ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a 212 sqm Bungalow – Suggestions for Improvement
Created on: 27 Aug 2023 01:40
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Sebastian012
Hello everyone!
Attached is a self-created floor plan. There is no plot of land yet, but it will likely be a large plot in a green area with the house facing north. All the points mentioned above are fixed; the focus is solely on positioning. The sizes and the number of rooms should stay roughly the same. The rooms are arranged so that the bedrooms face east and south (sunrise), the living room and dining room face south/west (sunset on the terrace). The utility room and bathrooms are placed on the east side since natural light is not necessarily needed there. Windows and roof orientation on the north side are more closed off (house opens to the south to capture heat). The bathrooms will only have skylights. (This is advantageous for privacy and easier wall maintenance since water cannot reach the windows.) The bathrooms, kitchen, and utility room are intentionally located close to each other to reduce costs by shortening plumbing and wiring routes. The house is designed to promote communication and togetherness within the family. With the sliding door, it is also possible, for example, to receive guests while shielding the bedrooms visually and acoustically to provide quietness and privacy for children. Almost all rooms are open up to the ceiling. Less important rooms, such as the hallway, will have a ceiling and provide the adjacent rooms with a second platform (not important or decisive at this stage). Circulation spaces should be kept as small as possible. Efficiency and cost reduction are often very high priorities. The living room will be recessed by about 50cm (20 inches) and accessible via surrounding stairs. This makes the area cozier and serves as a visual highlight. It is important that the left area, be it the kitchen, dining area, or living room, fosters communication and togetherness, hence the open layout. The fireplace and a niche right next to the front door slightly enclose the living room, contributing to coziness. Cabinets for coats and shoes will be placed in the niche (and in the fireplace area). Neither the niche nor the fireplace extend up to the ceiling, creating a spacious feeling in both the living room and entrance area. If additional storage space is needed, it will be added outside in insulated rooms in the carport. I am not a fan of unnecessary extras when it comes to costs, unless they contribute to comfort or a pleasant living environment, which is the top priority. The floors in circulation areas, utility room, bathrooms, and living-dining area will be made of low-maintenance exposed concrete, while other areas will have parquet or other wooden flooring. The house is designed for family as well as friends (including large groups). On the left side of the living area, fixed glazing will be installed everywhere except for a sliding door to the left of the dining table. Bedrooms will only have one operable window each. The house will have a central ventilation system installed. Heating will be provided by underfloor heating, most likely with a heat pump. Photovoltaic panels can be retrofitted if desired through a southern roof slope on the carport. I do not have a specific budget or estimate, the approach is to work until I can afford the right solution.
Please feel free to criticize everything in detail. I am open and very much looking forward to suggestions for improvements or even completely different floor plan ideas. I want the perfect floor plan for a large family and frequent gatherings with many friends, offering maximum comfort, togetherness, healthy living, and a feel-good factor. I am willing to spend significantly more money for meaningful changes and additions if the added value is there. I sincerely thank you in advance for every improvement and tip!
Additionally: Can anyone tell me roughly what extra costs and additional effort a recess in the slab would cause, and how it is processed? (For example, possibly additional waterproofing)
Single story
No basement
Shed roof facing north
Floor plan above – north
Rooms 1-4 used as bedrooms, children’s rooms, or office
Carport below
Attached is a self-created floor plan. There is no plot of land yet, but it will likely be a large plot in a green area with the house facing north. All the points mentioned above are fixed; the focus is solely on positioning. The sizes and the number of rooms should stay roughly the same. The rooms are arranged so that the bedrooms face east and south (sunrise), the living room and dining room face south/west (sunset on the terrace). The utility room and bathrooms are placed on the east side since natural light is not necessarily needed there. Windows and roof orientation on the north side are more closed off (house opens to the south to capture heat). The bathrooms will only have skylights. (This is advantageous for privacy and easier wall maintenance since water cannot reach the windows.) The bathrooms, kitchen, and utility room are intentionally located close to each other to reduce costs by shortening plumbing and wiring routes. The house is designed to promote communication and togetherness within the family. With the sliding door, it is also possible, for example, to receive guests while shielding the bedrooms visually and acoustically to provide quietness and privacy for children. Almost all rooms are open up to the ceiling. Less important rooms, such as the hallway, will have a ceiling and provide the adjacent rooms with a second platform (not important or decisive at this stage). Circulation spaces should be kept as small as possible. Efficiency and cost reduction are often very high priorities. The living room will be recessed by about 50cm (20 inches) and accessible via surrounding stairs. This makes the area cozier and serves as a visual highlight. It is important that the left area, be it the kitchen, dining area, or living room, fosters communication and togetherness, hence the open layout. The fireplace and a niche right next to the front door slightly enclose the living room, contributing to coziness. Cabinets for coats and shoes will be placed in the niche (and in the fireplace area). Neither the niche nor the fireplace extend up to the ceiling, creating a spacious feeling in both the living room and entrance area. If additional storage space is needed, it will be added outside in insulated rooms in the carport. I am not a fan of unnecessary extras when it comes to costs, unless they contribute to comfort or a pleasant living environment, which is the top priority. The floors in circulation areas, utility room, bathrooms, and living-dining area will be made of low-maintenance exposed concrete, while other areas will have parquet or other wooden flooring. The house is designed for family as well as friends (including large groups). On the left side of the living area, fixed glazing will be installed everywhere except for a sliding door to the left of the dining table. Bedrooms will only have one operable window each. The house will have a central ventilation system installed. Heating will be provided by underfloor heating, most likely with a heat pump. Photovoltaic panels can be retrofitted if desired through a southern roof slope on the carport. I do not have a specific budget or estimate, the approach is to work until I can afford the right solution.
Please feel free to criticize everything in detail. I am open and very much looking forward to suggestions for improvements or even completely different floor plan ideas. I want the perfect floor plan for a large family and frequent gatherings with many friends, offering maximum comfort, togetherness, healthy living, and a feel-good factor. I am willing to spend significantly more money for meaningful changes and additions if the added value is there. I sincerely thank you in advance for every improvement and tip!
Additionally: Can anyone tell me roughly what extra costs and additional effort a recess in the slab would cause, and how it is processed? (For example, possibly additional waterproofing)
Single story
No basement
Shed roof facing north
Floor plan above – north
Rooms 1-4 used as bedrooms, children’s rooms, or office
Carport below
H
hanghaus202327 Aug 2023 10:50You cannot plan a house without a plot of land. The house needs to be built somewhere.
Let professionals handle the planning.
Let professionals handle the planning.
I’m a bit undecided whether you intended to entertain us with a Sunday brunch chat or if this is supposed to be a serious planning discussion. I have something similar planned from around four to eight o’clock, although my housing ideas were strongly influenced by Robin Masters’ estate ;-)
So, you do have a sample plot, but no option to buy it?
That can take a long time. The lack of a price estimate fits with your unsuitable cost-saving ideas. Just for a rough calibration: Your required plot would be around seven hundred sqm (7,535 sq ft), while the one shown is about two thousand five hundred sqm (26,910 sq ft). That is rarer and more expensive in Lower Saxony than in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or Brandenburg. While I’m rereading your first post carefully—spontaneously I had to laugh out loud at the idea of using bathroom windows as clerestory windows for splash protection—I’ll summon @chrisw81 so you two can play piano four hands together (I like classical music for Sunday breakfast).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Sebastian012 schrieb:
Attached is a self-made floor plan. There is no plot yet. Probably a large plot in a green area,
So, you do have a sample plot, but no option to buy it?
Sebastian012 schrieb:
I don’t have a price estimate or assessment, the attitude is to work as long as it takes until I can afford the right one.
That can take a long time. The lack of a price estimate fits with your unsuitable cost-saving ideas. Just for a rough calibration: Your required plot would be around seven hundred sqm (7,535 sq ft), while the one shown is about two thousand five hundred sqm (26,910 sq ft). That is rarer and more expensive in Lower Saxony than in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or Brandenburg. While I’m rereading your first post carefully—spontaneously I had to laugh out loud at the idea of using bathroom windows as clerestory windows for splash protection—I’ll summon @chrisw81 so you two can play piano four hands together (I like classical music for Sunday breakfast).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
H
hanghaus202327 Aug 2023 11:21Apart from the exterior design (which I find quite unpleasant), 210 m2 (2,260 sq ft) of living space is also quite expensive.
What does your household budget say about your building project?
What does your household budget say about your building project?
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Sebastian01227 Aug 2023 13:18kati1337 schrieb:
Things that stand out to me at first glance:
- No way to arrange furniture in the living room. If you ever want to put two DVDs in a cabinet, there’s barely any space in the living room for that.
- Huge entrance area but no cloakroom.
- Besides the cost factor for the living room, the surrounding staircase is also not good for accessibility. That should be considered for the property’s long-term value.
- Despite their size, the rooms are rather narrow and long, which makes furnishing difficult. Take the two rooms at the bottom of the plan, for example. There, the window runs along the entire lower wall. Not only can you not place furniture in front of this wall, but tall cabinets on the two adjacent walls wouldn’t work well either, as they would partly block the window. The top wall of the plan has a door and is narrow. Where would you put a large wardrobe or similar furniture there? Thank you very much! That’s very helpful feedback! I hadn’t thought about any of that. The cloakroom was planned to be in the recess next to the front door and in a recess by the fireplace. The windows might be made narrower. Combined with skylights, that could provide enough natural light. Do you think this floor plan can still be reasonably modified, or would it be better to create/use an entirely new one?
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Sebastian01227 Aug 2023 13:19KarstenausNRW schrieb:
Sorry, this is one of the poorest designs I’ve seen in recent years. There is nothing attractive, practical, sensible, or cost-effective about it. It will also be extremely difficult to finance, as banks will likely reject the house.Could you please point out a few specific issues you noticed? I’m eager to learn and want to know what to pay attention to in the future.S
Sebastian01227 Aug 2023 13:24kbt09 schrieb:
I’m missing the dimensions, but I can already see issues with the span due to the roof orientation, since there shouldn’t be any full-height supports interrupting the space.
Since there’s no plot of land yet, it’s always difficult to design floor plans accordingly. For example, the utility/storage room might be placed awkwardly with your assumed layout.
Rooms 1 to 4 should be roughly furnished to get an idea—door and window locations don’t really favor furniture placement.
Also, if planning a shed roof, I would choose the orientation to optimize photovoltaic panel installation.That’s true. In the living room, it might be possible to build a support into the chimney, and I’m actually okay with exposed beams or joists. Do you think that would make it feasible? The short side is 13.7m (45 feet) long. Window placements are definitely problematic—I’ve realized that now as well. Do you think there’s a way to position the doors more effectively? If doors in rooms 3 and 4 are placed in the middle, that might waste some space since they wouldn’t open directly against a wall, and on the short side of the room, there wouldn’t be enough space for something like a bed.