ᐅ Floor Plan Design and Placement – Single-Family Home of Approximately 200 m² on a 900 m² Plot

Hello everyone,

we would like to get feedback on our current planning for a single-family house. Here is the completed questionnaire.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 911m² (9,800 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.45
Building envelope, building line and boundary
Edge development: garage only
Number of parking spaces: 4
Number of floors: 2
Roof shape: gable roof
Architectural style:
Orientation: The garden faces southwest, the house is about 5m (16 ft) from the street, parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits
Other requirements

Owners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: single-family house, modern, gable roof main building, green flat roof extension and garage
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, age: currently 2 adults (mid-30s), 1 small child; planned for 2 adults and 2–3 children
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: see floor plan
Office: home office (working professionally from home, 2 offices required)
Guests per year:
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen in U-shape with counter or kitchen with cooking island
Number of dining places: 6
Fireplace: optional, rather not
Music / stereo wall: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double garage with two parking spaces in front (currently 1 car, possibly 2 in the future)
Utility garden, greenhouse: only recreational garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or should not be: Professional work from home, therefore two large offices are required. The plot is a corner lot on two streets, so the L-shaped house design aims to shield somewhat from the streets and create a protected garden area. If a third child arrives, one office should be converted into a third child’s bedroom. Then a small office area will be separated off in the master bedroom with a drywall partition or a basement room will be finished.

House Design
Who is responsible for the design: planner from a construction company (with some do-it-yourself input)
What do you particularly like? Why?: 2 equally sized children’s bedrooms, 2 offices with enough space for full-time work (>40 hours per week), large living/dining/kitchen area, extension provides light and noise protection from the street
What do you dislike? Why?: staircase ends at front door, which might lead to dirt being carried inside
Price estimate according to architect/planner: about 700k for KfW 55 standard including garage and basement, solid construction
Personal price limit for house including fittings: about 800k including exterior landscaping
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump

In the living/dining/kitchen area, the kitchen should be U-shaped with a counter or a cooking island on the far left. Afterwards comes the dining area, then the sofa. The stereo system with large floor-standing speakers should be on the wall opposite the kitchen. The extension should house a piano and a tipi (children’s play tent). Alternatively, the sofa could be placed in the bottom right corner and the speakers at the end of the extension.
The offices should have space for a large desk (2m x 1m (6.5 ft x 3.3 ft)), a bookshelf wall, and a small seating area.

If you have to give up something, which details / expansions
-can you give up: fireplace / stove
-can you not give up: offices

Why is the design the way it is now?

Combination of our suggestions and ideas from the planner during a joint site visit

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?

The most important in 130 characters:

• Is the floor plan good from your perspective, or have we overlooked something important?

Detailed questions about the floor plan:

• Does the entrance area seem too large?
• Do you have alternative ideas for designing the staircase better (we are currently considering either a U-shaped staircase with landing or an L-shaped staircase with landing)? We had a version drawn with an entrance bay so the staircase doesn't end right at the door. But that costs more and might make the entrance area too large?
• We are still considering reducing the number of windows in the living/dining/kitchen area. What do you think? We are afraid it might get too hot in summer because of the southern orientation (external blinds are planned).
• Another consideration is external roller shutters or blinds on the upper floor?
• Regarding the living room layout, we’re unsure. On one hand, we want two large floor-standing speakers optimally placed for a stereo triangle, on the other hand, we want to have a view of the garden from the sofa.
• About the windows on the upper floor, we're unsure: Does a floor-to-ceiling window make sense in the children’s rooms, or is it rather a safety risk? We have planned a window next to the bed (on the same wall as the head of the bed). I'm unsure if that might look strange in reality or if the bed should be placed on the opposite wall (but then the headboard would face the children’s room window).

Questions about placement:

• There is a busy street at the bottom side and a less busy street on the right side. Currently, the house is about 5m (16 ft) from the busy street and 8m (26 ft) from the right street. If we move the house further upwards, we would have more quiet from the street, but the garden would become smaller and the "wasted front garden area" would increase. What do you think?
• Do you have any creative ideas to shift or stretch the house further to the right? On the left side is a garage, which we would like to build directly onto.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Placement:

Thank you in advance!

Best regards
Samantheus