ᐅ Floor Plan for a 150 m² Corner Bungalow with Expansion Options

Created on: 5 Feb 2022 01:31
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Ramona13
Hello 🙂

After what felt like hundreds of crumpled drafts in the recycle bin, we finally have a floor plan that we like and that fits our size requirements. Initially, we planned way too large, sometimes over 250m² (2700 sq ft) of living space... oops... Now we have settled on a nice 150m² (1600 sq ft) 🙂

We mainly reduced the number of rooms. Originally, we planned 2 offices and 2 future children’s rooms, but now only 2 offices remain, with at least one definitely convertible into a children’s room. This makes more sense since we don’t want to seriously consider having children before at least 5 years from now. We also initially planned a small wellness area with a sauna, loungers, and a hot tub inside the house, but this will now be a separate building in the garden.

More generally, I have already written here https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/vereinigung-zweier-Grundstücke-baufenster-neu-legen.42280/ about our plots. The request for merging them is still in progress, so we don’t have a definitive location for the house yet. Ideally, we’d like it centered on the current boundary line or, alternatively, on the rear building plot with border development facing the neighboring property.

Fortunately, regarding the development plan/planning restrictions, we will have quite a bit of flexibility. We can submit a preliminary building inquiry to check if everything is acceptable. The last house built here in the village about 4 years ago had 2 full floors, a different roof pitch, and presumably got some exceptions approved without problems. The community is generally happy that we want to fill a building gap 😉

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 1500m² (0.37 acres)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio & plot ratio... very confusing 🤨

Building window, building line and boundary
Edge development
Number of parking spaces
Number of floors: 1
Roof shape: gable roof, half-hip roof
Style
Ridge orientation parallel to street
Maximum heights/limits
Additional requirements: knee wall 0-50cm (0-20 inches)

Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof type, building type
Corner bungalow with gable roof, modern with Japanese elements
Timber construction by local carpentry with the possibility of contributing a lot of own work.

Basement, floors
No basement, 1 floor

Number of people, age
25 (female) and 28 (male) + 2 cats
Children not planned initially, earliest in 5 years

Space needs ground floor / upper floor
Office: family use or home office?
Separate offices for home office

Guest bedrooms per year
Very few

Open or closed layout
Open living area

Conservative or modern design
Modern

Open kitchen, kitchen island
Kitchen island facing the garden, pantry as a separate room behind the kitchen

Number of dining seats
4-6

Fireplace
No

Music / stereo wall
No

Balcony, roof terrace
No

Garage, carport
Probably carport, but not decided yet

Utility garden, greenhouse
Vegetable garden with large greenhouse definitely planned on the property

Other wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why some things are or are not desired
- A gallery in the roof, open to the living area, would be a big dream of mine, but only if financially feasible. Otherwise, this part of the roof will be storage space or intended for later expansion.
- Smart home with KNX installed by ourselves (all electrical work will be DIY in cooperation with a certified electrician who will inspect and approve)
- Controlled mechanical ventilation and a separate split air conditioning system
- Photovoltaic system on the roof facing south and east
- Garden must be cat-proof fenced since our cats are not outdoor cats (currently strictly indoor cats)
- Exposed beam ceiling in the open living area

House Design
Designer:
- Do-it-Yourself

What do you particularly like? Why?
The open living area with the possibility to use both the south and north terraces.
Small “reading nook” at the end of the hallway with a large seat window (-> if there is a gallery, the staircase will lead upstairs here and the reading nook will be located there)

What don’t you like? Why?
Maybe the hallway is too long...

Estimated cost according to architect/planner: none yet, appointment with architect next week.
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: we hope to stay under €500,000 (approx. $540,000)
Preferred heating technology: air-water heat pump with underfloor heating

If you had to give up, which details / expansions
- could you do without:
- Gallery would be nice but is not essential
- Wellness area in the garden can be built later
- Reading nook

- could you not do without:
- Air conditioning
- KNX system
- Separate offices
- Cat-proof garden

Why did the design turn out this way? e.g.
Standard draft from planner?
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?

Our design developed step by step from many sketches, floor plans, and photos found online.
The interior furnishing in the 3D images is only a placeholder; the detailed interior design is still being planned.
Finally, this design gives us a satisfied feeling in terms of size and room layout 🙂

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
In your opinion, is our project achievable for a maximum of €500,000 (approx. $540,000), and is it sensible to plan smaller first and then expand by adding a loft conversion?

I am very grateful for your opinions, ideas, and suggestions for improvement! 🙂
11ant8 Feb 2022 21:57
Ramona13 schrieb:

Really personable and totally on the same wavelength. [...] The creative vibe is right too—you can definitely tell there’s passion behind it.

At this point, I’m sure that @hampshire would have recommended her to you as well.
Ramona13 schrieb:

She only builds solid masonry houses with bricks, like Poroton, without additional external insulation—that’s simply her conviction. Well, and we actually want a timber house...
We’ll keep looking around for now. What’s your opinion on bricks versus timber?

My opinion (as 11ant Steinemantra) is well known: it’s better to choose the material you like second and the builders or contractors you want first—essentially, the people come before the materials (or as mathematicians say, point before line). Why does it have to be a timber house specifically? Do you personally know the cow that provided the milk for the wood?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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Ramona13
8 Feb 2022 22:18
11ant schrieb:

At this point, I’m sure that @hampshire would also have recommended her to you.

My opinion (well known as the 11ant mantra) is: better take the material of your second choice and the builders of your first choice instead – or as mathematicians say, do the multiplication before the addition. Why does it specifically have to be a timber house? Do you personally know the cow that gave the milk for the wood?

My first concern is the appearance… windows set in a wall almost half a meter (20 inches) thick just don’t look nice to me. I currently have very deep window sills, and I don’t want that anymore.
Secondly, the ecological aspect: wood as a building material is simply more environmentally friendly than brick and concrete. Building a house is of course never climate neutral, but you can at least try to do it a bit better.
And you often read that timber houses are better for allergy and asthma sufferers, which would be beneficial for my husband, if that is true.
For now, we will sleep on it and continue to gather information. We have agreed with the architect that we will get back to her at the end of the month to decide how to proceed or not.
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haydee
8 Feb 2022 23:14
Solid wood or timber frame
Ask where the tree was grown
Where the wood was sawn.
Otherwise, healthy living materials, which are not just marketing, are not cheap and exclude certain materials.

Choose the architect and stone.

Our windows are centered within the wall. Actually, a nice depth.
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Ramona13
8 Feb 2022 23:16
haydee schrieb:

Our windows are set in the middle of the wall. Actually a nice depth.
How thick is your wall, and do you happen to have a photo of it for me? 🙂
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haydee
8 Feb 2022 23:18
Not from the outside. This is how it looks on the inside.

45 or 50 cm (18 or 20 inches). I don’t remember exactly.

Drei blaue Pflanzentöpfe mit Grünpflanzen auf Fensterbank hinter weißen Vorhängen.
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Ramona13
8 Feb 2022 23:32
Thank you @haydee 🙂
Did you also build with bricks without additional exterior insulation?