ᐅ Floor plan design for a single-family house on a 10% south-facing slope. Entrance with a landing staircase.
Created on: 2 Aug 2025 23:15
H
Hanger1
Hello everyone,
Some time ago, I created a post about the layout and optimal use of our approximately 600 sqm (6460 sq ft) plot of land with about a 10% south-facing slope.
We have now spent some time drawing, considering, erasing, and so on, and have developed the following floor plan.
Since we have about a 10% slope, I want to make optimal use of the hillside. My idea is that the main entrance is on the landing staircase, meaning on the level between the ground floor and the first floor, but with an enlarged landing.
From there, half a flight of stairs leads up to the upper floor (sleeping area) or half a flight down to the ground floor (living area).
This idea comes from the split-level concept.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Size of the plot: 600 sqm (6460 sq ft)
Slope: 10% south-facing slope
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Number of parking spaces: not yet decided, probably 2
Number of stories: currently planning 2 full stories
Roof type: gable or hip roof
Architectural style: classic
Orientation: north-south
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type
Basement, number of floors
Number of residents, age: 2 adults, currently 1 child, 2-3 children planned in future
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor
Office: family use or home office? The office could alternatively be used as a third child’s bedroom
Overnight guests are negligible
Open or closed architecture: open design
Conservative or modern construction: conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island: U-shaped kitchen, already planned at the kitchen studio. The optimal size for us is 3 x 4 m (10 x 13 ft). We want a hidden door on the short side leading to the storage/pantry.
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: no
Guest WC should include a shower, as my wife will be working shift work again in the future and having a shower away from the bedrooms is convenient.
House Design
Who created the plan:
- Planner from a building company: ideas from a builder, but we are doing it ourselves (DIY)
What do you like about it? Why?
What do you not like? Why? We are uncertain whether the north side near the entrance on the intermediate level looks too disjointed, because the upper floor windows start at the height where the front door ends.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings: 500k
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
If you have to give up anything, which details or extras
- could you give up? Preferably less square meters.
- cannot do without? WC/shower on the ground floor.
The following rooms are planned:
1: Living room with sliding door to dining area
2: Dining area
3: Kitchen with sliding door to dining area
4: Utility room
5: Guest WC/shower
6: Corridor
7: Landing staircase with enlarged landing
8: Storage room
9: Bathroom
10: Child I
11: Child II
12: Parents’ bedroom, possibly with a partition wall so you enter the bedroom through a small dressing room
13: Corridor (the landing staircase is not shown here)
14: Office / Child III
I look forward to your feedback!
Some time ago, I created a post about the layout and optimal use of our approximately 600 sqm (6460 sq ft) plot of land with about a 10% south-facing slope.
We have now spent some time drawing, considering, erasing, and so on, and have developed the following floor plan.
Since we have about a 10% slope, I want to make optimal use of the hillside. My idea is that the main entrance is on the landing staircase, meaning on the level between the ground floor and the first floor, but with an enlarged landing.
From there, half a flight of stairs leads up to the upper floor (sleeping area) or half a flight down to the ground floor (living area).
This idea comes from the split-level concept.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Size of the plot: 600 sqm (6460 sq ft)
Slope: 10% south-facing slope
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Number of parking spaces: not yet decided, probably 2
Number of stories: currently planning 2 full stories
Roof type: gable or hip roof
Architectural style: classic
Orientation: north-south
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type
Basement, number of floors
Number of residents, age: 2 adults, currently 1 child, 2-3 children planned in future
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor
Office: family use or home office? The office could alternatively be used as a third child’s bedroom
Overnight guests are negligible
Open or closed architecture: open design
Conservative or modern construction: conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island: U-shaped kitchen, already planned at the kitchen studio. The optimal size for us is 3 x 4 m (10 x 13 ft). We want a hidden door on the short side leading to the storage/pantry.
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: no
Guest WC should include a shower, as my wife will be working shift work again in the future and having a shower away from the bedrooms is convenient.
House Design
Who created the plan:
- Planner from a building company: ideas from a builder, but we are doing it ourselves (DIY)
What do you like about it? Why?
What do you not like? Why? We are uncertain whether the north side near the entrance on the intermediate level looks too disjointed, because the upper floor windows start at the height where the front door ends.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings: 500k
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
If you have to give up anything, which details or extras
- could you give up? Preferably less square meters.
- cannot do without? WC/shower on the ground floor.
The following rooms are planned:
1: Living room with sliding door to dining area
2: Dining area
3: Kitchen with sliding door to dining area
4: Utility room
5: Guest WC/shower
6: Corridor
7: Landing staircase with enlarged landing
8: Storage room
9: Bathroom
10: Child I
11: Child II
12: Parents’ bedroom, possibly with a partition wall so you enter the bedroom through a small dressing room
13: Corridor (the landing staircase is not shown here)
14: Office / Child III
I look forward to your feedback!
M
MachsSelbst6 Aug 2025 23:38The main misconception is that the storage capacity of the utility room (HAR) increases linearly with its square meter area. This is not true; the storage capacity largely depends on the usable wall area. That’s where you place shelves, cabinets, appliances, or hang things.
If I have a square utility room of 6m² (65ft²), I have 4 walls of 2.4m (7.9ft) each, minus a window of 100cm (39 inches), and a door of 90cm (35 inches) – which, sensibly for small utility rooms, opens into the hallway to save space. That amounts to 7.8m (25.6ft) of wall.
Now if I enlarge the utility room to 18m² (194ft²), I get 15.1m (49.5ft) of wall (same window and door subtracted), so not even twice as much wall space, but three times the floor area. Shelves line the walls, and there’s just open floor space in the middle.
There is also the issue mentioned: the utility room is always warm and fairly humid. Either laundry is stored there, or the dryer and washing machine are running. And with the shown floor plan, you always have to carry everything across the house.
For example, we abandoned the idea of placing a second refrigerator in the utility room and now prefer a really large one in the kitchen. It’s usually cooler there, and no one wants to constantly walk to the utility room to get drinks...
Sliding doors may be desired for some reasons, but they make rooms feel very small and cramped. My study is 10m² (108ft²)... just imagining fitting a cozy large sofa, a TV, a few shelves in there, and then spending the evening in that space... it’s awful. Like a bunker.
The staircase in front of the office, on the other hand, is almost dangerous. It’s almost certainly going to cause problems.
Mr. Müller wants to quickly get coffee with his headset on, heads to the door, and at that moment someone asks, "Mr. Müller, what do you think about this?" Mr. Müller feels caught, gets briefly distracted, forgets to take the big step he needs to... and five seconds later is lying in front of the double doors to the dining area, holding his ankle... or his head...
If I have a square utility room of 6m² (65ft²), I have 4 walls of 2.4m (7.9ft) each, minus a window of 100cm (39 inches), and a door of 90cm (35 inches) – which, sensibly for small utility rooms, opens into the hallway to save space. That amounts to 7.8m (25.6ft) of wall.
Now if I enlarge the utility room to 18m² (194ft²), I get 15.1m (49.5ft) of wall (same window and door subtracted), so not even twice as much wall space, but three times the floor area. Shelves line the walls, and there’s just open floor space in the middle.
There is also the issue mentioned: the utility room is always warm and fairly humid. Either laundry is stored there, or the dryer and washing machine are running. And with the shown floor plan, you always have to carry everything across the house.
For example, we abandoned the idea of placing a second refrigerator in the utility room and now prefer a really large one in the kitchen. It’s usually cooler there, and no one wants to constantly walk to the utility room to get drinks...
Sliding doors may be desired for some reasons, but they make rooms feel very small and cramped. My study is 10m² (108ft²)... just imagining fitting a cozy large sofa, a TV, a few shelves in there, and then spending the evening in that space... it’s awful. Like a bunker.
The staircase in front of the office, on the other hand, is almost dangerous. It’s almost certainly going to cause problems.
Mr. Müller wants to quickly get coffee with his headset on, heads to the door, and at that moment someone asks, "Mr. Müller, what do you think about this?" Mr. Müller feels caught, gets briefly distracted, forgets to take the big step he needs to... and five seconds later is lying in front of the double doors to the dining area, holding his ankle... or his head...
H
hanghaus20237 Aug 2025 09:58In my opinion, this is more of an option. Ground floor and upper floor with a knee wall height of 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in).
Is there a reference point for the eaves height? For example, existing or planned terrain?
Is there a reference point for the eaves height? For example, existing or planned terrain?
S
Schorsch_baut8 Aug 2025 10:51One more comment from me regarding the equipment room. We were surprised by how little of the free wall surfaces are usable, as there are cables and pipes running everywhere.
M
MachsSelbst8 Aug 2025 11:55Schorsch_baut schrieb:
One more comment from me about the utility room. We were surprised at how little free wall space is actually usable, since there are cables and pipes running everywhere. It is definitely a good idea to visit the construction site during the days when electricians, plumbers, etc., are installing all the equipment in the utility room. We had explicitly discussed this with the site manager and others, marked on the walls where things should go... but in the end, it was done completely differently. And that was exactly the week I couldn’t be on site...
S
Schorsch_baut8 Aug 2025 12:10Absolutely! Our heating engineer also did not adhere to the planning requirements that were relevant for the electrician.
Hello everyone,
I’m back, this time not with a self-drawn plan. About four weeks ago, we met with our designer and have now received the first draft. Maybe you have some input.
General:
He also advised against an entrance at the landing staircase or on the upper floor. Instead, he planned the entrance on the west side with a small staircase leading to the carport. We basically like that.
Ground Floor:
The guest toilet/WC will probably be too small in our opinion, but I think if we move the wall downwards and therefore can partially see the staircase from the room, we should be able to fit everything comfortably.
Currently, doors are still planned between the living and dining areas as well as between dining and kitchen. We will definitely remove the first, but would like to keep the second.
The fireplace will also be removed.
Comments on the Upper Floor:
Maybe swap Child 3/office and bathroom.
However, for that we would need a different roof design for the carport since currently the bathroom only has a skylight, which wouldn’t be ideal for a bedroom.
Comments on the Carport:
The only issue is the roof shape. With this design, we would have to accept a knee wall height of 2.2m (7 ft 3 in), which means the bathroom would only have a skylight.
This is not a big problem, but we are considering swapping the bathroom and Child 3/office.
Best regards
I’m back, this time not with a self-drawn plan. About four weeks ago, we met with our designer and have now received the first draft. Maybe you have some input.
General:
He also advised against an entrance at the landing staircase or on the upper floor. Instead, he planned the entrance on the west side with a small staircase leading to the carport. We basically like that.
Ground Floor:
The guest toilet/WC will probably be too small in our opinion, but I think if we move the wall downwards and therefore can partially see the staircase from the room, we should be able to fit everything comfortably.
Currently, doors are still planned between the living and dining areas as well as between dining and kitchen. We will definitely remove the first, but would like to keep the second.
The fireplace will also be removed.
Comments on the Upper Floor:
Maybe swap Child 3/office and bathroom.
However, for that we would need a different roof design for the carport since currently the bathroom only has a skylight, which wouldn’t be ideal for a bedroom.
Comments on the Carport:
The only issue is the roof shape. With this design, we would have to accept a knee wall height of 2.2m (7 ft 3 in), which means the bathroom would only have a skylight.
This is not a big problem, but we are considering swapping the bathroom and Child 3/office.
Best regards
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