ᐅ Floor Plan for a 185 sqm Urban Villa Without a Basement – Tips
Created on: 19 Jul 2020 12:56
H
Hausbewohner
Hello everyone,
We are currently in the critical phase of planning a single-family house without a basement. The construction will be carried out by a building company that provides standardized floor plans / model houses, which can be expanded and modified. The attached floor plan already reflects many of our ideas and has been adjusted according to our preferences. We feel that the floor plan is about 85% finalized.
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700 sqm (7500 sq ft)
Terrain: level
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 2 full floors
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from the neighboring boundary
Edge development: not allowed, including no garages or carports
Number of parking spaces: 2 plus double garage
Number of floors: two full floors
Roof style: town villa or shed roof - still under discussion
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: parallel to the street, living room facing southwest
Maximum height / limits: 7.5 m (25 ft) eave height, 10 m (33 ft) ridge height
Builder’s requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern; roof type to be decided based on usability and feasibility of photovoltaic installation (still under discussion and calculation to see if a shed roof facing south with about 30 kWp is worthwhile given low feed-in tariffs and low self-consumption)
Basement, floors: no basement, two full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults approximately 30 years old, no children planned
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: should include the "public area" with living room, kitchen, but also a utility/technical room, guest room, and a full guest bathroom with shower;
Upper floor: more private, with home offices, bedroom, and bathroom; additionally, both floors include ample storage rooms to compensate for the lack of a basement and attic. We do not want to clutter our offices or the utility room with extra belongings.
Office: family use or home office? Both of us have the option to work from home and use it regularly. Because of our jobs, we need separate offices. Also, we want to keep the theoretical possibility of children (for us or, in the worst case, a future buyer), so we planned for two fairly large offices.
Guest stays per year: several times, usually 2 guests
Open or closed architecture: open plan for living, dining, and kitchen; closed for the upper floor
Conservative or modern construction: N/A
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, no kitchen island. The bay window should allow more light into the kitchen and provide workspace
Number of dining seats: 4, extendable to 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: the balcony is an additional feature of the bay window. The bay window is a must-have, and for the balcony, two chairs are enough to enjoy the view in the morning or evening.
Garage, carport: double garage planned on the south side (see ground floor plan where there are no windows). The garage faces south to give the terrace more distance from the neighbor and better privacy. Facing north would place the terrace only 3 m (10 ft) from the neighbor, which is not desired.
Utility garden, greenhouse: no, possibly a raised bed in the future.
Other requests / special features / daily routine, including explanations for preferences:
We want comparatively extensive storage space, which naturally increases the building volume and cost. However, from model houses and homes of acquaintances, we often noticed a lack of storage, leading to additional furniture cluttering living spaces.
We plan to work in our offices, meaning there should only be desks and filing cabinets for documents. The larger office will also be used as a sunroom for reading (bookshelves). We definitely do not want to store Christmas decorations or similar items there.
The same applies to the utility room, where washing and drying laundry will take place, hence the extra storage on the ground floor.
House design
Who created the design: the plan was drawn by the planner from the building company and is the 2nd iteration. It meets almost all of our suggestions and wishes.
What do you particularly like? Why? We like the upper floor, the large office, and the bedroom. Additionally, we find the living room, kitchen, and pantry area logically and sensibly laid out. The kitchen has sufficient counter space as well as room for tall cabinets.
What do you dislike? Why? The window arrangement on the upper floor (especially in the large office) is still chaotic; we still need to work on that ourselves. We want bright rooms with many windows, but this compromises symmetry. Also, we do not like the window situation by the stairs. We want an open staircase without storage underneath; a small bench for putting on shoes would fit there.
We also want to avoid entering a dark hallway upon entering the house, so the double doors to the living room on the ground floor should have glass elements. Additionally, we are considering smart ways (also for ease of cleaning) to bring glass or light into the stairwell. Do you have any ideas? The currently planned fixed glass panel is not to our liking.
Estimated price according to architect/planner: 450,000 (excluding additional construction costs)
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures: 600,000 including garden, additional building costs, and so on.
If you had to give up something, which details or extensions
-you could give up: nothing comes to mind at the moment
-you could not give up: windows / natural light
Why is the design as it is now? For example:
Standard design from the planner?: It is based on a standard design that we developed further according to our wishes.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? All wishes were implemented.
Basic question:
What comes to your mind spontaneously about this that we may not have considered yet or any deal-breakers in the design? We would appreciate discussing this.
Do you have ideas for how the window arrangement on the upper floor facing southwest could look and how to bring light from the staircase into the hallway on both floors?
Best regards and many thanks for your ideas!
We are currently in the critical phase of planning a single-family house without a basement. The construction will be carried out by a building company that provides standardized floor plans / model houses, which can be expanded and modified. The attached floor plan already reflects many of our ideas and has been adjusted according to our preferences. We feel that the floor plan is about 85% finalized.
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700 sqm (7500 sq ft)
Terrain: level
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 2 full floors
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from the neighboring boundary
Edge development: not allowed, including no garages or carports
Number of parking spaces: 2 plus double garage
Number of floors: two full floors
Roof style: town villa or shed roof - still under discussion
Architectural style: modern
Orientation: parallel to the street, living room facing southwest
Maximum height / limits: 7.5 m (25 ft) eave height, 10 m (33 ft) ridge height
Builder’s requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern; roof type to be decided based on usability and feasibility of photovoltaic installation (still under discussion and calculation to see if a shed roof facing south with about 30 kWp is worthwhile given low feed-in tariffs and low self-consumption)
Basement, floors: no basement, two full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults approximately 30 years old, no children planned
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: should include the "public area" with living room, kitchen, but also a utility/technical room, guest room, and a full guest bathroom with shower;
Upper floor: more private, with home offices, bedroom, and bathroom; additionally, both floors include ample storage rooms to compensate for the lack of a basement and attic. We do not want to clutter our offices or the utility room with extra belongings.
Office: family use or home office? Both of us have the option to work from home and use it regularly. Because of our jobs, we need separate offices. Also, we want to keep the theoretical possibility of children (for us or, in the worst case, a future buyer), so we planned for two fairly large offices.
Guest stays per year: several times, usually 2 guests
Open or closed architecture: open plan for living, dining, and kitchen; closed for the upper floor
Conservative or modern construction: N/A
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, no kitchen island. The bay window should allow more light into the kitchen and provide workspace
Number of dining seats: 4, extendable to 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: the balcony is an additional feature of the bay window. The bay window is a must-have, and for the balcony, two chairs are enough to enjoy the view in the morning or evening.
Garage, carport: double garage planned on the south side (see ground floor plan where there are no windows). The garage faces south to give the terrace more distance from the neighbor and better privacy. Facing north would place the terrace only 3 m (10 ft) from the neighbor, which is not desired.
Utility garden, greenhouse: no, possibly a raised bed in the future.
Other requests / special features / daily routine, including explanations for preferences:
We want comparatively extensive storage space, which naturally increases the building volume and cost. However, from model houses and homes of acquaintances, we often noticed a lack of storage, leading to additional furniture cluttering living spaces.
We plan to work in our offices, meaning there should only be desks and filing cabinets for documents. The larger office will also be used as a sunroom for reading (bookshelves). We definitely do not want to store Christmas decorations or similar items there.
The same applies to the utility room, where washing and drying laundry will take place, hence the extra storage on the ground floor.
House design
Who created the design: the plan was drawn by the planner from the building company and is the 2nd iteration. It meets almost all of our suggestions and wishes.
What do you particularly like? Why? We like the upper floor, the large office, and the bedroom. Additionally, we find the living room, kitchen, and pantry area logically and sensibly laid out. The kitchen has sufficient counter space as well as room for tall cabinets.
What do you dislike? Why? The window arrangement on the upper floor (especially in the large office) is still chaotic; we still need to work on that ourselves. We want bright rooms with many windows, but this compromises symmetry. Also, we do not like the window situation by the stairs. We want an open staircase without storage underneath; a small bench for putting on shoes would fit there.
We also want to avoid entering a dark hallway upon entering the house, so the double doors to the living room on the ground floor should have glass elements. Additionally, we are considering smart ways (also for ease of cleaning) to bring glass or light into the stairwell. Do you have any ideas? The currently planned fixed glass panel is not to our liking.
Estimated price according to architect/planner: 450,000 (excluding additional construction costs)
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures: 600,000 including garden, additional building costs, and so on.
If you had to give up something, which details or extensions
-you could give up: nothing comes to mind at the moment
-you could not give up: windows / natural light
Why is the design as it is now? For example:
Standard design from the planner?: It is based on a standard design that we developed further according to our wishes.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? All wishes were implemented.
Basic question:
What comes to your mind spontaneously about this that we may not have considered yet or any deal-breakers in the design? We would appreciate discussing this.
Do you have ideas for how the window arrangement on the upper floor facing southwest could look and how to bring light from the staircase into the hallway on both floors?
Best regards and many thanks for your ideas!
H
Hausbewohner20 Jul 2020 18:14Thank you all for your responses.
I will try to reply step by step:
@Pinky0301
Thanks for the tip. We actually planned to swap the fixed panel with the sliding door for the kitchen so that you can access the terrace directly from the kitchen.
@Curly
We thought about what needs to be stored. On the ground floor, this might include winter jackets, skis, tablecloths, decorations, and similar items.
Upstairs, for example, we would like to store bed linens, suitcases, and similar belongings. It all adds up.
As a result, there is naturally more space available in the bedroom (or rather, you need less) because suitcases, bed linen, etc. don’t have to be stored there.
A practical question for you: why do you have large bedrooms? We thought people don’t usually spend much awake time there (they don’t walk around much...), and if everything is cleverly stored in wardrobes and so on, why do you still need free floor space?
We currently have a pantry and don’t want to miss it. In our case, the freezer would also be stored there.
@pagoni2020
Our idea was actually the opposite: guests on the ground floor and private space upstairs just for us.
The large office is used by one of us as a workspace but should also be usable by both of us on weekends (for example, if one is working or gaming on the PC and the other wants to lie on a couch and read). It’s also a place to push a bean bag under the windows into the sun.
In general, we are considering reducing the storage room on the ground floor to give more space to the living room. Your approach makes sense, and we will think it over a few more times. On the other hand, what has been your experience as a compromise between a too-large open space and wasted space versus too cramped? We realize that you cannot place a full bookcase wall in the living room because there simply isn’t enough wall space available (partly because of the windows).
We have seen some criticism along these lines in other threads.
We have discussed and dismissed the idea of a basement because, in the end, you might save around 8 sqm (square meters) of storage space on the ground floor and 10 sqm upstairs, as well as possibly the pantry and utility room on the ground floor.
What would partial basement construction cost? (not finished living space quality)
The extensions we want (house extension) cost about 35k. A partial basement for 50 sqm would of course be more expensive, no question, but it would also add more square meters.
Following your advice, we asked the project manager again, and he sees the partial basement as not optimal since, in the worst case, a slab would still have to be made in the basement over the entire area, which would make it no longer cost-effective.
A full basement (not finished living space quality) would cost around 100k, which is not worthwhile for us because we really don’t need the space.
@Ysop***
The large office resulted from the reasons mentioned above and the desire for other uses (in winter to catch some sun while the ground floor is already shaded by hedges etc.).
@11ant
Please find attached the wording from the development plan – which is clear in my opinion.
Of the remaining approximately 100 builders, none received an exception to place the garage on the boundary line. (To be honest, I understand the municipality’s point; it looks more open this way. It is naturally disadvantageous if, like us, you have a narrower plot.)
I am allowed to place a wooden garden shed on the boundary, nothing more.
@Würfel*
We also have neighbors to the north. Four meters (13 feet) definitely isn’t enough, and there won’t be a full double garage. As described above, by extending the plot to the rear, you might get about 4.5–5 meters (15–16 feet); hopefully that will be enough for a comfortable single garage.
An office with glass doors is worth considering, thanks for the suggestion.
Do you have any ideas about implementing windows inside walls? Or examples of how this can be realized?
I will try to reply step by step:
@Pinky0301
Thanks for the tip. We actually planned to swap the fixed panel with the sliding door for the kitchen so that you can access the terrace directly from the kitchen.
@Curly
We thought about what needs to be stored. On the ground floor, this might include winter jackets, skis, tablecloths, decorations, and similar items.
Upstairs, for example, we would like to store bed linens, suitcases, and similar belongings. It all adds up.
As a result, there is naturally more space available in the bedroom (or rather, you need less) because suitcases, bed linen, etc. don’t have to be stored there.
A practical question for you: why do you have large bedrooms? We thought people don’t usually spend much awake time there (they don’t walk around much...), and if everything is cleverly stored in wardrobes and so on, why do you still need free floor space?
We currently have a pantry and don’t want to miss it. In our case, the freezer would also be stored there.
@pagoni2020
Our idea was actually the opposite: guests on the ground floor and private space upstairs just for us.
The large office is used by one of us as a workspace but should also be usable by both of us on weekends (for example, if one is working or gaming on the PC and the other wants to lie on a couch and read). It’s also a place to push a bean bag under the windows into the sun.
In general, we are considering reducing the storage room on the ground floor to give more space to the living room. Your approach makes sense, and we will think it over a few more times. On the other hand, what has been your experience as a compromise between a too-large open space and wasted space versus too cramped? We realize that you cannot place a full bookcase wall in the living room because there simply isn’t enough wall space available (partly because of the windows).
We have seen some criticism along these lines in other threads.
We have discussed and dismissed the idea of a basement because, in the end, you might save around 8 sqm (square meters) of storage space on the ground floor and 10 sqm upstairs, as well as possibly the pantry and utility room on the ground floor.
What would partial basement construction cost? (not finished living space quality)
The extensions we want (house extension) cost about 35k. A partial basement for 50 sqm would of course be more expensive, no question, but it would also add more square meters.
Following your advice, we asked the project manager again, and he sees the partial basement as not optimal since, in the worst case, a slab would still have to be made in the basement over the entire area, which would make it no longer cost-effective.
A full basement (not finished living space quality) would cost around 100k, which is not worthwhile for us because we really don’t need the space.
@Ysop***
The large office resulted from the reasons mentioned above and the desire for other uses (in winter to catch some sun while the ground floor is already shaded by hedges etc.).
@11ant
Please find attached the wording from the development plan – which is clear in my opinion.
Of the remaining approximately 100 builders, none received an exception to place the garage on the boundary line. (To be honest, I understand the municipality’s point; it looks more open this way. It is naturally disadvantageous if, like us, you have a narrower plot.)
I am allowed to place a wooden garden shed on the boundary, nothing more.
@Würfel*
We also have neighbors to the north. Four meters (13 feet) definitely isn’t enough, and there won’t be a full double garage. As described above, by extending the plot to the rear, you might get about 4.5–5 meters (15–16 feet); hopefully that will be enough for a comfortable single garage.
An office with glass doors is worth considering, thanks for the suggestion.
Do you have any ideas about implementing windows inside walls? Or examples of how this can be realized?
Hausbewohner schrieb:
The construction is carried out by a building company that offers standardized floor plans / model houses, which can be expanded and modified.The jump from post #1 to post #14 is quite a stretched interpretation of "modifiable," which makes me doubt its usefulness.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
P
pagoni202020 Jul 2020 20:13I strongly advocate designing your house to meet your personal needs as much as possible.
However, from what I’ve read, you seem to put a lot of thought into storage space, luggage, etc., while at the same time accepting that there wouldn’t be room for a bookshelf or anything similar in the living area. Your approach to such valuable living space and bedrooms (which mean living quality) as “not necessarily needed” could never be mine, because I love openness and generosity in a room; that’s exactly why I’m building a house.
I would rather be annoyed that storage space takes away from living space. Of course, you can fit a double bed into just 10cm (5 inches) if necessary. You don’t need a living room, a gallery, or all that... but it’s great to have them and to be able to enjoy them.
Your mindset is therefore foreign to me, and I would feel as if my clutter or “stuff” controls me and prevents generous living. For practical reasons alone, I wouldn’t rebuild, but also simply because I want to create nice things for myself that might have taken a backseat with children. I strongly believe there are dream home concepts for you that can appear much more open and spacious while still meeting your other requirements.
I’m not a floor plan specialist, but I’m sure that much better solutions exist for you as well. Whether my approach suits you is of course something only you can decide.
If you really have that much stuff to store (maybe that’s the problem—you might just have too many suitcases, etc.), then why not build a garden shed without needing a building permit/planning permission, in a modern and attractive design? You could store all that stuff there. You could use it like a basement or utility room, or even outsource a technical room there instead of a basement; and if needed, you could also “relocate” some guests there.
So I don’t really have a solution, just a different approach: minimal storage and maximum comfort in living. Even for the office area, living quality would come first, followed by functionality. Home office can be done in many flexible ways.
Upstairs would feel too closed off to me; I would miss having an open area.
However, from what I’ve read, you seem to put a lot of thought into storage space, luggage, etc., while at the same time accepting that there wouldn’t be room for a bookshelf or anything similar in the living area. Your approach to such valuable living space and bedrooms (which mean living quality) as “not necessarily needed” could never be mine, because I love openness and generosity in a room; that’s exactly why I’m building a house.
I would rather be annoyed that storage space takes away from living space. Of course, you can fit a double bed into just 10cm (5 inches) if necessary. You don’t need a living room, a gallery, or all that... but it’s great to have them and to be able to enjoy them.
Your mindset is therefore foreign to me, and I would feel as if my clutter or “stuff” controls me and prevents generous living. For practical reasons alone, I wouldn’t rebuild, but also simply because I want to create nice things for myself that might have taken a backseat with children. I strongly believe there are dream home concepts for you that can appear much more open and spacious while still meeting your other requirements.
I’m not a floor plan specialist, but I’m sure that much better solutions exist for you as well. Whether my approach suits you is of course something only you can decide.
If you really have that much stuff to store (maybe that’s the problem—you might just have too many suitcases, etc.), then why not build a garden shed without needing a building permit/planning permission, in a modern and attractive design? You could store all that stuff there. You could use it like a basement or utility room, or even outsource a technical room there instead of a basement; and if needed, you could also “relocate” some guests there.
So I don’t really have a solution, just a different approach: minimal storage and maximum comfort in living. Even for the office area, living quality would come first, followed by functionality. Home office can be done in many flexible ways.
Upstairs would feel too closed off to me; I would miss having an open area.
Hausbewohner schrieb:
As mentioned above, the problem is that we have to fit both the garage and the house within the building area, and edge development is not allowed. Hausbewohner schrieb:
Moving the kitchen closer to the entrance would either mean placing it next to the garage (with no windows) or orienting it completely to the north (which we don’t like either). I really think it’s not appropriate to place the garage there.
A lot would improve if it were moved out of the sun.
Otherwise, it’s no problem to position a garage within a 14-meter (46-foot) wide building area – don’t we all have similar restrictions here?
And yes: I would also prioritize planning the living spaces first, then the parking area.
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