 m², one and a half stories

Created on: 6 Jan 2022 17:19

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 505
Slope: No
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Building window, building line, and boundary: 3 m (10 feet)
Edge development: not planned
Number of parking spaces: 2, paved only
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof style: clipped hip roof
Architectural style: modern, timeless
Orientation: south-east
Maximum height / limits: 4.5 m (15 feet) eaves height
Other requirements: photovoltaic panels only on one side

Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type
Basement, floors: No, 1.5
Number of occupants, age: currently 2 (26-27), planned for two children
Space requirements on ground and upper floor: well, whatever 140 m² (1507 sq ft) allows. Upstairs: 2 children’s rooms, 1 bedroom, and an optional study
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Overnight guests per year: few
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes
Number of dining seats: 4-6
Fireplace: yes

________
Hello, I'm looking forward to your feedback. We had the first planning meeting today and now have the first sketches. Most of what we had planned beforehand has been implemented.
What we especially like:

the open living concept downstairs, which makes very efficient use of space.

we also like the bedroom upstairs. When both children are here, the niche can be used openly as a study or, if needed, separated by a drywall partition to create an additional full room.

What is not ideal:
The location of the bathroom downstairs is not perfect, but we couldn’t improve it without either
A) adding a hallway
B) losing space on the south side

The walls there will also be made of calcium silicate blocks to improve sound insulation somewhat. Generally, we are an open family, and visitors who don’t like it can just go upstairs.

So this works for us.

Another less ideal aspect is the location of the fireplace. It comes out of the clipped side of the roof here. But it’s okay, not a deal breaker.

I’m looking forward to your feedback!

Site plan of a building with terrace, red outline and scale 1:500, planning meeting 2022.

Attic floor plan: bedroom, two children’s rooms, bathroom, corridor and staircase; scale 1:100.

Ground floor plan: kitchen, living/dining room, hallway, staircase, entrance, measurements.

South and north facades of a one-story brick house with gable roof and windows.

Two views of a two-story brick house with gable roof (west and east view), scale 1:100.

Richooo28 Jan 2022 22:13

#55

SoL schrieb:

The upstairs hallway is a dark space without any natural light...

driver55 schrieb:

I’ll be blunt again—I see this as a complete design failure.
(The orientation of the house on the plot hasn’t been considered.)

- 27 sqm (290 sq ft) bedroom area that’s hardly usable—not even 3 meters (10 feet) of wall space for a wardrobe
- then tiny kids’ rooms with sloped ceilings (even if some work is still needed there 😀)
- Bathroom: the hallway to the toilet is inconvenient
- Upstairs hallway (already mentioned)
- Washing machine close to the sofa (soundproofing wall or not)—general technical aspects
- It’s all too open for me: hallway/stairs/kitchen/toilet/dining...—even in the living area you have no privacy. Front door to stairs—you can hear everything...
- ???

What’s the real challenge here that prevents creating a decent floor plan with normal dimensions?

Why use 45 cm (18 inch) thick walls? Use wood studs instead—you gain about 4 sqm (43 sq ft) on the ground floor and 2 sqm (22 sq ft) upstairs with the same footprint and comparable building envelope.

Well, that’s just a matter of perspective. Obviously, we find this to be a reasonable floor plan. By now, we’re very satisfied with it. And that’s what really matters in house building. Even the toilet placement still wouldn’t bother me. The change there was mostly due to “peer pressure.” We’re still considering adding a window in the upstairs hallway above the stairs.

SoL29 Jan 2022 08:03

#56

Richooo schrieb:

We are still considering windows in the upper hallway above the staircase.

A dark space without natural light versus some daylight through windows.
I understand, that’s a tough question and the answer requires careful consideration...
I don’t understand why you’re struggling so much. You don’t provide any arguments in response to the suggestions here, just "Yes, hmm, it could be seen either way, it’s just personal preference and we like it...".
You would have liked the first floor plan as well, but only until you moved in. Just try to trust people who have already built or live in a house...

Addendum: If 200 wrong-way drivers are coming towards you, you should probably ask yourself if maybe you’re the one going the wrong way!

Richooo29 Jan 2022 09:22

#57

SoL schrieb:

A dark space without natural light versus some daylight through windows.
I understand, this is a tough question and the answer needs careful consideration...
I don’t understand why you’re struggling so much. You don’t respond to the points made here with arguments, just with “Yes, hmm, it can be seen both ways, it’s a matter of opinion and we like it...”.
You would have liked the initial floor plan too, but only until moving in. Just trust people who have already built a house or live in one...

Addendum: If you have 200 oncoming drivers going the wrong way, you should ask yourself if maybe you’re driving the wrong way yourself!

Maybe it’s also because I personally spoke with some homeowners I know who really liked the floor plan.

Besides, what you say isn’t true at all.
1) We changed the house’s position on the plot significantly, which will probably mean another ground survey for us, but we realized it really makes more sense that way, as suggested here.

2) One member didn’t just complain about everything but proposed an alternative layout for the combined bathroom/laundry room that we implemented as well. Many other things, like the nook upstairs, are a matter of taste. We like it. What many understandably didn’t like, such as the toilet, we changed.

Also, I grew up in a house with exactly that kind of hallway on the upper floor. I always found it nice; I know no different. So it doesn’t bother me. And if we can get a small window in there for natural light, great.

driver5529 Jan 2022 11:01

#58

Richooo schrieb:

And I grew up in a house with exactly that kind of hallway on the upper floor. I always found it nice; I don’t know it any other way.

So it has to stay like that? 😳
I grew up in a 1963 family home with a typical layout—long narrow hallway with rooms on the right and left. But no one builds like that anymore.
Throw out the old stuff and let a skilled designer handle it. By the way, you can find them even with timber frame house providers.

11ant29 Jan 2022 19:07

#59

I received three small gifts from the forum beyond, sent by @kaho674, see attachments:

Site plan of a property with a central building, streets, dimension lines, and colored utilities.

Floor plan of a house with terrace, open living room, dining table, kitchen, bathroom, utility room, staircase.

Floor plan of a house: central staircase, two bedrooms, bathtub, and shower.

https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

Nida35a29 Jan 2022 19:27

#60

Respect,
a possible solution for the variety of floor plans,
I like it because of its simplicity.
Dining area, with an extended table, can comfortably fit 15 guests, peninsula then used as a buffet.
In the kitchen, I would replace the window with a door leading to the herb garden.

ᐅ Floor plan after initial planning meeting, 140 m², one and a half stories

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