ᐅ Floor plan design for a two-family house on a hillside

Created on: 16 May 2017 14:23

Hello everyone,

I would appreciate your feedback on the floor plans.

Development Plan / Restrictions:
· Plot size: 1,200 m² (18 m (59 inches) wide)
· Slope: south-facing hill, street to the north
· Site coverage ratio: 0.3
· Floor area ratio: 0.6
· Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see "enlarged building envelope" 12 x 14 m (39 x 46 feet)
· Edge development: garages
· Number of parking spaces: 3 required according to building authority
· Construction type: open building layout
· Building setback: 3 m (10 feet)
· Roof type: pitched roofs 15-30°, hipped roofs to be avoided, see regulations
· Orientation: ridge direction of the buildings parallel to each other
· Exterior design: see section 6 of the regulations

Homeowners’ Requirements

Preliminary: The homeowners (born 1982 male, 1988 female, and two children born 2014 female, 2016 male) want to live on two floors (basement and ground floor). A third children’s bedroom should also be included. The third floor (attic) should be accessible barrier-free.

· Style: Bauhaus (optionally exposed concrete)
· Roof design: large south-facing side (for solar panels, photovoltaics)
· Building type: two-family house
· Basement and floors: basement, ground floor, attic
· Number of occupants and ages as above: (2 + 3 in basement and ground floor, 2 + 1 in attic)

o Space requirements attic: 2 bedrooms, 1 flexible floor plan bathroom, open living/dining/kitchen area, utility room
o Space requirements ground floor: 1 master bedroom, walk-in closet, master bathroom, large open living/dining/kitchen area, wardrobe, storage room
o Space requirements basement: 3 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom, optional play corridor, boiler room, cellar, utility room

· Open or closed architecture: open
· Conservative or modern construction: modern
· Kitchen: open kitchen with island (at least on ground floor)
· Balcony, roof terrace: likely sensible on all three floors considering exposed concrete
· Parking spaces: carports if possible, which can later be converted into garages (initial cost saving)
· Heating/thermal technology: air-to-water heat pump (underfloor heating), optional photovoltaics
· Windows: large window areas on the south side, optionally wide, low windows above the kitchen worktop on the ground floor
· Energy efficiency: KfW 55 standard
· High sound insulation (especially for the ceiling of the attic, separate residential unit)

East view: sketch with stacked rectangles, diagonal line and hatched triangle.

Elongated plot marked in yellow on a site plan with parcel numbers.

Ground floor plan: living/cooking area, master bedroom with walk-in closet, bathroom, WC, hallway, terrace.

Hand-drawn basement floor plan with hallway, cellar room, bathroom, and three children’s bedrooms.

sichtbeton8214 Sep 2017 09:45

#25

Unfortunately, this is only a brief explanation: Thank you very much for the feedback! We even put some effort into the elevations to ensure everything on the south side is symmetrical. In contrast to the absolute symmetry and brightness on the south, we wanted a darker north side and two elevations with very different window designs. But tastes vary so much. Nevertheless, we will reconsider this.

An access to the ground floor from the opposite side is practically impossible due to the terrain. Above all, a side entrance to the basement from the east side would be impossible.

Extending the steps further to the south would also be our preference, but this is not feasible because of the 14m (46 feet) building boundary. The idea of a skylight in the offset pitched roof is also unfortunately not allowed by the building authority. However, I will follow up on this.

We will take some time to reflect on your suggestions and discuss them further.

11ant14 Sep 2017 11:18

#26

sichtbeton82 schrieb:
Thank you very much for the criticism!

I'm glad you can handle it – it wouldn’t have been honest otherwise if it were gentler.

sichtbeton82 schrieb:
We even put some effort into the elevations to make everything symmetrical on the south side

I would say, first of all, it was probably over-engineered, and secondly, it likely harmed what it was supposed to improve. The “spot-the-difference” issue that one patio door is single-leaf would be much less noticeable without the rigid rhythm repeating the other eight identical ones exactly. I’ve also mentioned in other threads that this usually results in a textbook case of failure: the priority on symmetry usually ends up looking like pseudo-aesthetics for people with architectural dyslexia, even though the intent was precisely the opposite (to make it look nice). For example, you can observe a kind of anti-proportional effect: the stricter the symmetry, the more awkward the proportions appear.

Design the window arrangements from the inside first and then harmonize (not symmetrize!) them on the exterior.

sichtbeton82 schrieb:
Further shifting the steps toward the south would also be our preference, but it’s not feasible due to the 14m (46 feet) building boundary.

Pushing the steps further forward would actually enhance the effect of drawers or protruding lower jaws. A good countermeasure is the “loosening up” of the front lines of the overhangs suggested by @Climbee in #23.

sichtbeton82 schrieb:
Also, the idea of a skylight in the offset gable roof is unfortunately not feasible according to the building authority

A symmetrical ridge would help here. What is bothersome about the asymmetry is that it doesn’t relate to anything.

https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

ypg14 Sep 2017 22:31

#27

You can actually consider a different approach for the south-facing facade regarding the windows: you are not obliged to design everything the same when there is no prior planning.

sichtbeton8220 Nov 2017 13:12

#28

There have been a few minor changes. Attached is the final version. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your feedback and the many great ideas—many of which were implemented where possible.