ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of 165 sqm with Basement and Light Well

Created on: 12 Jun 2024 15:47
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Martin94
Hello everyone,
we are currently finalizing our plan and would like to show it to you and ask for your opinion.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 685 sqm (7369 sq ft)
Slope: 1.20 m (4 ft) (north to south)
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Edge construction: max. 9 m (30 ft)
Otherwise, construction according to §34 Building Code; the neighborhood includes almost all types of houses, sizes, floors, roof types, etc.

Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Single-family house, gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement, 1 ½ floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults (possibly 2 children later)
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: 164 sqm (1765 sq ft)
Office: Family use and home office
Guest bedrooms per year: currently not required
Open or closed architecture: open
Traditional or modern style: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: utility garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or should not be: light well in front of the living room window for an additional office/bedroom in the basement.

House Design
Designer:
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
  • There will be an open roof structure with exposed rafters
  • Large open living-dining-kitchen area
  • Room sizes / ceiling height on ground floor
  • Pantry with window

What do you not like? Why?
  • No separation between living room and dining room
  • Is a wardrobe in the hallway possible?
  • Is the lighting sufficient in the master bedroom?
  • Are the stair step heights suitable? 18.6 cm (7.3 in) / 27 cm (10.6 in)
  • Entrance area


Price estimate from architect/designer: no estimate received yet
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings: 450,000€
Preferred heating technology: heat pump

If you have to give up some features, which details/extensions
- can you give up: bay window, tile stove, lift-and-slide windows
- cannot give up: open roof structure, double garage, open living/dining area

Why is the design the way it is? For example:
Standard design from the planner? Developed with the architect
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? The goal was to create a good sense of space while minimizing hallways. Also, under the living room, a light well was designed to bring enough light into the basement room. This room is intended to be used as a home office.

Basically, we are wondering if a separation between the dining and living rooms would be useful, or if this would make the rooms too small again.
Also, we are unsure about the kitchen window. Currently, a window 2.26 m (7 ft 5 in) wide with a sill height of 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in) is planned. This is not yet shown in the plan.
Another question is whether there is a solution for a patio roof. We are currently thinking about a pergola.

The revised image differs from the other plans on the west side because of the kitchen window and dining room door. We are also unsure about the size of these two windows.

Good luck
Site plan of a building plot with boundary lines and numbers 10 and 11

Upper floor plan: two children's rooms, bedroom, bathroom, hallway, staircase, dimensions.

Ground floor plan with terrace, living room, kitchen, pantry, WC, office, hallway, double garage.

West elevation of a two-story house with gable roof, windows, and entrance.

South elevation of a multi-part house: two floors, different roof types, windows, and doors.

East elevation of a two-story house with gable roof, windows, and site profile.

North elevation of a house: garage on the left, main entrance in the center, window arrangement.

Section B-B of a house with gable roof, floor plan, and basement.

WEST VIEW: Two-story house with gable roof, window fronts, and door; site lines.

Basement floor plan: technical room, laundry room, hallway, hobby room, cellars 1–3, stairs
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nordanney
12 Jun 2024 17:34
Martin94 schrieb:

Aside from square meters and the basement.

By leaving out the basement, a single garage, and opting for a smaller, well-designed house.

Otherwise, of course, through personal labor. That can save a lot, but you also have to put in a lot of work. Can you spend 20-30 hours per week on the construction site (both in terms of time and skills)?

P.S. The price I mentioned covers a standard house. You already have so many custom requests that, off the top of my head, I would add a significant extra amount (bay window, tiled stove, many and large windows). That is neither efficient nor cost-effective.
S
Schorsch_baut
12 Jun 2024 17:53
The exposed roof structure also adds complexity. Plus, there is a fully basemented garage. Given the planned design and the extras, I see this costing around 800,000 euros.
M
Martin94
12 Jun 2024 19:43
Thanks in advance for your responses.

Basically, the time and professional experience for most trades are available.

There is also a house in the forum with 240sqm (2,583 sq ft) with a double garage and no basement, where a competitive budget has been set. The builder writes that they will reach/stay within 550,000 euros.

It would be important for us to know if there are any ideas or comments regarding the plan.
OWLer12 Jun 2024 19:56
3 Notes:
A fully basemented garage including the entrance staircase within it – at least this point alone will completely blow your budget.
I’m not entirely sure where the light well is supposed to go, but it requires a lot of space if you want it to look good and actually let light in. With a 3m (10 ft) setback from the neighbor’s property line, it will become like a bunker opening if you want to walk around the house. Source: own experience with light wells.
Then you either won’t be able to use the staircase from the garage to the basement in summer, or you’ll need to run an electric dehumidifier continuously. You’ll constantly bring moisture into the basement, causing all organic materials to mold. If the basement is intended as living or office space, this is a complete no-go.

By the way: is it even allowed to have a garage with a staircase directly into the basement considering exhaust fumes and/or carbon monoxide?
H
hanghaus2023
12 Jun 2024 20:31
Have you already purchased the plot of land?
But if it’s just a pipe dream, that doesn’t really matter.
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nordanney
12 Jun 2024 22:04
Martin94 schrieb:

There is also a house in the forum with 240 sqm (2,583 sq ft), a double garage, and no basement, where an ambitious budget has been set. The homeowner writes that they will meet the target of €550,000.
Then please ask directly what was done by themselves.

I personally carried out a major renovation almost entirely as DIY. I am still below €800/sqm (about $75/sq ft) for almost KfW 40 standard and good fittings. However, it took over two years and literally thousands of working hours (not just a feeling — sometimes two hours before work and then another five hours after work, or working round the clock on weekends). As I said, you can build the house with a basement cost-effectively where you do a lot yourself, but then you need to do the brickwork, roofing, electrical work, HVAC, etc. yourself. You might only be ready to move in by 2026 or 2027.
If you hire tradespeople, your budget won’t work. Even if you do some of the work yourself to help.

Don’t just take one or two examples of very cheap builds. Instead, look at how the average person builds with average DIY effort.