ᐅ Floor plan design for a single-family house with approximately 130 square meters (about 1,400 square feet) of living space
Created on: 16 Jun 2024 19:36
J
jan_christlieb
Hello everyone,
attached is our design for a single-family house. I’m looking forward to your critical feedback and any questions. Thanks in advance!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 500 sqm (5,382 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: 0.4 (built-up area according to design 0.26)
Floor space index: 2
Building line: construction must be directly at the property boundary (to maintain the urban character)
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Maximum heights / limits: living area between 6.00 - 7.50 m (19.7 - 24.6 ft) / full height max. 11 m (36 ft)
Other: no or only minimal roof overhang allowed
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: townhouse with a cost-optimized layout (no projections, recesses, gables, etc.)
Basement, floors: no basement
Number of occupants, age: 3 people (38 years, 38 years, 2 years)
Space requirement ground floor, upper floor: approx. 120-130 sqm (1,292-1,399 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: between 20-25
Open or closed architecture: open
Conventional or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 4 standard (+4 when extended)
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: greenhouse
Other special features:
- Streetlight at bedroom level
House Design
Who planned it: mainly own planning with input from an architect
What do you like most? Why?
- Utility room with second entrance used as a mudroom
- Bright kitchen-living area with generous terrace
- Two offices or home offices still possible when guests are present
- Vaulted rooms on upper floor with sleeping gallery
- Covered main entrance via carport
What do you not like? Why?
- Northwest elevation (window arrangement)
- No existing trees on the property; a good, constructive sunshade on the terrace is absolutely necessary
- No evening sun in the garden
- Small office could get too hot in summer (many windows, little space)
Price estimate by architect/planner: 400K
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 450K
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump
If you had to give up, which details / additions
- Could give up: bikeport / second home office / shower on ground floor
- Could not give up: home office, bedroom, children’s room
Why is the design the way it is now? For example,
The design is the result of:
- our needs analysis
- available budget
- inspiration from model homes and media (magazines / books / YouTube)
attached is our design for a single-family house. I’m looking forward to your critical feedback and any questions. Thanks in advance!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 500 sqm (5,382 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: 0.4 (built-up area according to design 0.26)
Floor space index: 2
Building line: construction must be directly at the property boundary (to maintain the urban character)
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Maximum heights / limits: living area between 6.00 - 7.50 m (19.7 - 24.6 ft) / full height max. 11 m (36 ft)
Other: no or only minimal roof overhang allowed
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: townhouse with a cost-optimized layout (no projections, recesses, gables, etc.)
Basement, floors: no basement
Number of occupants, age: 3 people (38 years, 38 years, 2 years)
Space requirement ground floor, upper floor: approx. 120-130 sqm (1,292-1,399 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: between 20-25
Open or closed architecture: open
Conventional or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 4 standard (+4 when extended)
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: greenhouse
Other special features:
- Streetlight at bedroom level
House Design
Who planned it: mainly own planning with input from an architect
What do you like most? Why?
- Utility room with second entrance used as a mudroom
- Bright kitchen-living area with generous terrace
- Two offices or home offices still possible when guests are present
- Vaulted rooms on upper floor with sleeping gallery
- Covered main entrance via carport
What do you not like? Why?
- Northwest elevation (window arrangement)
- No existing trees on the property; a good, constructive sunshade on the terrace is absolutely necessary
- No evening sun in the garden
- Small office could get too hot in summer (many windows, little space)
Price estimate by architect/planner: 400K
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 450K
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump
If you had to give up, which details / additions
- Could give up: bikeport / second home office / shower on ground floor
- Could not give up: home office, bedroom, children’s room
Why is the design the way it is now? For example,
The design is the result of:
- our needs analysis
- available budget
- inspiration from model homes and media (magazines / books / YouTube)
Just to illustrate the square meters again . . This is not meant to be the exact house. You can imagine the bay window removed, up top you could allocate an additional 5 m² (54 ft²) for an office, and create more storage space downstairs. But you can immediately see how the space allocation shifts when designing with sloped ceilings and appreciating their livability in smaller homes.
Are there free parking spaces available on the street? Every visitor with a vehicle has to look for a spot on the street because there is no “emergency parking space in front of the carport.” That is why many municipalities usually require a 5 m (16 ft) distance between the carport and the property boundary.
General question: In the future, will one parking space be enough for you?
General question: In the future, will one parking space be enough for you?
hanse987 schrieb:
Are there any free parking spaces on the street?Have you seen the photo of the street? We are not talking about the old town in the city center here.J
jan_christlieb19 Jun 2024 17:28Thank you all for your feedback so far. I found every comment valuable. I will address a few points in more detail and then present an optimization of the floor plan.
I have to agree with you here. The galleries seemed like an obvious solution to better utilize the room height, but as @ypg pointed out, they are not really good solutions. Thanks for that.
The roof insulation is already included as standard with our provider.
Actually, a minimum wall height of 6m (20 feet) and a maximum of 7.5m (24.6 feet) is required here. That’s why a 1.5-story house is not an option. The neighboring house is older than the development plan and is likely grandfathered.
The revised design is heading in exactly that direction.
Attached are the sketches, along with the changes summarized in bullet points:
Changes to the upper floor:
Changes to the attic:
I look forward to your feedback. Thanks in advance!
I have to admit, I see the exact opposite of flexibility. Everyone still has a small little room that really can’t be used at all.
I have to agree with you here. The galleries seemed like an obvious solution to better utilize the room height, but as @ypg pointed out, they are not really good solutions. Thanks for that.
Opening into the attic increases construction costs due to roof insulation.
The roof insulation is already included as standard with our provider.
I almost thought that two-story construction is mandatory in your development plan, but your neighbor’s house tells a different story.
Actually, a minimum wall height of 6m (20 feet) and a maximum of 7.5m (24.6 feet) is required here. That’s why a 1.5-story house is not an option. The neighboring house is older than the development plan and is likely grandfathered.
Why don’t you design a room for everyone? Mattresses could be left there for children’s overnight guests or for an adult’s quiet time during the day.
The revised design is heading in exactly that direction.
Attached are the sketches, along with the changes summarized in bullet points:
Changes to the upper floor:
- Continuous ceiling with a clear room height of 2.5m (8.2 feet)
- Omission of the study (room 01) including its window
- Installation of a quarter-turn staircase (details in the sketch)
- Children’s room enlarged by 4sqm (43 sqft)
- Office redesigned (same size)
Changes to the attic:
- All galleries removed
- Wall height raised by 50cm (20 inches) to 6.71m (22 feet)
- New storage room
- Previously planned above the bathroom as well, but now more accessible
- New attic room with about 22sqm (237 sqft) living space
- Four skylights instead of three
I look forward to your feedback. Thanks in advance!
And what about the ground floor?
The stairs to the attic floor don’t work like this, because you hit your head on the sloping ceiling when going up.
There is a good reason to plan with the roof, not against it.
The hallway recess in front of the bathroom is still there,...
You waste expensive square meter resources with an additional stair flight as well as with such hallway designs.
The stairs to the attic floor don’t work like this, because you hit your head on the sloping ceiling when going up.
There is a good reason to plan with the roof, not against it.
The hallway recess in front of the bathroom is still there,...
You waste expensive square meter resources with an additional stair flight as well as with such hallway designs.
J
jan_christlieb20 Jun 2024 23:56Here are the latest drafts:
- I have removed the hallway closet.
- The staircase now goes in the opposite direction – a small but crucial detail. Thanks.
- In my opinion, the stairwell opening can only be eliminated if I extend the half-landing staircase up to the attic. If I have calculated correctly, this would require knee wall extension of 110cm (43 inches). With the quarter-landing staircase, the attic is already functional with a 50cm (20 inch) extension. For financial reasons, this would probably be my preference.
- On the ground floor, I changed the three floor-to-ceiling windows (each 1.60m (63 inches) wide) into one floor-to-ceiling window with a width of 2.50m (98 inches). From my point of view, this creates a much calmer room and we gain more usable space.
- The kitchen L-shape now faces the other direction, allowing a direct view of the garden from the workspace. If the kitchen is really too small, it could still be extended into a U-shape.
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