ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Semi-Detached House for a Single Family (4 People) on a Small Plot
Created on: 1 Aug 2024 00:05
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philipp013
Hello,
we will be building next year. We have found and purchased a small plot and have already chosen a house provider (we are still waiting for funding, so progress is currently on hold). Regarding the planning, the initial draft from the prefab house consultant is, in my opinion, just a suggestion and far from optimal, so I hope to benefit from the collective knowledge and experience here in the forum. I have attached anonymized floor plans as images.
My main topics right now are the following:
How should we arrange the children’s and parents’ bedrooms?
Where should the home office be located?
How can we fit two nice bathrooms into a small space, one focused on the children, the other more for us?
What alternatives are there for the kitchen-living-dining area, possibly not fully open plan?
Here is more information:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 270m² (approximately 2900 sq ft) – 27 x 10 m (89 x 33 ft)
Slope: no, but a slope bank; the street is about 1.4 m (4.6 ft) higher than the rest of the lot.
Floor space index: 0.4
Building window, building line and boundary: 12 x 10 m (39 x 33 ft) building window, 3 m (10 ft) from the street, sketch attached
Edge development mandatory, as it is a semi-detached house (see plan)
Parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2.5 (2 full floors required, 6.5 m (21 ft) eaves height mandatory, also a maximum building height of 10 m (33 ft) from street level)
Roof type: 35° pitched roof
Style: classic?
Orientation: north-south
Maximum heights / limits: see above, 10 m (33 ft) max, exactly 6.5 m (21 ft) eaves height
Homeowners’ requirements
Basement, floors: Due to the slope and small area, we want a usable basement. We also want to finish the attic (now or later).
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, late 30s, 2 children (0 and 3 years old)
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Basement: laundry and utility room, hobby room, possibly with a separate outdoor staircase; Ground floor: living, dining, kitchen, guest WC, possibly home office; Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms (ideally about 14–15 m² (150–160 sq ft) each), bathroom, possibly home office or guest room or parents’ bedroom (I think that might be too tight but open to suggestions!), Attic: an additional bathroom (unclear whether a bathroom with bathtub should be in the upper or attic floor), parents’ bedroom, possibly home office (we don’t actually need a huge bedroom, hence the considerations). Because of the children’s ages, we would prefer to live on one floor with them, but I am struggling to create a good layout that fits three bedrooms and a bathroom.
Office: family use or home office? A home office is essential, at least a small one.
Open or closed architecture? It can be open, but for example, despite an open living-kitchen-dining area, we want the staircase separated to reduce noise (from children, for example) or cooking smells. Open to suggestions!
Conservative or modern architecture: I’d say rather modern but simple.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen preferred; thinking of an L-shape with a small breakfast bar. We like cooking a lot, so this area is important.
Number of dining seats: 6–8 seats, one dining table. If kitchen and living-dining area are separated, then probably a second eating area in the kitchen.
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: not needed
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Carport planned, possibly with a storage room.
Utility garden, greenhouse: not planned
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not preferred:
Since the second child is not yet born, we are not 100% sure about the daily routine. We currently live in a 4-room apartment. Ideally, we would like all bedrooms on one floor (maybe we would move then, so we might live on one floor for the first years and then move to the attic?). My wife definitely wants a WC or, preferably, a shower bathroom on the sleeping floor. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and dining area; we rarely sit on the sofa, so the kitchen-dining area feels more central to us than the living room seating.
I often work from home, so the office must be more than just a small closet, but only needs a desk and some storage for files, etc. It should also allow me to retreat (e.g., working in the evening on the computer). My wife also occasionally works from home (she is a teacher), so two desks would be ideal; we know this might be tight.
House design
Who designed the plan: House seller/"planner" prefab house company
What do you particularly like and why? The fairly large children’s rooms, as they are more important for us than the parents’ bedroom (only bed and wardrobe needed there).
An office with good lighting so that working is enjoyable.
Lots of windows (especially on the ground floor), hopefully providing enough natural light.
Lots of space on the ground floor since much family life will happen there in the coming years.
What do you not like and why?
The "large" bathroom on the upper floor if we live in the attic, because we would prefer the comfort of a bathtub, which the children probably wouldn’t care about.
The attic window on the south side should be removed, so the bathroom should be moved to the north side – the south side should be fully covered with photovoltaic panels. Currently, because of the staircase position, everything would be shifted, and I don’t understand how the rooms would look then or how else to solve this.
Possibly the office on the upper floor, if the children get noisy and I have appointments…
The feeling that the spacious ground floor wastes space and may not offer any retreat areas or similar.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approx. 415,000 euros
Personal budget limit for the house including equipment: approx. 425,000 euros
Preferred heating technology: heat pump, air-to-air, indoor installation, underfloor heating
If you have to give up items / expansions
- What you can do without: guest room, significantly larger bathroom, huge office, huge parents’ bedroom
- What you cannot do without: two children’s bedrooms with at least about 14 m² (150 sq ft), two bathrooms (shower or bathtub), guest WC
Why is the current design like it is?
It is strongly based on the standard with a few wishes, such as larger children’s rooms. Overall, there hasn’t really been much thought given yet to what makes sense and what will feel comfortable to live in.
we will be building next year. We have found and purchased a small plot and have already chosen a house provider (we are still waiting for funding, so progress is currently on hold). Regarding the planning, the initial draft from the prefab house consultant is, in my opinion, just a suggestion and far from optimal, so I hope to benefit from the collective knowledge and experience here in the forum. I have attached anonymized floor plans as images.
My main topics right now are the following:
How should we arrange the children’s and parents’ bedrooms?
Where should the home office be located?
How can we fit two nice bathrooms into a small space, one focused on the children, the other more for us?
What alternatives are there for the kitchen-living-dining area, possibly not fully open plan?
Here is more information:
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 270m² (approximately 2900 sq ft) – 27 x 10 m (89 x 33 ft)
Slope: no, but a slope bank; the street is about 1.4 m (4.6 ft) higher than the rest of the lot.
Floor space index: 0.4
Building window, building line and boundary: 12 x 10 m (39 x 33 ft) building window, 3 m (10 ft) from the street, sketch attached
Edge development mandatory, as it is a semi-detached house (see plan)
Parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2.5 (2 full floors required, 6.5 m (21 ft) eaves height mandatory, also a maximum building height of 10 m (33 ft) from street level)
Roof type: 35° pitched roof
Style: classic?
Orientation: north-south
Maximum heights / limits: see above, 10 m (33 ft) max, exactly 6.5 m (21 ft) eaves height
Homeowners’ requirements
Basement, floors: Due to the slope and small area, we want a usable basement. We also want to finish the attic (now or later).
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, late 30s, 2 children (0 and 3 years old)
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Basement: laundry and utility room, hobby room, possibly with a separate outdoor staircase; Ground floor: living, dining, kitchen, guest WC, possibly home office; Upper floor: 2 children’s rooms (ideally about 14–15 m² (150–160 sq ft) each), bathroom, possibly home office or guest room or parents’ bedroom (I think that might be too tight but open to suggestions!), Attic: an additional bathroom (unclear whether a bathroom with bathtub should be in the upper or attic floor), parents’ bedroom, possibly home office (we don’t actually need a huge bedroom, hence the considerations). Because of the children’s ages, we would prefer to live on one floor with them, but I am struggling to create a good layout that fits three bedrooms and a bathroom.
Office: family use or home office? A home office is essential, at least a small one.
Open or closed architecture? It can be open, but for example, despite an open living-kitchen-dining area, we want the staircase separated to reduce noise (from children, for example) or cooking smells. Open to suggestions!
Conservative or modern architecture: I’d say rather modern but simple.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen preferred; thinking of an L-shape with a small breakfast bar. We like cooking a lot, so this area is important.
Number of dining seats: 6–8 seats, one dining table. If kitchen and living-dining area are separated, then probably a second eating area in the kitchen.
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: not needed
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Carport planned, possibly with a storage room.
Utility garden, greenhouse: not planned
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not preferred:
Since the second child is not yet born, we are not 100% sure about the daily routine. We currently live in a 4-room apartment. Ideally, we would like all bedrooms on one floor (maybe we would move then, so we might live on one floor for the first years and then move to the attic?). My wife definitely wants a WC or, preferably, a shower bathroom on the sleeping floor. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and dining area; we rarely sit on the sofa, so the kitchen-dining area feels more central to us than the living room seating.
I often work from home, so the office must be more than just a small closet, but only needs a desk and some storage for files, etc. It should also allow me to retreat (e.g., working in the evening on the computer). My wife also occasionally works from home (she is a teacher), so two desks would be ideal; we know this might be tight.
House design
Who designed the plan: House seller/"planner" prefab house company
What do you particularly like and why? The fairly large children’s rooms, as they are more important for us than the parents’ bedroom (only bed and wardrobe needed there).
An office with good lighting so that working is enjoyable.
Lots of windows (especially on the ground floor), hopefully providing enough natural light.
Lots of space on the ground floor since much family life will happen there in the coming years.
What do you not like and why?
The "large" bathroom on the upper floor if we live in the attic, because we would prefer the comfort of a bathtub, which the children probably wouldn’t care about.
The attic window on the south side should be removed, so the bathroom should be moved to the north side – the south side should be fully covered with photovoltaic panels. Currently, because of the staircase position, everything would be shifted, and I don’t understand how the rooms would look then or how else to solve this.
Possibly the office on the upper floor, if the children get noisy and I have appointments…
The feeling that the spacious ground floor wastes space and may not offer any retreat areas or similar.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approx. 415,000 euros
Personal budget limit for the house including equipment: approx. 425,000 euros
Preferred heating technology: heat pump, air-to-air, indoor installation, underfloor heating
If you have to give up items / expansions
- What you can do without: guest room, significantly larger bathroom, huge office, huge parents’ bedroom
- What you cannot do without: two children’s bedrooms with at least about 14 m² (150 sq ft), two bathrooms (shower or bathtub), guest WC
Why is the current design like it is?
It is strongly based on the standard with a few wishes, such as larger children’s rooms. Overall, there hasn’t really been much thought given yet to what makes sense and what will feel comfortable to live in.
philipp013 schrieb:
The other semi-detached plot was recently sold. philipp013 schrieb:
Currently, we are planning the house with 10.5m (possibly 11m; the neighbor on the recently sold semi-detached plot next door is planning with 10.5m), philipp013 schrieb:
Ground floor layout: I came up with this myself and don’t know if it can be implemented that well. No! – or to quote herrbusfahrer: “Stop!”
Sometimes I think that “a semi-detached house has TWO halves” (quote included) and ironically, my multiple related advice here in the forum is read least by the very people it concerns. This is not only disappointing for me, but also (see the Goalkeeper thread https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/reihenendhaus-mit-gue-in-eigenregie-bauen.31198/) for those who don’t read and unnecessarily live out the saying “you build your first home for an enemy.”
Your most important gift to yourself now is to coordinate the house profile with the neighbor on the “shared” wall side and ideally plan largely together (see my posts on the topics “without basement” / “with basement” and also many others on the topic “underpinning”). Your half of the house should therefore aim for a “matching profile,” meaning it should fit not only in the single parameter “length” with the neighboring half.
Regarding the right timing for your other question (attic floor, which is better postponed for now), you are currently still very far from it. I could criticize the design here in post #12 now, but I fear it would be read selectively.
1. Stop construction now! # 2. Talk with the neighbor # 3. Plan together, or at least coordinate.
After that, concrete details are welcome.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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philipp01311 Oct 2024 01:4311ant schrieb:
No! – or to quote herrbusfahrer: "Stop!"
Sometimes I think that "a semi-detached house has TWO halves" (external quotation marks included) and my numerous related remarks here in the forum are read least of all by the target group. This is not only disappointing for me, but (see Goalkeeper thread https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/reihenendhaus-mit-gue-in-eigenregie-bauen.31198/) also for those who don’t read it but unnecessarily put into practice the saying "building your first house for an enemy."
Your most important gift to yourself now is to coordinate the house profile with your neighbor on the "shared" party wall side and ideally also plan together as much as possible (see my posts on the keywords "without basement" / "with basement" as well as many others on the keyword "underpinning"). Your half of the house should therefore aim to have a matching profile, meaning it should not only align with the neighbor’s half in a single parameter such as "length."
Regarding the right timing for your other question (attic floor, which should be postponed), you are currently still very far from it. I could criticize the design in post #12 here, but I fear it would be read selectively.
1. Stop construction now! # 2. Talk with the neighbor # 3. Plan together or at least coordinate.
After that, concrete details are welcome. Sorry, but you are assuming facts that are not true: house dimensions, position, roof pitch, basement, etc. have already been agreed with the neighbors.
philipp013 schrieb:
Sorry, but you are assuming facts that are not correct: house dimensions, location, roof pitch, basement, etc. have already been agreed with the neighbors. I get my information directly from the source:
philipp013 schrieb:
currently, we are planning the house with a width of 10.5 m (possibly also 11 m; the neighbor on the other recently sold semi-detached plot is planning 10.5 m), There is nothing about agreement here, but rather that although the neighbor is building 10.5 m, possibly 11 m.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
P
philipp01311 Oct 2024 01:5511ant schrieb:
I get my information first-hand:
It doesn’t say resolved, but rather that although the neighbor is building 10.5m (34.5 feet), possibly even 11m (36 feet).Sorry for my unclear statement: 10.5m (34.5 feet) is the current planning status, we are currently discussing 11m (36 feet).Regarding the latest plans, I can only say... try furnishing the rooms, starting with the master bedroom... you won't be able to fit a proper 2m (6.5 ft) wardrobe there.
And then the ground floor hallway... where exactly would you put a coat rack? Also, take a look at the restroom.
For these reasons, I already consider the plan a no-go.
And a small tip: at least add a north arrow to the floor plans.
And then the ground floor hallway... where exactly would you put a coat rack? Also, take a look at the restroom.
For these reasons, I already consider the plan a no-go.
And a small tip: at least add a north arrow to the floor plans.
kbt09 schrieb:
And with that, I already see the plan as a no-go. I share this opinion.
A zigzag hallway is unusual because no one knows what to do with it – very difficult to furnish or not possible at all.
And yes: a wardrobe in the bedroom is not planned either, just as a double bed cannot be arranged.
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