ᐅ Floor Plan Design Single-Family House approximately 170 m² plus Attic as a Modern Brick-Faced Home
Created on: 3 Jan 2022 18:41
V
Varrader
Good evening,
as previously silent readers, we (a young family with 2 children) are now slowly reaching the point where we would like to ask for help, critique, and ideas here.
We plan to build a single-family house in early 2023 and have already been working with an architect on the design for some time (so far commissioned for phases 1–4).
Here is the forum questionnaire filled out to the best of our knowledge:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 560m² (6027 sq ft), cul-de-sac location; parking spaces on the west side, wide pedestrian path on the east side, followed by a field (likely to become building land in 10–15 years)
Slope: none
Site occupancy index (Grundflächenzahl): 0.4
Floor area ratio (Geschossflächenzahl): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 3m (10 ft) all around
Border grouping: no
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full floors + attic
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style: modern brick construction with a simple building shape, no roof overhangs
Orientation: east-west
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height 6.5m (21 ft 4 in), eaves height 10m (33 ft)
Additional requirements: hedge on the left side limited to 1m (3 ft) height, distance from first parking space to street at least 5m (16 ft)
Rooms:
Ground floor: living/dining area with open kitchen, small workspace “corner,” utility/storage room, guest toilet
First floor: 2 children’s rooms, master bedroom (preferably with a separate closet area, main room oriented to the east side of the house!), master bathroom with shower and bathtub, children’s bathroom with shower, small laundry room for washing machine and drying rack
Attic: third children’s room, storage room, hobby/office room
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type: single-family house with gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, two full floors, attic to be used as living space
Number of people, age: 2 adults, 2 children (2 & 4 years old, another child planned)
Space needs on ground and first floor
Office: family use or home office? Home office space on the ground floor “close to the main activities,” additional more secluded space in the attic
Guests per year: none expected
Open or closed architecture: open living/dining area
Conservative or modern construction: modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, kitchen island optional
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: no
Music/sound system wall: space for a large TV (about 1.9m (6 ft 3 in) wide expected, no additional equipment like speakers planned)
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for one parking space plus storage for garden tools and equipment inside
Utility garden, greenhouse: decorative garden
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not chosen: Our current house has very small windows (timber-frame house), so we especially want more light in the house and attractive sightlines into the garden
House design
Who created the plan:
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
The arrangement of the south-facing rooms on the ground floor and the small study, which can feel connected to the living area when the door is open.
We also like that the staircase on the ground floor faces the living areas rather than the front door.
What do you dislike? Why?
We want to enjoy as much of our garden as possible, so our basic desire was to build a narrow but long house. In this design, however, the current platform staircase is very large and feels overwhelming in the hallway area.
On the practical side, this staircase also allows direct access to the attic with the same stair flight.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €500,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €550,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat pump
If you have to give up anything, which details/finishes
- can you do without:
- can you not do without:
Why is the design as it is now? For example:
Which wishes from the architect have been implemented: spatial plan discussed with the architect
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
We are worried about missing a good idea; we sometimes lack the creative input to find solutions that are a bit outside the box.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
The arrangement of the staircase and the spatial feeling when entering the house are our main concerns. The staircase shapes the entire concept upstairs.
I’ve attached an alternative ground floor plan, where we try to reach the upper floor with an L-shaped staircase. However, this requires a second stair flight to access the attic, which also takes up space...
We look forward to your critique and suggestions!
Best regards,
Stefan
as previously silent readers, we (a young family with 2 children) are now slowly reaching the point where we would like to ask for help, critique, and ideas here.
We plan to build a single-family house in early 2023 and have already been working with an architect on the design for some time (so far commissioned for phases 1–4).
Here is the forum questionnaire filled out to the best of our knowledge:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 560m² (6027 sq ft), cul-de-sac location; parking spaces on the west side, wide pedestrian path on the east side, followed by a field (likely to become building land in 10–15 years)
Slope: none
Site occupancy index (Grundflächenzahl): 0.4
Floor area ratio (Geschossflächenzahl): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 3m (10 ft) all around
Border grouping: no
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2 full floors + attic
Roof type: gable roof
Architectural style: modern brick construction with a simple building shape, no roof overhangs
Orientation: east-west
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height 6.5m (21 ft 4 in), eaves height 10m (33 ft)
Additional requirements: hedge on the left side limited to 1m (3 ft) height, distance from first parking space to street at least 5m (16 ft)
Rooms:
Ground floor: living/dining area with open kitchen, small workspace “corner,” utility/storage room, guest toilet
First floor: 2 children’s rooms, master bedroom (preferably with a separate closet area, main room oriented to the east side of the house!), master bathroom with shower and bathtub, children’s bathroom with shower, small laundry room for washing machine and drying rack
Attic: third children’s room, storage room, hobby/office room
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type: single-family house with gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, two full floors, attic to be used as living space
Number of people, age: 2 adults, 2 children (2 & 4 years old, another child planned)
Space needs on ground and first floor
Office: family use or home office? Home office space on the ground floor “close to the main activities,” additional more secluded space in the attic
Guests per year: none expected
Open or closed architecture: open living/dining area
Conservative or modern construction: modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, kitchen island optional
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: no
Music/sound system wall: space for a large TV (about 1.9m (6 ft 3 in) wide expected, no additional equipment like speakers planned)
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for one parking space plus storage for garden tools and equipment inside
Utility garden, greenhouse: decorative garden
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why certain things are or are not chosen: Our current house has very small windows (timber-frame house), so we especially want more light in the house and attractive sightlines into the garden
House design
Who created the plan:
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
The arrangement of the south-facing rooms on the ground floor and the small study, which can feel connected to the living area when the door is open.
We also like that the staircase on the ground floor faces the living areas rather than the front door.
What do you dislike? Why?
We want to enjoy as much of our garden as possible, so our basic desire was to build a narrow but long house. In this design, however, the current platform staircase is very large and feels overwhelming in the hallway area.
On the practical side, this staircase also allows direct access to the attic with the same stair flight.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €500,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €550,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat pump
If you have to give up anything, which details/finishes
- can you do without:
- can you not do without:
Why is the design as it is now? For example:
Which wishes from the architect have been implemented: spatial plan discussed with the architect
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
We are worried about missing a good idea; we sometimes lack the creative input to find solutions that are a bit outside the box.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
The arrangement of the staircase and the spatial feeling when entering the house are our main concerns. The staircase shapes the entire concept upstairs.
I’ve attached an alternative ground floor plan, where we try to reach the upper floor with an L-shaped staircase. However, this requires a second stair flight to access the attic, which also takes up space...
We look forward to your critique and suggestions!
Best regards,
Stefan
Würfel* schrieb:
[...] Do not place the garage around the corner, but bring it forward and extend it up to the property boundary. That way, you will have just as much space and the study can have a large window.Unfortunately, we have to keep a 1m (3 feet) distance from the sidewalk. Thank you for your input!
@Hangman: The front door facing west is fixed for us. Our architect has also already suggested the attic as the location for the mechanical ventilation system. We are planning photovoltaic as you mentioned. No windows on the south side, full photovoltaic installation there, and roof windows on the north side.
So, let’s continue 🙂
Our architect reviewed our version with the then necessary second flight of stairs on the upper floor and (as already mentioned here) deemed it unfeasible.
A new proposal for the ground floor is now available; the stair with landing has been replaced by a… stair with steps integrated into the landing (there’s surely a technical term for this). This results in the staircase not extending as far into the hallway.
We especially like the solution with the slightly concealed cloakroom in the hallway. Here, we would probably make the guest toilet slightly smaller to make the hallway wider at that spot. I think we would also switch the door swing of the front door to the other side.
The rotated table in the dining area might seem like just a rotated table at first glance, but for us, this arrangement clearly improves the possible walking paths and benefits the spatial layout. I would probably also shift the sofa corner a bit to the left to create a little more spaciousness there (right @Würfel* 🙂 )
The upper floor still has a fairly large hallway. The utility room feels very big, and the master bathroom is missing a bathtub. We can quite well imagine the situation in the master bedroom, although it feels somewhat luxuriously spacious to us.
We believe that we have made another (in our opinion) good step forward and look forward to your feedback.
Our architect reviewed our version with the then necessary second flight of stairs on the upper floor and (as already mentioned here) deemed it unfeasible.
A new proposal for the ground floor is now available; the stair with landing has been replaced by a… stair with steps integrated into the landing (there’s surely a technical term for this). This results in the staircase not extending as far into the hallway.
We especially like the solution with the slightly concealed cloakroom in the hallway. Here, we would probably make the guest toilet slightly smaller to make the hallway wider at that spot. I think we would also switch the door swing of the front door to the other side.
The rotated table in the dining area might seem like just a rotated table at first glance, but for us, this arrangement clearly improves the possible walking paths and benefits the spatial layout. I would probably also shift the sofa corner a bit to the left to create a little more spaciousness there (right @Würfel* 🙂 )
The upper floor still has a fairly large hallway. The utility room feels very big, and the master bathroom is missing a bathtub. We can quite well imagine the situation in the master bedroom, although it feels somewhat luxuriously spacious to us.
We believe that we have made another (in our opinion) good step forward and look forward to your feedback.
Varrader schrieb:
Although the rotated table in the dining area might seem like just a rotated table at first glance, for us it clearly improves the possible walking paths in our minds and benefits the overall room layout.It’s not a huge deal, but I would reconsider it—and plan the lighting outlets accordingly. We spent a longer time with both options in two almost identically sized rooms, and option 1 works significantly better simply because there is enough space around it, whereas in option 2 the space at the ends is tight, especially when someone is seated there.So, you only have 2.60 meters (8 feet 6 inches) of width for the sofa... I find that a) too narrow and b) quite uncomfortable. People often like to have a reading lamp or a side table next to the sofa as well.
On the other hand, I think the utility room downstairs is too large, considering that laundry is done upstairs.
I would give more space to the living room, reduce the size of the utility room, and then position the office horizontally. What kind of built-in closet is shown in the dining area?
The upstairs area looks very well designed.
On the other hand, I think the utility room downstairs is too large, considering that laundry is done upstairs.
I would give more space to the living room, reduce the size of the utility room, and then position the office horizontally. What kind of built-in closet is shown in the dining area?
The upstairs area looks very well designed.
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