ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of Approximately 150 m²
Created on: 12 Feb 2018 18:09
C
chrisw81
Hello,
After a long search, we signed the notarized contract for the land purchase at the end of December. We are now actively planning the floor plan. Unfortunately, the plot is somewhat awkwardly shaped (not rectangular), which creates some limitations for the layout from our perspective. We already have a first draft, but there are several areas we don’t like and are unsure how to improve. Maybe you have some ideas; we would appreciate your input.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 601 m² (6465 sq ft)
Building envelope, building line, boundary: Building line with the house on the west side
Peripheral setbacks: 7 m (23 ft) from the street (north), otherwise the usual 3 m (10 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2 desired
Number of floors: 1 full story allowed
Roof style: Gable roof
Design style: open construction method
Orientation: South
Maximum heights / limits: Ridge height max. 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional requirements: Max. 100 m² (1076 sq ft) of built-up area
Client Requirements
Style, roof form, building type: Solid construction house, rectangular, no bay windows, no projections, etc., gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement; 1.5 stories
Number and age of residents: 2 people, age between 30 and 40, possibly children later
Space needs on ground floor and upper floor: Ground floor – living/dining room, kitchen, guest toilet, utility room, office
Office: family use or home office?: family use
Guest stays per year: 20 days
Open or closed architecture: open living area, closed hallway
Conservative or modern style: conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, island without cooktop
Number of dining seats: 2-4
Fireplace: yes, chimney planned
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Further wishes, special features, daily routine, and reasons for preferences:
- A wardrobe area on the ground floor is important where coats can be stored relatively out of sight.
- On the upper floor, it would be nice to have an open gallery with a desk or similar (not a must and not necessarily next to the stairs).
- A walk-in closet would be nice but not essential.
- A storage room on the upper floor is very important since we do not have a basement.
House Design
Who created the design:
- Basic design by the construction company (FIBAV Stadthaus Vision Studio)
- DIY modifications based on online floor plans (especially Viebrockhaus Maxime 330)
What do you particularly like? Why?:
- Layout of the living/dining area and the narrowing kitchen reduces the hallway effect a bit
- Many windows in the living/dining area
- Wide hallway on the ground floor
What do you dislike? Why?:
- Few options to place furniture (dresser, wardrobe) in the ground floor hallway due to many doors
- Very large hallway upstairs, considered wasted space
- Bedroom is quite small; should be the largest room upstairs (preferably 16 m² (172 sq ft), children’s rooms rather 14 m² (151 sq ft))
- Stair placement limited by chimney location
- Door placement upstairs limited by chimney
- A staircase rotated 90 degrees (entrance next to front door) would appeal more
- Difficult to align windows upstairs and downstairs on the gable end vertically
- Floor-to-ceiling windows upstairs; wider windows with a sill height around 100 cm (40 inches) would be preferred
Price estimate by architect/planner: 200,000 €
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 210,000 €
Preferred heating technology: gas heating
What details or expansions could you give up?
- Can do without: gallery next to stairs upstairs. Living area could also be narrower (e.g., 4.20 m (14 ft) instead of 4.47 m (15 ft))
- Cannot do without: storage room upstairs, shower in guest toilet, extra natural light in the ground floor hallway (e.g., side panel on front door or window)
Why was the design made this way? For example, standard plan from planner?
- Since the house has very little space on the south side, the house should be very narrow in order not to waste more space to the south. It should be wider so that living, dining, and kitchen areas face south as much as possible.
Were corresponding wishes from the architect implemented? No architect meeting has taken place yet.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can the ground floor hallway be better designed to fit a wardrobe? Can the stairs be positioned better or replaced? Should the hallway be enlarged and living space reduced? How can the upstairs hallway be better utilized? Can the bedroom be enlarged? Is it possible to swap the bedroom with another room, e.g., move it to the southeast to allow a walk-in closet?
Thank you very much in advance for your criticism and suggestions!
After a long search, we signed the notarized contract for the land purchase at the end of December. We are now actively planning the floor plan. Unfortunately, the plot is somewhat awkwardly shaped (not rectangular), which creates some limitations for the layout from our perspective. We already have a first draft, but there are several areas we don’t like and are unsure how to improve. Maybe you have some ideas; we would appreciate your input.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 601 m² (6465 sq ft)
Building envelope, building line, boundary: Building line with the house on the west side
Peripheral setbacks: 7 m (23 ft) from the street (north), otherwise the usual 3 m (10 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2 desired
Number of floors: 1 full story allowed
Roof style: Gable roof
Design style: open construction method
Orientation: South
Maximum heights / limits: Ridge height max. 8.5 m (28 ft)
Additional requirements: Max. 100 m² (1076 sq ft) of built-up area
Client Requirements
Style, roof form, building type: Solid construction house, rectangular, no bay windows, no projections, etc., gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement; 1.5 stories
Number and age of residents: 2 people, age between 30 and 40, possibly children later
Space needs on ground floor and upper floor: Ground floor – living/dining room, kitchen, guest toilet, utility room, office
Office: family use or home office?: family use
Guest stays per year: 20 days
Open or closed architecture: open living area, closed hallway
Conservative or modern style: conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen, island without cooktop
Number of dining seats: 2-4
Fireplace: yes, chimney planned
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Further wishes, special features, daily routine, and reasons for preferences:
- A wardrobe area on the ground floor is important where coats can be stored relatively out of sight.
- On the upper floor, it would be nice to have an open gallery with a desk or similar (not a must and not necessarily next to the stairs).
- A walk-in closet would be nice but not essential.
- A storage room on the upper floor is very important since we do not have a basement.
House Design
Who created the design:
- Basic design by the construction company (FIBAV Stadthaus Vision Studio)
- DIY modifications based on online floor plans (especially Viebrockhaus Maxime 330)
What do you particularly like? Why?:
- Layout of the living/dining area and the narrowing kitchen reduces the hallway effect a bit
- Many windows in the living/dining area
- Wide hallway on the ground floor
What do you dislike? Why?:
- Few options to place furniture (dresser, wardrobe) in the ground floor hallway due to many doors
- Very large hallway upstairs, considered wasted space
- Bedroom is quite small; should be the largest room upstairs (preferably 16 m² (172 sq ft), children’s rooms rather 14 m² (151 sq ft))
- Stair placement limited by chimney location
- Door placement upstairs limited by chimney
- A staircase rotated 90 degrees (entrance next to front door) would appeal more
- Difficult to align windows upstairs and downstairs on the gable end vertically
- Floor-to-ceiling windows upstairs; wider windows with a sill height around 100 cm (40 inches) would be preferred
Price estimate by architect/planner: 200,000 €
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 210,000 €
Preferred heating technology: gas heating
What details or expansions could you give up?
- Can do without: gallery next to stairs upstairs. Living area could also be narrower (e.g., 4.20 m (14 ft) instead of 4.47 m (15 ft))
- Cannot do without: storage room upstairs, shower in guest toilet, extra natural light in the ground floor hallway (e.g., side panel on front door or window)
Why was the design made this way? For example, standard plan from planner?
- Since the house has very little space on the south side, the house should be very narrow in order not to waste more space to the south. It should be wider so that living, dining, and kitchen areas face south as much as possible.
Were corresponding wishes from the architect implemented? No architect meeting has taken place yet.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
How can the ground floor hallway be better designed to fit a wardrobe? Can the stairs be positioned better or replaced? Should the hallway be enlarged and living space reduced? How can the upstairs hallway be better utilized? Can the bedroom be enlarged? Is it possible to swap the bedroom with another room, e.g., move it to the southeast to allow a walk-in closet?
Thank you very much in advance for your criticism and suggestions!
2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) is quite tight even with chairs pushed in. A 90 cm (35 in) table including the chairs reaches about 120 cm (47 in), leaving a maximum of 65 cm (26 in) on both sides for main walkways. That is already not very generous.
In this case, the only option is to choose a table that is as flexible as possible, for example around 90 x 140 cm (35 x 55 in), extendable in two stages up to about 240/260 cm (95/102 in). This should provide a reasonably practical everyday solution (there are then several layout options to try), while also allowing flexibility when hosting guests.
As a recommendation for interested readers and future homeowners: Always include realistic furniture arrangements in floor plans and measure the resulting distances. If necessary, set up the situation to get a better sense of how the spacing feels. Also, consider real-life scenarios—when will you use the terrace door? What will you be doing then? When do you need larger clearances, and when is the minimum sufficient?
In this case, the only option is to choose a table that is as flexible as possible, for example around 90 x 140 cm (35 x 55 in), extendable in two stages up to about 240/260 cm (95/102 in). This should provide a reasonably practical everyday solution (there are then several layout options to try), while also allowing flexibility when hosting guests.
As a recommendation for interested readers and future homeowners: Always include realistic furniture arrangements in floor plans and measure the resulting distances. If necessary, set up the situation to get a better sense of how the spacing feels. Also, consider real-life scenarios—when will you use the terrace door? What will you be doing then? When do you need larger clearances, and when is the minimum sufficient?
kbt09 schrieb:
2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) is quite tight even with the chairs pushed in. A 90 cm (35 in) table plus the chairs adds up to about 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), leaving only around 65 cm (26 in) on each side for main walkways. That’s not very generous.The space there is 4.32 m (14 ft 2 in) wide. The original poster calculates 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) as the space needed for the table plus chairs, which comes to 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in). Our dining table is 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) by 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in). I quickly measured yesterday evening, and with chairs not fully pushed in (loosely placed), the space needed was around 2 m (6 ft 7 in).
At the bottom of the plan, there is a fireplace that, according to @chrisw81, has become quite large. You should also keep some distance from it, especially if you use it, otherwise your backside can get quite hot.
I would generally place the table as shown in the drawing and try to maintain a clearance of about 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 inches) above it in normal size... since it’s a sliding door and also to have roughly 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 inches) space near the piano.
I also believe that the path to the terrace will be used much more often from the hallway or kitchen than from the sofa.
Even at the risk of repeating myself: when guests come over, you can simply turn the table out of its everyday position, and the man at the piano can wait for his beer – besides, there is no beer in Hawaii anyway.
A piano, a piano – mother, we thank you!
And the fireplace can stay off when everyone is sitting close together at the table – even in a house built before the energy saving regulations came into effect, that would be the case.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
A piano, a piano – mother, we thank you!
And the fireplace can stay off when everyone is sitting close together at the table – even in a house built before the energy saving regulations came into effect, that would be the case.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
kbt09 schrieb:
At the bottom of the plan, there is a fireplace that, according to @chrisw81, has become quite large. You should also keep some distance from it, at least if you use it, otherwise your backside could get quite hot.
Generally, I would place the table as shown in the drawing and make sure there is about 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 inches) of clearance above, since it is a sliding door, and also approximately 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 inches) near the piano.
I think the path to the terrace will be used much more frequently from the hallway or kitchen than from the sofa.Yes, unfortunately the fireplace is not visible; I will add it tomorrow. It protrudes about 90 x 50 cm (35 x 20 inches) beside/in front of the chimney, so the table really can’t be positioned too close; otherwise, it gets too hot and the passage becomes too narrow. I also believe there should be at least 80 cm (31 inches) of clearance above. Regarding the piano, it depends on how far the chair is pushed in.Similar topics