ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a Single-Family Home of Approximately 150 m²

Created on: 12 Feb 2018 18:09
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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!

Lageplan eines Baugrundstücks mit Parzellen, Straßenverlauf und Gebäudestrukturen.


Grundriss: Kochen/Essen/Wohnen, HWR, WC, Diele, Gast, Treppenhaus, Schornstein.


Grundriss Obergeschoss: Zimmer 1, Zimmer 2, Schlafen, Bad, Flur/Galerie, Abstell, Schornstein.
11ant30 Sep 2021 17:41
chrisw81 schrieb:

I think it’s actually better to get ideas from architect-designed houses and the like, rather than looking at the dull standard models from affordable solid-house providers, and then incorporating their great ideas into those standard designs.
If I remember correctly, you even checked out Favorit back then – given their product range, it’s no wonder that we Marmeladinger are also called Piefkes ;-)
chrisw81 schrieb:

Maybe this is a good tip:
“Look at lots of houses, preferably on Instagram or through expensive home builders – try to recreate or adopt into your own plans whatever amazes or impresses you as much as possible.”
For heaven’s sake, not that!
My late grandmother used to say: “Pomeranian legs and French shoes.” You see it all the time here – how homebuilding dreamers try to squeeze Maximes or even Jettes into flair show-window homes. Then they take one bite too many of the Christmas goose, and suddenly you can’t make your way from the racing bike to the clothes dryer past the chest freezer on your way to the car. The carrot in the song might still joke comfortably about being over twelve inches (thirty centimeters) taller than little Peter, but when cut out from an otherwise functioning basic floor plan, these dimensions prove to be critical. Also, Instagram and Pinterest – shaken, not stirred – are the root of every “nice” Tuscan Bauhaus McMansion nightmare. Many “architect houses” won’t even serve as good templates when you try to reproduce them with the resources of one and a half income groups lower. The dual-professional household might be the norm in glossy magazines, but it’s not in typical German building plots.

By the way, I’m still looking for ideas on how to transfer your zigzag wall onto a non-load-bearing wall where it would be cheaper to implement. Your pipe boxing in the bathroom could go “viral” on Instagram & co., if you didn’t mention that it actually wasn’t meant to look like that. In the end, Nicki Minaj might want one exactly like that *smile*
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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ypg
30 Sep 2021 21:05
chrisw81 schrieb:

When building a house, you should create something great and unique. Unfortunately, I don’t have that.

That’s what I think about many standard suburban villas. But also about many houses discussed here.
Just one halfway wall, two extra windows. A passage instead of a wall with a door.
Instead, countless doors and window sills are planned. “Floor space” is supposedly needed. It is needed, but not everywhere 🙂
chrisw81 schrieb:

And I also miss floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere in the house—the floor plan feels very closed off from the outside.

From what I remember, you have many walls and many discussions about walls... and about one window.
haydee schrieb:

You won’t be happy with that. Many things look impressive, but are still not practical, or the zoning plan (building permit/planning permission) and the budget speak against it.

Not everything has to be practical. Practical things are good, but if the living space is only practical, it’s hard to have creative ideas or enjoy sightlines.
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haydee
30 Sep 2021 21:18
@ypg then practically replaced by good aesthetics, unfortunately impractical. For example, a play corridor, but no proper closet in the children's room, and so on.
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Snowy36
30 Sep 2021 22:21
I have a good and affordable idea for you… Westwing offers a service that furnishes your room with three different design concepts for a low price… take a look if you don’t have any ideas yourself… just upload your floor plan and you’re good to go…
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chrisw81
1 Oct 2021 08:52
11ant schrieb:

By the way, I’m still looking for ideas on how to transfer your zigzag wall design to a non-load-bearing wall, where it would be less expensive to implement. Your boxed-in pipes in the bathroom could go viral on Instagram and similar platforms, if people didn’t know that this wasn’t actually intended. In the end, Nicki Minaj might even want it exactly like that *smile*
I really should do that! ;-)
But the zigzag wall is actually one of those features I later realized is a great element of the house—the fireplace doesn’t stick out as much, the wood shelf looks like it’s recessed into the wall, and it also creates interesting options in the hallway/office compared to a plain straight wall. Upstairs, I also created similar “niches” for wardrobes, which I think look much better than just placing a wardrobe against a flat wall.
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chrisw81
1 Oct 2021 08:54
Snowy36 schrieb:

I have a good and affordable idea for you… Westwing offers a service to furnish your room with 3 different designs for a low price… take a look if you have no ideas yourself… upload your floor plan and get started…
Sounds good, I’ll check it out! Thanks.