ᐅ Floor Plan Design for New Detached Two-Story House, Approximately 1,450 sq ft
Created on: 3 Aug 2021 11:32
A
Andreas_79
Hello everyone
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size = 1100 m² (11,840 sq ft)
Slope = slight downhill to the north
No formal development plan
Building area, building line and boundary all require 3 m (10 ft) setbacks on the right and left sides, and 5 m (16 ft) to the front street
Number of parking spaces = 2
Number of floors = 2
Roof style = shed roof
Architectural style = ?
Orientation = north
Maximum heights / limits = ?
Other requirements = none
Right neighbor: single-story bungalow
Left neighbor: 2.5 stories
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type
Basement = no
Floors = 2
Number of occupants: 2 adults (42+39 years)
Space needs: approx. 72 m² (775 sq ft) on ground floor, approx. 45 m² (485 sq ft) upstairs
Office: occasional home office use
Guest overnight stays per year: few to none
Open-plan design
Open kitchen with island
Number of dining seats = 4-6
Fireplace = yes
Music/stereo wall = no
Balcony, roof terrace = no
Garage, carport = carport
Utility garden, greenhouse = lawn
Knee wall height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) (Is this the correct term for a shed roof? The short side is 180 cm)
House Design
Designed by:
- Do-it-yourself (Sweet Home 3D)
What do you like most? Staircase in kitchen/dining area
What do you dislike? Storage room on ground floor is very narrow, when entering the house you look at the fireplace/wall instead of through to the garden
Estimated price according to architect/designer: €310,000 (prefabricated house provider)
Personal price limit for house including fittings: €350,000
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details / features would you sacrifice?
- Can give up: carport
- Cannot give up: less living space
Why is the design the way it is now?
It is a mix of many examples from various magazines and visits to model home parks...
What do you consider particularly good or bad about it?
It contains everything we need and want. We don’t need it any bigger, and it shouldn’t be smaller either.
We would really appreciate overall feedback. We want to build our house, but I enjoy reading different opinions and maybe we have missed or overlooked something important?
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Andreas_79
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size = 1100 m² (11,840 sq ft)
Slope = slight downhill to the north
No formal development plan
Building area, building line and boundary all require 3 m (10 ft) setbacks on the right and left sides, and 5 m (16 ft) to the front street
Number of parking spaces = 2
Number of floors = 2
Roof style = shed roof
Architectural style = ?
Orientation = north
Maximum heights / limits = ?
Other requirements = none
Right neighbor: single-story bungalow
Left neighbor: 2.5 stories
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type
Basement = no
Floors = 2
Number of occupants: 2 adults (42+39 years)
Space needs: approx. 72 m² (775 sq ft) on ground floor, approx. 45 m² (485 sq ft) upstairs
Office: occasional home office use
Guest overnight stays per year: few to none
Open-plan design
Open kitchen with island
Number of dining seats = 4-6
Fireplace = yes
Music/stereo wall = no
Balcony, roof terrace = no
Garage, carport = carport
Utility garden, greenhouse = lawn
Knee wall height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) (Is this the correct term for a shed roof? The short side is 180 cm)
House Design
Designed by:
- Do-it-yourself (Sweet Home 3D)
What do you like most? Staircase in kitchen/dining area
What do you dislike? Storage room on ground floor is very narrow, when entering the house you look at the fireplace/wall instead of through to the garden
Estimated price according to architect/designer: €310,000 (prefabricated house provider)
Personal price limit for house including fittings: €350,000
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details / features would you sacrifice?
- Can give up: carport
- Cannot give up: less living space
Why is the design the way it is now?
It is a mix of many examples from various magazines and visits to model home parks...
What do you consider particularly good or bad about it?
It contains everything we need and want. We don’t need it any bigger, and it shouldn’t be smaller either.
We would really appreciate overall feedback. We want to build our house, but I enjoy reading different opinions and maybe we have missed or overlooked something important?
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Andreas_79
Andreas_79 schrieb:
or simply make the staircase longer?No! Was I not clear enough? Am I right in understanding that living/dining is on the north side? And the bedrooms are on the south side…
But nothing fits together here at all!
A
Andreas_793 Aug 2021 13:35Yes, the staircase is definitely too short; we have noticed that as well.
However, we don’t quite understand why it wouldn’t work in that spot.
The upper floor is intended only for my wife and me. No one else will be going upstairs. It is certainly unusual to have the staircase in the kitchen, but we prefer that location over having it in a hallway.
In some show homes we have seen staircases in the living room, which we didn’t like as much, but it doesn’t seem uncommon to have a staircase outside of a hallway.
The storage room is really very narrow. Maybe we will remove the storage room and put the utility room there instead, and move the guest bathroom to where the utility room is now. This way, we could move the kitchen down a bit and have more space for the staircase again. I believe that was also my wife’s original design.
The table and chairs feel really cramped there; perhaps we’ll switch to a table for four, since it’s usually just the two of us, and if more guests come, two can be added at the ends of the table.
But so far, has there been nothing about the upper floor that you didn’t like?
Regards,
Andreas_79
However, we don’t quite understand why it wouldn’t work in that spot.
The upper floor is intended only for my wife and me. No one else will be going upstairs. It is certainly unusual to have the staircase in the kitchen, but we prefer that location over having it in a hallway.
In some show homes we have seen staircases in the living room, which we didn’t like as much, but it doesn’t seem uncommon to have a staircase outside of a hallway.
The storage room is really very narrow. Maybe we will remove the storage room and put the utility room there instead, and move the guest bathroom to where the utility room is now. This way, we could move the kitchen down a bit and have more space for the staircase again. I believe that was also my wife’s original design.
The table and chairs feel really cramped there; perhaps we’ll switch to a table for four, since it’s usually just the two of us, and if more guests come, two can be added at the ends of the table.
But so far, has there been nothing about the upper floor that you didn’t like?
Regards,
Andreas_79
S
Strahleman3 Aug 2021 13:41Andreas_79 schrieb:
What do you like most? Staircase in the kitchen/dining area You might be the only ones who think so, judging by previous comments. Why do you like it so much? In the current layout, you have to run across the entire house to get to the upper floor. That’s rather inconvenient...
Andreas_79 schrieb:
What don’t you like? Storage room on the ground floor is very narrow, when entering the house you look at the chimney/wall instead of having a view through to the garden These are things that can be easily adjusted.
Andreas_79 schrieb:
- Can’t do without: less square meters 142m² (1530 sq ft) for 2 people with “not less than that.” At the same time, the storage room is a narrow corridor and the staircase feels like something from a 17th-century French farmhouse (narrow and steep). You really should reconsider the design—there is a lot you can do with 142m² (1530 sq ft). Unfortunately, you are using the space very inefficiently. My suggestions:
- Move the staircase and design it for real use, not just stuck somewhere on the plan; for example, instead of the storage room, incorporate it as a utility room close to the kitchen
- Reconsider the 13m² (140 sq ft) passthrough room/gallery with open space above
- Place the bedroom on the north side
- Why are all the windows fixed? Do you want a glass bunker on the upper floor? Fewer windows but thoughtfully positioned. The small window in the walk-in closet makes the room feel smaller and more claustrophobic.
A
Andreas_793 Aug 2021 13:44@driver55, yes, that’s just how the plot is.
We are orienting the terrace entirely to the north. The lawn is long enough to build a second terrace in the sun later on. We understand that there won’t be much sun behind the house and that the sun will shine on the front side of the house. There are blinds that can be closed on hot days to prevent too much heat from entering the house.
After reading a lot here, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s really a matter of philosophy. Many want the living areas and the terrace to face south. But we say we’ll put the terrace to the north and the living rooms as well. It’s not like no light will come in—just a bit less.
I don’t know why that is a no-go for many. If living rooms face the sun all day, the house heats up tremendously at the window front.
I lived for 10 years in an apartment with 4-meter (13-foot) high windows facing south. In summer, the blinds were closed all day to cope with the heat. I even had to turn on lights at noon because otherwise, it was too dark inside.
That probably won’t happen with a north-facing orientation for me...
We are orienting the terrace entirely to the north. The lawn is long enough to build a second terrace in the sun later on. We understand that there won’t be much sun behind the house and that the sun will shine on the front side of the house. There are blinds that can be closed on hot days to prevent too much heat from entering the house.
After reading a lot here, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s really a matter of philosophy. Many want the living areas and the terrace to face south. But we say we’ll put the terrace to the north and the living rooms as well. It’s not like no light will come in—just a bit less.
I don’t know why that is a no-go for many. If living rooms face the sun all day, the house heats up tremendously at the window front.
I lived for 10 years in an apartment with 4-meter (13-foot) high windows facing south. In summer, the blinds were closed all day to cope with the heat. I even had to turn on lights at noon because otherwise, it was too dark inside.
That probably won’t happen with a north-facing orientation for me...
I don’t quite understand the orientation:
Where exactly is the 180cm (71 inches) knee wall?
Please show the site plan.
Why are the living areas, as well as the common rooms, placed in the north, and bedrooms along with utility room and toilet in the south? Also, a bathroom is not ideally located directly above the living room – it would be better to have toilets stacked and the hot water lines above the utility room (of course, these rules can be deviated from, but if not necessary, it’s better to plan efficiently from the start).
I would avoid non-opening windows on the upper floor since they also need to be cleaned occasionally. The same applies to furniture placement: having furniture under the window where you can’t reach it is also not ideal.
The staircase should be at least 370cm (146 inches) long with a standard ceiling height of 2.50m (8 feet 2 inches). You can’t extend it in its current location. Its position in the house is quite poor, hidden and not centrally accessible. You basically have to walk around the table.
The chimney stack interferes with the toilet’s waste pipe.
If you want to look from the entrance into the garden, why isn’t it drawn that way?
The storage room is quite narrow… too narrow for, for example, a washing machine and dryer.
The walk-in closet is too small with barely any storage benefit.
What I don’t understand at all: why are you planning a two-story house with similar floor area on both the ground and upper floors? We are only two people and have about 90m² (969 sq ft) on the ground floor, and only 45m² (484 sq ft) upstairs – which should be achievable for your plot size, even with a shed roof if that is what you want.
Why are you trying to squeeze everything into a small square?
Where exactly is the 180cm (71 inches) knee wall?
Please show the site plan.
Why are the living areas, as well as the common rooms, placed in the north, and bedrooms along with utility room and toilet in the south? Also, a bathroom is not ideally located directly above the living room – it would be better to have toilets stacked and the hot water lines above the utility room (of course, these rules can be deviated from, but if not necessary, it’s better to plan efficiently from the start).
I would avoid non-opening windows on the upper floor since they also need to be cleaned occasionally. The same applies to furniture placement: having furniture under the window where you can’t reach it is also not ideal.
The staircase should be at least 370cm (146 inches) long with a standard ceiling height of 2.50m (8 feet 2 inches). You can’t extend it in its current location. Its position in the house is quite poor, hidden and not centrally accessible. You basically have to walk around the table.
The chimney stack interferes with the toilet’s waste pipe.
If you want to look from the entrance into the garden, why isn’t it drawn that way?
The storage room is quite narrow… too narrow for, for example, a washing machine and dryer.
The walk-in closet is too small with barely any storage benefit.
What I don’t understand at all: why are you planning a two-story house with similar floor area on both the ground and upper floors? We are only two people and have about 90m² (969 sq ft) on the ground floor, and only 45m² (484 sq ft) upstairs – which should be achievable for your plot size, even with a shed roof if that is what you want.
Why are you trying to squeeze everything into a small square?
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