ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of Approximately 134 m²

Hello everyone,

I have read a lot in the forum and am now excited to write my first post :-) I am very curious about your feedback and experiences and look forward to your replies.

Thank you in advance.

If you need any additional views or information for an assessment or feedback, I can gladly provide them. The floor plans for the levels are attached after the questionnaire.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 375m² (4036 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: -
Floor area ratio: -
Building window, building line, and boundary: -
Edge development: no
Number of parking spaces: garage + parking space
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: gable roof with 40° pitch
Style
Orientation: east-west (roof slopes)
Maximum heights/limits: eaves height 424cm (14 ft), ridge height = 761cm (25 ft)
Other requirements

Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: -
Basement, floors: no basement – planned by developer
Number of occupants, ages: 3 (31, 35, 0)
Space requirement on ground floor and upper floor: 130-145m² (1400-1560 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office (small office needed)
Guest bedrooms per year: 5
Open or closed architecture: open
Traditional or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: U-shaped kitchen or with island (not essential – must be functional in the floor plan)
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: Dolby Surround for TV
Balcony, roof terrace: both as planned by developer
Garage, carport: garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no special requirements
Wishes: corner bathtub, storage space behind garage to replace basement, possibly a garden shed if possible, gable roof with steep pitch—possible or not recommended at this height?
Soundproofing measures considered if possible

House Design
Who designed the plan:
Planned by developer in cooperation with an architectural firm
What do you particularly like? Why? – open living-dining-kitchen area
What do you not like? Why? – technical room too large? Might limit TV corner – could this be smaller or is that impractical?

Personal price limit for the house, including features: fixed price from developer; for changes or custom upgrades currently planning a 50-60k buffer
Preferred heating technology: planned heat pump

If you had to give up, which details/extensions
- could give up: knee wall / storage space inside the house, separate dressing area
- cannot give up: sofa distance less than 4 meters (13 ft) from TV wall, open living-dining area

Why is the design as it is? E.g.
Standard design from the planner or pre-designed plan already submitted by developer

Currently, we have the following questions:
Is the technical room too large? Might limit the TV corner – can it be smaller or is that impractical?
Is a steep gable possible or is it not recommended at this height?
Would a different staircase shape suit the design of the upper floor or the storage/technical room on the ground floor better?

Could additional living space be gained by measures such as an additional roof window in a clever location or structural changes, e.g., dormer or knee wall height increase, if within the price range (10-15k) and approved by the building authority/planning permission?

I look forward to your feedback and would greatly appreciate your experiences or tips for the “optimal” layout design.

Harald_0711 schrieb:

Designed by the developer

Harald_0711 schrieb:

Designed by the developer in cooperation with an architectural firm

Harald_0711 schrieb:

Already applied for by the developer

So you are buying the house finished? The client is the developer? It’s their land, not yours?

Considering that it’s only a small 375m² (approximately 4,035 sq ft) plot, I don’t think the floor plan is bad. It kind of feels like a semi-detached house.
However, the TV area is problematic. More than 7 meters (about 23 feet) is too far for comfortable TV viewing.
I would first move the door to the utility room (TK) along the long wall, away from the corner.

Is there a north arrow?
Because of the sloped ceilings, a double half-turn staircase might be more interesting. You could place it so that there is still space for a shower upstairs.
Nothing would change regarding the utility room.
In this case, I would probably swap the kitchen and living room.

In general, I would swap the bedroom and child’s room. However, due to the different staircase, the overall layout would look somewhat different.

ypg schrieb:

So, you’re buying the house finished? Is the builder the client? It’s his plot, not yours?

Considering it’s only a 375sqm (around 4000 sq ft) small lot, I don’t think the floor plan is bad. It does look somewhat like a semi-detached house.
However, the TV area is really problematic. More than 7 meters (23 feet) is too long for comfortable TV viewing.
I would first move the door to the utility/technical room along the long wall, away from the corner.

Is there a north arrow?
Because of the sloping roof, a double spiral staircase might be more interesting. Position it so that a shower is still possible upstairs.
Nothing changes at the utility/technical room.
In this case, I would probably still swap the kitchen and living room.

In general, I would switch the bedroom and children’s room, but the different staircase leads to a slightly different floor plan.

Thank you very much for the initial assessment! :-)

Yes, the house would be bought fully finished, turnkey including plot and garage. The plot is owned by the builder; the client is the builder.

For the TV area, we had considered possibly extending the wall up to the staircase, which would reduce the size of the utility/technical room and combine the laundry room with the utility/technical room.

However, I also find the idea of swapping the kitchen with the living room appealing, although then you would always have to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen.

Here are the elevations:

I wouldn’t want to swap the bedroom and children’s room since the bedroom currently faces the meadows and the children’s room is next to the bathroom, facing other houses. Or were you referring to the children’s room with a current living area of 11.13sqm (120 sq ft)?

Best regards

Harald_0711 schrieb:

For the TV area, we had considered possibly extending the wall up to the staircase, thereby reducing the size of the technical room and connecting the utility room with the technical room.

And what would that achieve?

Harald_0711 schrieb:

However, you would then always have to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen.

Maybe, or rather definitely, you should draw your furniture layout first – that will probably lead to some realizations.

Harald_0711 schrieb:

I wouldn’t want to swap the bedroom and children's room, since the bedroom currently faces the meadow and the children’s room is next to the bathroom, facing other houses.

So what? You don’t spend much time in the bedroom, but you do in the children’s room or hobby room. I also don’t see why you would want to share the balcony with the parents or the child — that would mean almost no privacy. But of course, you can leave it as it is.

Moving the staircase inward like that and then creating these narrow spaces behind it – what’s the point? I find it absurd.
Why not just reclassify the room at the entrance as the utility room? Then place the staircase against the wall where it belongs and incorporate the rest into the living room to finally create some space?

K a t j a schrieb:

Then the staircase against the wall,

There is a sloped roof above, which makes that impossible! Even a staircase like the one used by @jan_christlieb would probably not be feasible with a roof eave height of max 4.20 m (13.8 ft). So, a straight staircase remains, which must be set away from the exterior wall. The mainstream option is likely ruled out as well, because the house is too narrow, most people do not want the conventional staircase position near the entrance, and it would also make that area too cramped.