Welcome to my second floor plan thread.
The feedback in the first thread was really valuable, but we ultimately did not agree on the design or the construction company. So now this is the second approach. For clarity, I’ve started a new thread.
Regarding the situation:
On the plan, which is oriented north:
red: the plot of land, access via the pink driveway, the house is currently planned at the blue location. Existing building in yellow serves as garage and cellar replacement, with garden surrounding the plot.
On the western boundary of the plot is the neighbor’s existing building, consisting of tall agricultural storage halls.
Two full floors allowed.
"Closed building line" is mandatory, meaning the house must adjoin at least one side of the property, and the other side should be at least enclosed by a wall/gate or similar.
The plot is narrowest at the very northern end, exactly 12m (39 feet) wide. A drive-through option would be nice (also because of the existing garage), so the house width should not exceed 9m (30 feet).
Plot size: 630m² (6785 ft²)
Slope: none, only very gently sloping
No cellar, additional garage already existing, see yellow marking on the plan.
Two stories, currently two adults aged 34 and 35. Planning for 1-2 children.
Desired rooms:
Ground floor:
Living room / dining / kitchen with fireplace
Pantry / storage room
Guest WC + shower
Entrance / cloakroom
Utility/technical room
Upper floor:
Master bedroom
Dressing/utility room with washing machine
1 children’s bedroom
Bathroom
Office for home office use (if there is really a second child, the room will be converted to a children’s bedroom)
Guests: very rare visits, a sofa bed in the office is sufficient.
Style: classic-modern, gable roof
Definitely an open kitchen, an island would be nice, seating for 6 with room to accommodate more.
“Normal” living room wall with TV, nothing special.
Size: 140–170m² (1500–1830 ft²)
Current house design:
From an architect of a prefab house provider.
We are quite satisfied with it. The exact layout of the bathroom perhaps could be improved?
Upper floor layout not yet perfect? Swap master bedroom and children’s room? Fireplace “through” the children’s room?
The current design has about 148m² (1593 ft²) of living space.
Budget: $400,000 for the house, turnkey.
Technology: heat pump. Mechanical ventilation and KNX smart home system still under discussion (this would probably affect the budget…).
If you had to skip something, which details or extras could you live without?
- Must-have: open living area with terrace.
Otherwise flexible.
Open questions:
General comments are welcome. Opinions on the room layout? What weaknesses does the plan have?
Thank you very much for all contributions!
The feedback in the first thread was really valuable, but we ultimately did not agree on the design or the construction company. So now this is the second approach. For clarity, I’ve started a new thread.
Regarding the situation:
On the plan, which is oriented north:
red: the plot of land, access via the pink driveway, the house is currently planned at the blue location. Existing building in yellow serves as garage and cellar replacement, with garden surrounding the plot.
On the western boundary of the plot is the neighbor’s existing building, consisting of tall agricultural storage halls.
Two full floors allowed.
"Closed building line" is mandatory, meaning the house must adjoin at least one side of the property, and the other side should be at least enclosed by a wall/gate or similar.
The plot is narrowest at the very northern end, exactly 12m (39 feet) wide. A drive-through option would be nice (also because of the existing garage), so the house width should not exceed 9m (30 feet).
Plot size: 630m² (6785 ft²)
Slope: none, only very gently sloping
No cellar, additional garage already existing, see yellow marking on the plan.
Two stories, currently two adults aged 34 and 35. Planning for 1-2 children.
Desired rooms:
Ground floor:
Living room / dining / kitchen with fireplace
Pantry / storage room
Guest WC + shower
Entrance / cloakroom
Utility/technical room
Upper floor:
Master bedroom
Dressing/utility room with washing machine
1 children’s bedroom
Bathroom
Office for home office use (if there is really a second child, the room will be converted to a children’s bedroom)
Guests: very rare visits, a sofa bed in the office is sufficient.
Style: classic-modern, gable roof
Definitely an open kitchen, an island would be nice, seating for 6 with room to accommodate more.
“Normal” living room wall with TV, nothing special.
Size: 140–170m² (1500–1830 ft²)
Current house design:
From an architect of a prefab house provider.
We are quite satisfied with it. The exact layout of the bathroom perhaps could be improved?
Upper floor layout not yet perfect? Swap master bedroom and children’s room? Fireplace “through” the children’s room?
The current design has about 148m² (1593 ft²) of living space.
Budget: $400,000 for the house, turnkey.
Technology: heat pump. Mechanical ventilation and KNX smart home system still under discussion (this would probably affect the budget…).
If you had to skip something, which details or extras could you live without?
- Must-have: open living area with terrace.
Otherwise flexible.
Open questions:
General comments are welcome. Opinions on the room layout? What weaknesses does the plan have?
Thank you very much for all contributions!
kaho674 schrieb:
Interesting. Not really my thing, but if you like it.
It seems to me the utility room is missing. Where will laundry be washed and dried?In the walk-in closet, which hopefully is large enough. We originally wanted a separate room, but that was eventually "cut out" for efficiency.
T
toxicmolotof11 Dec 2017 19:56The washing machine and dryer should be placed in a separate "wet room," such as the utility room, laundry room, bathroom, or a dedicated space.
However, having them in the walk-in closet is detrimental to both clothing and furniture. With a properly designed controlled ventilation system that takes this into account, it might be manageable, but problems are almost inevitable.
For example, when I run three washing and drying loads a day in our bathroom (which is about 12 m² (130 square feet)), the humidity rises to 70% despite ventilation, even though the temperature also increases. This means you are essentially adding moisture to your clothes. Think carefully about this.
The design is certainly unique, and I like the idea of the staggered beams, but you should be aware of one thing: from an energy perspective, this is a nightmare. The only way to have more exterior surface area would be a bungalow. So expect higher heating costs than with a conventional house of the same living space. Please don’t misunderstand—I like this style and I myself own a house with a very unfavorable building envelope.
I have not gone into the details of the rooms.
However, having them in the walk-in closet is detrimental to both clothing and furniture. With a properly designed controlled ventilation system that takes this into account, it might be manageable, but problems are almost inevitable.
For example, when I run three washing and drying loads a day in our bathroom (which is about 12 m² (130 square feet)), the humidity rises to 70% despite ventilation, even though the temperature also increases. This means you are essentially adding moisture to your clothes. Think carefully about this.
The design is certainly unique, and I like the idea of the staggered beams, but you should be aware of one thing: from an energy perspective, this is a nightmare. The only way to have more exterior surface area would be a bungalow. So expect higher heating costs than with a conventional house of the same living space. Please don’t misunderstand—I like this style and I myself own a house with a very unfavorable building envelope.
I have not gone into the details of the rooms.
Thank you for the suggestions.
As mentioned, we had originally planned a separate utility room. However, it didn’t seem practical to include it in the current floor plan. We are currently living in an older apartment in Vienna, with the washing machine in the kitchen and drying laundry in the 12m² (130 sq ft) bedroom. So having a walk-in closet was an acceptable compromise for us. We will take another look and reconsider it.
Regarding energy: That’s true, there is approximately 33m² (355 sq ft) of flat roof plus the same area on the underside. Since we are essentially building an extension on the side, does that mean the side loses less heat? This is just an uninformed guess.
Thank you!
As mentioned, we had originally planned a separate utility room. However, it didn’t seem practical to include it in the current floor plan. We are currently living in an older apartment in Vienna, with the washing machine in the kitchen and drying laundry in the 12m² (130 sq ft) bedroom. So having a walk-in closet was an acceptable compromise for us. We will take another look and reconsider it.
Regarding energy: That’s true, there is approximately 33m² (355 sq ft) of flat roof plus the same area on the underside. Since we are essentially building an extension on the side, does that mean the side loses less heat? This is just an uninformed guess.
Thank you!
Similar topics