ᐅ Floor plan, post-and-beam construction, accessory dwelling unit, and existing building
Created on: 21 Feb 2023 20:48
B
BucheOnBoard
Hello everyone,
Currently, my father, my wife, and my child (under 1 year old) live in a small residential house from the 1950s with 61m² (655 sq ft) of living space. The property is owned 50/50 by my father and me but is still partly being paid off by my grandmother (my outstanding payments are held in a separate account and are therefore just a “pass-through” item, while my father pays his monthly installments from his income). The plot is in Hamburg Iserbrook and measures 681m² (7,333 sq ft) with a standard land value of €985.
Unsurprisingly, the space is becoming somewhat tight, even though we get along well. Furthermore, the health of the older housemate is declining, and the narrow staircase to the upper floor is already becoming difficult to manage.
The basic idea is this: I would receive the second half of the plot as a gift, debt-free. My father will continue paying off his installments until he inherits the remainder. In return, we will build him a nice accessory apartment with the corresponding right of residence (or usufruct right, which still needs to be clarified)—barrier-free and compact so he can live independently there for as long as possible. The rest of the ground floor would then only contain a multipurpose room, guest toilet, and hallway; upstairs four rooms and a bathroom. We would like a (simple) converted attic as a retreat area. To relieve the ground floor space and avoid fully using the building envelope (sealing of surfaces, etc.), we plan a basement, as there are also two space-intensive hobbies and a workshop desired for DIY projects. I will also build some of the furniture myself.
Now to the questionnaire:
Building Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 681m² (7,333 sq ft) with existing house
Slope: No, but the area from the street level up to the terrace is filled +90cm (35 inches), the garage is at about +40cm (16 inches), the neighboring plot to the north also about +40cm (16 inches), and to the south approximately at street level
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Plot ratio (building coverage ratio): 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: 5m (16.4 ft) setback to the street, then 15m (49.2 ft) deep, 2.5m (8.2 ft) setback on each side (more for taller buildings)
Edge development: Allowed (garages etc., max. wall height 3m (10 ft), max. length 9m (30 ft))
Number of parking spaces: We believe none are legally required; we plan to provide one for future use, for electric vehicle charging (currently not needed)
Number of floors: One full story; ALKIS shows some buildings apparently with two floors (see attachment)
Roof type: Not specified
Architectural style: Not specified
Orientation: Not specified
Maximum heights/limits: Not specified
Other requirements: No illuminated advertising signs 😉
The 1965 building plan mainly mandates “residential zoning only” and “one full story,” but even these rules seem flexible. There is a very large copper beech tree in the southeast corner of the plot, with an estimated crown diameter of 10m (33 ft) and at least 12-14m (39-46 ft) tall. The tree is to be preserved (it is unclear if it must officially be preserved with a new build). I expect that the new building must not come closer to the tree than the current building—about 2.5m (8.2 ft) from the trunk. The trunk itself is roughly 1.5m (5 ft) in diameter. A pruning plan is under discussion (also due to shading of the roof, planned for solar panels).
Owners' Requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: Detached single-family home, gable roof with pitch >45°, rather long and narrow
Basement, number of floors: Yes to basement, 1.5 floors plus a converted attic
Number of occupants, ages: 4 (64 (gruff and private), 34, 31, under 1) Another child should be possible
Ground floor space needs: Open-plan area preferably with a small pantry, guest toilet
Accessory apartment with barrier-free design (walk-in shower, open living kitchen with sleeping niche). Can be small.
Shared hallway important (for potential care needs without going outside, access to joint basement with laundry facilities, etc.)
Upper floor space needs: 1 bedroom with a large bed and built-in closets but no extras, 3 rooms (1 child’s room, 1 office/child’s room, 1 guest/office (can be small)), 1 bathroom with a larger vanity, bathtub, and shower
Attic space needs: 2 “retreat” areas for the adults; if necessary, just a rocking chair with reading lamp and sewing machine on one side, and a gaming PC on the other. The current attic is an equilateral triangle with 2.1m (83 inches) side length; it doesn’t need to be much larger/wider/higher than that.
Basement space needs (access via shared hallway + additional exterior entrance): Technical room with heat pump, ventilation, electrical distribution, inverter, server; woodwork workshop; laundry room; 2 hobby cellars for large-format collections—Lego and beer cans, no kink-shaming please 😉 ; 1 storage room for decorations, suitcases, camping gear, etc. Must be heated (and ventilated), but simple tile flooring and surface-mounted installations are sufficient.
Office: Family use or home office? Home office about three times a week, plus one self-employed side business
Guest stays per year: 6–10, usually just one night, sometimes 2–3 nights
Open or closed design: Open on the ground floor but staircase not located in the living room/open space
Conservative or modern construction? I’m never quite sure of the difference, but I feel fully modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes, cooking often and joyfully, also with guests
Number of dining seats: 6; existing table extends to 14 seats for Christmas and birthdays
Fireplace: No, no chimney planned
Music/stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Carport/roof overhang directly at the building would be good, mainly for bikes and potentially for an electric vehicle in the (near) future. To my knowledge, Hamburg does not require parking spaces.
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: Maybe a small bed later, but not important at the moment
Other wishes/particularities/daily routine, including reasons for certain choices: Currently, leisure activities happen at the dining table, which is between sofa and TV (used about once a week), so large lounge furniture is not really needed. The tree is a critical factor, as it likely narrows the building envelope in the front area to about 6.5m (21 ft). We don’t want to move the house further back because of the garden.
House Design
Planner: Still in the very early idea phase. Overall, we think about 180m² (1,937 sq ft) of living space plus basement. We currently live as four on 61m² (655 sq ft) and can manage. We don’t need huge increases in room size, rather a spatial separation with the accessory apartment and space for hobbies and home office. Dressing rooms or a children’s bathroom are not planned.
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: €750,000–800,000 (USD amount varies), with much furniture available from the existing house. Demolition cost would be extra, but I see plenty of grants and rental expenses during construction period. €450,000 (about $480,000) equity is available; the plot described above would be fully paid off (worth almost €700,000 or approximately $750,000).
Preferred heating technology: Ground-source heat pump with deep borehole and 12–15kWp photovoltaic system plus centralized controlled residential ventilation with enthalpy heat exchanger
If you have to compromise, on which features/extensions
- What can you do without: Either attic conversion or guest-office room
- What you cannot do without: Basement
Why is the design like this? No design yet; we are still considering the orientation on the plot.
It will be a timber frame construction, a gable roof to fit well, knee wall about 1.3m (4.3 ft), roof pitch >45°. The current roof is 60° and gives it a rustic fairy-tale look. On the south side, we want nearly full photovoltaic coverage except for a few roof windows; on the north side, we can imagine a dormer also to integrate the staircase to the attic—maybe a cross-gable?
The rough idea is close to the volume of a Danwood Point 138.1, but a bit wider and longer, and “narrower at the front” (the east side facing the street) due to the tree. Plus an attic conversion with a steeper roof. Access via staircase on the north side.
Alternatively, separate accessory apartment in the south and main residence in the north, but that would split the already narrow house into even narrower parts.
We would like a local timber frame general contractor (any recommendations in the greater Hamburg area?).
Am I completely off track? Have I forgotten anything? Made any major mistakes besides not building three years ago? Are important details missing? Will it all turn out too cramped? Is the budget roughly realistic? Aside from a garden shed, I have no building experience but some electrical knowledge. Photovoltaics and networking could be done by me, full electrical installation I am allowed but would not be practical with a general contractor.
Or is the program so complex that an architect is absolutely necessary because a draftsman would be overwhelmed? From my research it seems that architects for single-family homes that are not villas are quite rare.
Thanks to everyone who made it this far! And even more thanks to those who share their opinions or ideas.
Attached are current ALKIS excerpt, aerial photo, and building plan excerpt, all oriented north and approximately the same section. I hope they are legible… Red borders and points mark the plot.
Currently, my father, my wife, and my child (under 1 year old) live in a small residential house from the 1950s with 61m² (655 sq ft) of living space. The property is owned 50/50 by my father and me but is still partly being paid off by my grandmother (my outstanding payments are held in a separate account and are therefore just a “pass-through” item, while my father pays his monthly installments from his income). The plot is in Hamburg Iserbrook and measures 681m² (7,333 sq ft) with a standard land value of €985.
Unsurprisingly, the space is becoming somewhat tight, even though we get along well. Furthermore, the health of the older housemate is declining, and the narrow staircase to the upper floor is already becoming difficult to manage.
The basic idea is this: I would receive the second half of the plot as a gift, debt-free. My father will continue paying off his installments until he inherits the remainder. In return, we will build him a nice accessory apartment with the corresponding right of residence (or usufruct right, which still needs to be clarified)—barrier-free and compact so he can live independently there for as long as possible. The rest of the ground floor would then only contain a multipurpose room, guest toilet, and hallway; upstairs four rooms and a bathroom. We would like a (simple) converted attic as a retreat area. To relieve the ground floor space and avoid fully using the building envelope (sealing of surfaces, etc.), we plan a basement, as there are also two space-intensive hobbies and a workshop desired for DIY projects. I will also build some of the furniture myself.
Now to the questionnaire:
Building Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 681m² (7,333 sq ft) with existing house
Slope: No, but the area from the street level up to the terrace is filled +90cm (35 inches), the garage is at about +40cm (16 inches), the neighboring plot to the north also about +40cm (16 inches), and to the south approximately at street level
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Plot ratio (building coverage ratio): 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: 5m (16.4 ft) setback to the street, then 15m (49.2 ft) deep, 2.5m (8.2 ft) setback on each side (more for taller buildings)
Edge development: Allowed (garages etc., max. wall height 3m (10 ft), max. length 9m (30 ft))
Number of parking spaces: We believe none are legally required; we plan to provide one for future use, for electric vehicle charging (currently not needed)
Number of floors: One full story; ALKIS shows some buildings apparently with two floors (see attachment)
Roof type: Not specified
Architectural style: Not specified
Orientation: Not specified
Maximum heights/limits: Not specified
Other requirements: No illuminated advertising signs 😉
The 1965 building plan mainly mandates “residential zoning only” and “one full story,” but even these rules seem flexible. There is a very large copper beech tree in the southeast corner of the plot, with an estimated crown diameter of 10m (33 ft) and at least 12-14m (39-46 ft) tall. The tree is to be preserved (it is unclear if it must officially be preserved with a new build). I expect that the new building must not come closer to the tree than the current building—about 2.5m (8.2 ft) from the trunk. The trunk itself is roughly 1.5m (5 ft) in diameter. A pruning plan is under discussion (also due to shading of the roof, planned for solar panels).
Owners' Requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: Detached single-family home, gable roof with pitch >45°, rather long and narrow
Basement, number of floors: Yes to basement, 1.5 floors plus a converted attic
Number of occupants, ages: 4 (64 (gruff and private), 34, 31, under 1) Another child should be possible
Ground floor space needs: Open-plan area preferably with a small pantry, guest toilet
Accessory apartment with barrier-free design (walk-in shower, open living kitchen with sleeping niche). Can be small.
Shared hallway important (for potential care needs without going outside, access to joint basement with laundry facilities, etc.)
Upper floor space needs: 1 bedroom with a large bed and built-in closets but no extras, 3 rooms (1 child’s room, 1 office/child’s room, 1 guest/office (can be small)), 1 bathroom with a larger vanity, bathtub, and shower
Attic space needs: 2 “retreat” areas for the adults; if necessary, just a rocking chair with reading lamp and sewing machine on one side, and a gaming PC on the other. The current attic is an equilateral triangle with 2.1m (83 inches) side length; it doesn’t need to be much larger/wider/higher than that.
Basement space needs (access via shared hallway + additional exterior entrance): Technical room with heat pump, ventilation, electrical distribution, inverter, server; woodwork workshop; laundry room; 2 hobby cellars for large-format collections—Lego and beer cans, no kink-shaming please 😉 ; 1 storage room for decorations, suitcases, camping gear, etc. Must be heated (and ventilated), but simple tile flooring and surface-mounted installations are sufficient.
Office: Family use or home office? Home office about three times a week, plus one self-employed side business
Guest stays per year: 6–10, usually just one night, sometimes 2–3 nights
Open or closed design: Open on the ground floor but staircase not located in the living room/open space
Conservative or modern construction? I’m never quite sure of the difference, but I feel fully modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes, cooking often and joyfully, also with guests
Number of dining seats: 6; existing table extends to 14 seats for Christmas and birthdays
Fireplace: No, no chimney planned
Music/stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Carport/roof overhang directly at the building would be good, mainly for bikes and potentially for an electric vehicle in the (near) future. To my knowledge, Hamburg does not require parking spaces.
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: Maybe a small bed later, but not important at the moment
Other wishes/particularities/daily routine, including reasons for certain choices: Currently, leisure activities happen at the dining table, which is between sofa and TV (used about once a week), so large lounge furniture is not really needed. The tree is a critical factor, as it likely narrows the building envelope in the front area to about 6.5m (21 ft). We don’t want to move the house further back because of the garden.
House Design
Planner: Still in the very early idea phase. Overall, we think about 180m² (1,937 sq ft) of living space plus basement. We currently live as four on 61m² (655 sq ft) and can manage. We don’t need huge increases in room size, rather a spatial separation with the accessory apartment and space for hobbies and home office. Dressing rooms or a children’s bathroom are not planned.
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: €750,000–800,000 (USD amount varies), with much furniture available from the existing house. Demolition cost would be extra, but I see plenty of grants and rental expenses during construction period. €450,000 (about $480,000) equity is available; the plot described above would be fully paid off (worth almost €700,000 or approximately $750,000).
Preferred heating technology: Ground-source heat pump with deep borehole and 12–15kWp photovoltaic system plus centralized controlled residential ventilation with enthalpy heat exchanger
If you have to compromise, on which features/extensions
- What can you do without: Either attic conversion or guest-office room
- What you cannot do without: Basement
Why is the design like this? No design yet; we are still considering the orientation on the plot.
It will be a timber frame construction, a gable roof to fit well, knee wall about 1.3m (4.3 ft), roof pitch >45°. The current roof is 60° and gives it a rustic fairy-tale look. On the south side, we want nearly full photovoltaic coverage except for a few roof windows; on the north side, we can imagine a dormer also to integrate the staircase to the attic—maybe a cross-gable?
The rough idea is close to the volume of a Danwood Point 138.1, but a bit wider and longer, and “narrower at the front” (the east side facing the street) due to the tree. Plus an attic conversion with a steeper roof. Access via staircase on the north side.
Alternatively, separate accessory apartment in the south and main residence in the north, but that would split the already narrow house into even narrower parts.
We would like a local timber frame general contractor (any recommendations in the greater Hamburg area?).
Am I completely off track? Have I forgotten anything? Made any major mistakes besides not building three years ago? Are important details missing? Will it all turn out too cramped? Is the budget roughly realistic? Aside from a garden shed, I have no building experience but some electrical knowledge. Photovoltaics and networking could be done by me, full electrical installation I am allowed but would not be practical with a general contractor.
Or is the program so complex that an architect is absolutely necessary because a draftsman would be overwhelmed? From my research it seems that architects for single-family homes that are not villas are quite rare.
Thanks to everyone who made it this far! And even more thanks to those who share their opinions or ideas.
Attached are current ALKIS excerpt, aerial photo, and building plan excerpt, all oriented north and approximately the same section. I hope they are legible… Red borders and points mark the plot.
Here is one more option. It includes a setback, but slightly smaller. I haven’t yet calculated how this will work with the single-story design. That’s for the planner to figure out. In any case, there will be a knee wall of 1.50 m (5 feet) and another setback in the staircase area to create a spectacular play of light. Plus the cozy nook at the top, which seems to be a heartfelt wish. The carport issue, however, remains tricky.
ypg schrieb:
The house is completely inaccessible with an occupied carport because the car blocks the entrance door. I'll take that as an answer to my question: so it wasn’t an architect without quotation marks after all.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
Even though my design is much smaller [...], the usable rooms are larger. The masons will probably get less corner premium this time ;-)
Maybe a quick floor plan quality check for all self-planners: as a first indicator, simply mark in red all places where a wall changes direction after less than 2m (6.5 feet).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
@ypg even though my design is much smaller (135m2/112.5m2), the usable rooms are larger.I don’t know what measurements your software shows you, but for me it looks close to 90sqm (970 sq ft). Could it be that the workshop/carport was included in your calculation? As a reference, I used the 13.5 (meters) from the original plan on the left.
But putting that aside: everyone here has their own experiences and opinions, which some share openly. In many areas we often see eye to eye, especially when it comes to criticism. Mistakes are quickly spotted. However, they are rarely fully resolved without creating another bottleneck elsewhere.
Compromises usually have to be made in any house design. Different priorities play a big role for each person. Those with three children will at least prioritize a second shower, others have hobbies they want to continue at home. Wellness enthusiasts will emphasize a bathroom, while others prefer a dressing room just for themselves.
Many want to move downstairs when they get older and think they’ll be happy with a 4sqm (43 sq ft) shower-WC plus an 8sqm (86 sq ft) office. That is often rightly criticized. Personally, I don’t believe it’s wise to base all compromises on priorities for old age when just starting a family. There are often 40 or 50 years in between, possibly a job change, two divorces, three illnesses, four weddings, and five grandchildren 😉
In this case, there is a granny flat, which is not only due to funding but also necessary because of the family’s situation. Without it, this house project wouldn’t happen. But when I see something like a barrier-reduced design with rooms where you can lean on almost all walls at once so you don’t need a walking stick anymore, I have to criticize that. I don’t think the original poster resents his dad enough to build these sleeping and washing holes for him. A small alcove bed might be nice for children or on holiday—or in a pinch for students—but it has nothing to do with age-appropriate living.
I bet if someone else brings a plan with those dimensions soon, it will rightly be criticized here.
The same applies, by the way, to the direct view of the sofa when entering the main apartment and the view of the stairs from the living room. Or the sofa’s proximity to the cloakroom, which—even for disciplined adults—is often used more quickly as a place to drop scarves and such before even opening the closet door. The toilet under the stairs is more a makeshift solution in an existing building than a smart new-build idea. However, the idea to also use the connecting hallway makes sense.
BucheOnBoard schrieb:
Space needs in the attic: 2x “retreats” for adults; if necessary, we’ll just store a rocking chair with reading lamp and a sewing machine on one side and a gaming PC on the other.Now about the finished attic: I also believe by now (unless someone comes up with a truly innovative design) that it’s better to skip the attic expansion instead of using the entire ground floor area in the attic. This is because you @BucheOnBoard want to create a retreat in the loft. Think again. Your child is one year old, maybe a second one is coming. How do you imagine having a retreat when you actually need to be close to your child? Eventually, the child goes to bed in the evening and then you can chill. You probably won’t want to go all the way upstairs but stay down with a drink before heading to your own bedroom. And yes, the bedroom is also a retreat—but a much more comfortable one. Alternatively, you could make the office/guest room also a cozy space for yourself.
If that’s not enough, you can still create another room by using the attic’s floor area. Maybe a nice dormer on the south side is still affordable, where you can place your armchair with a floor lamp and a wardrobe to store the sewing machine?
Ultimately, you wanted a basement. It turned out too expensive.
Let’s see:
BucheOnBoard schrieb:
Space needs in the basement (access via a shared hallway + additional external entrance): technical room/mechanical room with heat pump, ventilation, electrical distribution, inverter, server; wood workshop; laundry room; 2 hobby cellars for large collections—Lego and beer cans, no kink-shaming please 😉, 1 “storage” for decorations, suitcases, camping gear, etc. So it needs to be heated (and ventilated), but simple tiled flooring and surface mounted installations are fine.I see the attic more as a basement replacement room. Initially as storage and then for your collections. But I warn you, for that, you'll hardly have any time left 😉
BucheOnBoard schrieb:
Carport/roof overhang right at the building would be good, but mostly for bicycles and (in the medium term) for an electric car.…BucheOnBoard schrieb:
with the wish for both parents (me + wife) to have their own room, which is neither the kitchen nor the home office—a room you don’t have to tidy, and whose door you can slam when needed.Your own room would be the bedroom—with a door to slam.
I think it’s clear roughly where this is going: a clear layout for the granny flat, at least 30sqm (320 sq ft) for funding, no hallway needed but some space to move around furniture without tripping over. Shared hallway, also serving as a shared cloakroom. Small additional coat storage for the main apartment in case it is rented out later. (I still advise keeping the technical equipment in the north side, including the granny flat bathroom.) One stairway leading firmly to the attic, which should provide at least storage space. On the upper floor, a multipurpose room separated from the children’s rooms, so the good Singer sewing machine can dance late into the evening. And anyone building in Iserbrook should get used to a roof pitch of at least 48 degrees 🙂
B
BucheOnBoard21 Oct 2023 23:55I’m trying to work my way through all the posts of the day and gather my thoughts...
So, it’s an architect without quotation marks, and yes, we’re not happy with that either and have the same “quotation marks” feeling – all the rooms we want are there, but somehow they’re just lined up next to each other, resulting in large hallway areas or similar. That the living room part of the open space ends up narrower than it is now, is obviously not what you dream of when building a new house, especially when the architect has already sat in that very living room. For example, the front terrace being drawn into the beech tree is actually a minor issue, but it doesn’t exactly boost the mood either. We did communicate that no car is supposed to be parked in the carport but maybe one day an electric car would be charged there, so I definitely wouldn’t base the “quotation marks” on that.
The beech tree is actually the main reason for the setback: otherwise, the crown would be very close and annual pruning would be necessary since there is hardly any space for the yearly growth. We had suggested that a bay window (or at least a projection not spanning the entire width of the house) would be quite practical for that. What came out of it, however, was more or less a “clumsy chopping off of the upper floor” – which additionally doesn’t work because the southeast corner ends up too close to the trunk. We discussed this again yesterday with “our” arborist, who assumes that it wouldn’t be approved like this or that the tree care requirements would be exorbitantly demanding. He advised us to leave the existing basement walls standing in that corner (the existing house has a basement in the front half, although very damp and low) and to build no more than 11 meters (36 feet) on the south side, while also considering the workspace needed to protect the roots. The north side could then of course be longer, but that would make the building more complex and thus tend to increase the cost. I attached a photo showing the beech tree’s size as seen from the street.
Apart from that, @ypg wrote very nicely in her last post: The granny flat / secondary unit is not just for funding purposes; someone should actually live there. Unfortunately, people mostly want peace and don’t want to get involved in the construction process, but space in the bathroom and around the bed is important, while there will be no sofa in the granny flat. We would also very much like to avoid a staircase in the open living area...
Resulting from the necessary “bay window” / “extension,” we then thought that the additional square meters counted for the floor area ratio could be well invested in increasing the knee wall height – which would benefit both the upper floor and the attic as a cellar replacement. And an attic with 3.20 meters (10.5 feet) from floor to ceiling (yes, of course only exactly in the middle) is definitely a nice room. I think so. I stand by that. So it will be developed; in both of the preferred builders’ plans, the whole roof would be insulated anyway, and from the inside, it would be closed off with electricity and a (simple) floor installed. My heart is not attached to a huge staircase leading up there but it should be more than just a space-saving staircase with alternating steps. How much time we will actually have to use it, I don’t know, and maybe it will remain a place of longing and just be used for storage. But without a basement, we do need that space somehow.
And the plan for the demolition/new build phase is actually a temporary rental solution, either a house or an apartment. It’s budgeted (relatively) generously for construction, because, well, Hamburg...
And I hope to somehow get all of this into a sketch tomorrow...
So, it’s an architect without quotation marks, and yes, we’re not happy with that either and have the same “quotation marks” feeling – all the rooms we want are there, but somehow they’re just lined up next to each other, resulting in large hallway areas or similar. That the living room part of the open space ends up narrower than it is now, is obviously not what you dream of when building a new house, especially when the architect has already sat in that very living room. For example, the front terrace being drawn into the beech tree is actually a minor issue, but it doesn’t exactly boost the mood either. We did communicate that no car is supposed to be parked in the carport but maybe one day an electric car would be charged there, so I definitely wouldn’t base the “quotation marks” on that.
The beech tree is actually the main reason for the setback: otherwise, the crown would be very close and annual pruning would be necessary since there is hardly any space for the yearly growth. We had suggested that a bay window (or at least a projection not spanning the entire width of the house) would be quite practical for that. What came out of it, however, was more or less a “clumsy chopping off of the upper floor” – which additionally doesn’t work because the southeast corner ends up too close to the trunk. We discussed this again yesterday with “our” arborist, who assumes that it wouldn’t be approved like this or that the tree care requirements would be exorbitantly demanding. He advised us to leave the existing basement walls standing in that corner (the existing house has a basement in the front half, although very damp and low) and to build no more than 11 meters (36 feet) on the south side, while also considering the workspace needed to protect the roots. The north side could then of course be longer, but that would make the building more complex and thus tend to increase the cost. I attached a photo showing the beech tree’s size as seen from the street.
Apart from that, @ypg wrote very nicely in her last post: The granny flat / secondary unit is not just for funding purposes; someone should actually live there. Unfortunately, people mostly want peace and don’t want to get involved in the construction process, but space in the bathroom and around the bed is important, while there will be no sofa in the granny flat. We would also very much like to avoid a staircase in the open living area...
Resulting from the necessary “bay window” / “extension,” we then thought that the additional square meters counted for the floor area ratio could be well invested in increasing the knee wall height – which would benefit both the upper floor and the attic as a cellar replacement. And an attic with 3.20 meters (10.5 feet) from floor to ceiling (yes, of course only exactly in the middle) is definitely a nice room. I think so. I stand by that. So it will be developed; in both of the preferred builders’ plans, the whole roof would be insulated anyway, and from the inside, it would be closed off with electricity and a (simple) floor installed. My heart is not attached to a huge staircase leading up there but it should be more than just a space-saving staircase with alternating steps. How much time we will actually have to use it, I don’t know, and maybe it will remain a place of longing and just be used for storage. But without a basement, we do need that space somehow.
And the plan for the demolition/new build phase is actually a temporary rental solution, either a house or an apartment. It’s budgeted (relatively) generously for construction, because, well, Hamburg...
And I hope to somehow get all of this into a sketch tomorrow...
BucheOnBoard schrieb:
but this is just the first draft after all … and you shouldn’t choose the first one.
Tell the architect what you don’t like. In their fee estimate, they will usually include several revisions.
Maybe a better design will be proposed later?!
BucheOnBoard schrieb:
And I hope to somehow get everything into a sketch by tomorrow... Why now? And why the deadline for tomorrow?
The beech: I already thought that the recess has something to do with it.
Are those real sandstone bricks?
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