ᐅ Floor plan of a classic single-family house with 5 rooms, south-facing driveway

Hello,

we are planning a new build and would appreciate your feedback on our design. What would you change and why?

We feel our ideas are well incorporated and have no better solutions for the ground floor. The plans are our own and will be used for discussions with construction companies.

Many details are still missing, such as a carport on the east side (setback), attic access, window sizes, interior doors, bathroom fixtures... We are also still working on the room sizes on the upper floor but do not see any problems there.

Questionnaire:
- Plot size: 800m² (8600 sq ft)
- Slope: no
- Floor area ratio / plot ratio: 0.3 / 0.5
- Main building max. 150m² (1615 sq ft) footprint
- Building envelope, building line and boundary: 20 x 13m (66 x 43 feet), 5m (16 feet) setbacks
- Number of parking spaces: 1-2 covered
- Number of storeys: 2. Second full storey integrated into the roof; “attic space is limited laterally by the intersection of the rising masonry with the outer roof shell, where the intersection is max. 1.2m (4 feet) above finished floor level of the ground floor.”
- Roof style: gable roof up to 48°
- Maximum heights / restrictions: max. 9m (30 feet) height
- Other: access from the south side

Technical features:
Gas heating and controlled mechanical ventilation, underfloor heating, possibly solar thermal if we decide on KfW 55 standard

Why is the design the way it is now?
We worked a lot with various standard floor plans but none really fit, especially since we do not approach the house from the north: long corridors, poor orientation to the garden, front door in the carport/near the cars. We started with 4 small rooms upstairs, front door on the east side, and a footprint of about 8.2 x 11.8m (27 x 39 feet).

What we like:

General:
- Front door visible from the street, no conflicts with carports
- House as far away as possible from the (quiet) streets
- Orientation of house, garden, terrace to the sun, no windows on the north side
- Technical rooms on the ground floor / bathroom on upper floor stacked, away from living rooms and facing the street (utility connections)

Ground floor:
- Large living room with open kitchen despite having an extra room on the ground floor
- Office without sloped ceilings (useful in the evening)
- Space under the open staircase (for stroller)
- Long narrow pantry (+network technology junction box)

Upper floor:
- Large rooms
- Washer and dryer in the bathroom
- Bedroom on the north side with morning sun from the east

What could be improved:
- Space for controlled mechanical ventilation and heating probably too small
- Ground floor office could be a bit larger
- Kitchen could be shifted more towards the east / stairwell

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
I’ll now take cover

boxandroof