Hello everyone,
We are starting to plan an alternative to the costly renovation of our house. So far, we have had our first discussions and collaboration with a general contractor of our choice.
I would appreciate honest feedback so that we can identify any overlooked issues now, rather than during construction.
Summary:
Development plan exists, few restrictions, maximum eaves height of 8m (26 ft) might cause some issues for us.
Plot size: 710m² (7,645 ft²)
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Hip roof
Style: Townhouse / Urban villa
Orientation: Plot faces northwest, see attachment
Maximum height/limits: 8m (26 ft) eaves height, 5m (16 ft) setback from northern and western property boundaries for the building, due to requested landscaping
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Flexible; overall package must be appealing
No basement, two full stories
Number of occupants: 6 persons (ages 38, 37, 8, 6, 2, 2)
Space needs: 5 bedrooms on the upper floor, living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 offices on the ground floor, at least 2 showers
Offices: Both offices necessary, 1 fully dedicated home office (regardless of pandemic), 1 study for a teacher
Overnight guests per year: 6; can sleep elsewhere or in one of the offices
Open or closed layout: Flexible
Conservative or modern construction: Flexible
Kitchen: Preferably open with an island (for food prep, not for cooking at)
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Provision for a wood stove, thus chimney required
2 carports, no garage
Special features: A cleaning area/utility room “mudroom” is desired because our children tend to be messy. Children’s bedrooms to be approximately the same size (+/-).
House design
Designed by: Planner from a construction company
What we like:
- Simple floor plan
- 2 offices
- 5 bedrooms on one level
- Bedrooms roughly the same size
- Kitchen easily furnishable
- Not larger than 200m² (2,153 ft²) (cleaning, construction costs)
- Fits the plot well
- Short access for groceries (directly into kitchen)
What we don’t like:
- The path to the living room goes through the kitchen
- Relatively large circulation areas
- No pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approximately €440,000 (about $490,000) excluding painting and floor coverings (except tiles, which are included for kitchen, entrance, hallway on ground floor, and bathrooms)
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: €540,000 (about $600,000), including fittings and additional construction costs, land extra. Can be increased if needed up to €640,000 (about $710,000)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump or gas
What can you do without? Which details or extras can you skip?
- Can omit 1 office if the corresponding bedroom is 3m² (32 ft²) bigger (a desk corner instead)
Why does the design look like this now?
We found a standard design that we were able to adapt to our needs with relatively few changes.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
What daily challenges do you see with 4 children that we might have missed? What haven’t we considered?
The house is planned for the top left corner plot (circled) on the site map.
The floor plans have unfortunately been manually altered, so my revisions regarding room names are included. The guest room is actually office 2... The revised room sizes are approximate.
Thank you very much and best regards,
SoL
We are starting to plan an alternative to the costly renovation of our house. So far, we have had our first discussions and collaboration with a general contractor of our choice.
I would appreciate honest feedback so that we can identify any overlooked issues now, rather than during construction.
Summary:
Development plan exists, few restrictions, maximum eaves height of 8m (26 ft) might cause some issues for us.
Plot size: 710m² (7,645 ft²)
Slope: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Hip roof
Style: Townhouse / Urban villa
Orientation: Plot faces northwest, see attachment
Maximum height/limits: 8m (26 ft) eaves height, 5m (16 ft) setback from northern and western property boundaries for the building, due to requested landscaping
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Flexible; overall package must be appealing
No basement, two full stories
Number of occupants: 6 persons (ages 38, 37, 8, 6, 2, 2)
Space needs: 5 bedrooms on the upper floor, living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 offices on the ground floor, at least 2 showers
Offices: Both offices necessary, 1 fully dedicated home office (regardless of pandemic), 1 study for a teacher
Overnight guests per year: 6; can sleep elsewhere or in one of the offices
Open or closed layout: Flexible
Conservative or modern construction: Flexible
Kitchen: Preferably open with an island (for food prep, not for cooking at)
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Provision for a wood stove, thus chimney required
2 carports, no garage
Special features: A cleaning area/utility room “mudroom” is desired because our children tend to be messy. Children’s bedrooms to be approximately the same size (+/-).
House design
Designed by: Planner from a construction company
What we like:
- Simple floor plan
- 2 offices
- 5 bedrooms on one level
- Bedrooms roughly the same size
- Kitchen easily furnishable
- Not larger than 200m² (2,153 ft²) (cleaning, construction costs)
- Fits the plot well
- Short access for groceries (directly into kitchen)
What we don’t like:
- The path to the living room goes through the kitchen
- Relatively large circulation areas
- No pantry
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approximately €440,000 (about $490,000) excluding painting and floor coverings (except tiles, which are included for kitchen, entrance, hallway on ground floor, and bathrooms)
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: €540,000 (about $600,000), including fittings and additional construction costs, land extra. Can be increased if needed up to €640,000 (about $710,000)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump or gas
What can you do without? Which details or extras can you skip?
- Can omit 1 office if the corresponding bedroom is 3m² (32 ft²) bigger (a desk corner instead)
Why does the design look like this now?
We found a standard design that we were able to adapt to our needs with relatively few changes.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
What daily challenges do you see with 4 children that we might have missed? What haven’t we considered?
The house is planned for the top left corner plot (circled) on the site map.
The floor plans have unfortunately been manually altered, so my revisions regarding room names are included. The guest room is actually office 2... The revised room sizes are approximate.
Thank you very much and best regards,
SoL
SoL schrieb:
The staircase / its positioning is determined by the need to access all rooms on the upper floor.However, this does not necessarily require such a carousel-axis layout. Try a layout with the landing in the middle third of the long side, essentially a ridge layout positioned orthogonally.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I’ll play the spoiler:
That’s probably not going to work...
That’s more realistic... plus all the extras...
... accordingly, you will need at least that amount. (After all, you are planning a large house.)
Regarding the floor plan: It’s not “exciting,” but it doesn’t have to be. However, I think you have taken on too much for the targeted area and the budget in the end. Four children’s bedrooms are two more than usual, plus a guest room/office AND a separate office... AND an open-air space, a large hallway... Overall, it needs to be more compact—or the building volume must simply be larger. What requirements does the zoning plan / building permit (planning permission) specify regarding this (building envelope, site coverage ratio, floor area ratio)? Otherwise: Would an attic floor (in combination with a reduced ground floor area) be an option? You have already provided quite a bit of information, but this questionnaire exists for a reason, and essential details are still missing.
You definitely need to come to terms with that.
That seems more like an illusion to me. (This has already been explained dozens of times here by @11ant.) The number of rooms scales extremely poorly while maintaining the basic floor plan. It has to do with geometry...
Is there something we don’t know here? Eight meters eaves height should be more than sufficient for a typical standard villa.
And one more indiscreet question: How do
fit with
You should be honest. You expect that from us, don’t you?
SoL schrieb:
€440,000
That’s probably not going to work...
SoL schrieb:
€540,000
That’s more realistic... plus all the extras...
SoL schrieb:
€640,000
... accordingly, you will need at least that amount. (After all, you are planning a large house.)
Regarding the floor plan: It’s not “exciting,” but it doesn’t have to be. However, I think you have taken on too much for the targeted area and the budget in the end. Four children’s bedrooms are two more than usual, plus a guest room/office AND a separate office... AND an open-air space, a large hallway... Overall, it needs to be more compact—or the building volume must simply be larger. What requirements does the zoning plan / building permit (planning permission) specify regarding this (building envelope, site coverage ratio, floor area ratio)? Otherwise: Would an attic floor (in combination with a reduced ground floor area) be an option? You have already provided quite a bit of information, but this questionnaire exists for a reason, and essential details are still missing.
SoL schrieb:
you could do without: 1 office, if one bedroom is 3 m² (32 square feet) larger (desk corner)
You definitely need to come to terms with that.
SoL schrieb:
Found a standard design that we could adapt to our needs with relatively few changes.
That seems more like an illusion to me. (This has already been explained dozens of times here by @11ant.) The number of rooms scales extremely poorly while maintaining the basic floor plan. It has to do with geometry...
SoL schrieb:
maximum eaves height of 8 m (26 feet) could cause us problems
Is there something we don’t know here? Eight meters eaves height should be more than sufficient for a typical standard villa.
And one more indiscreet question: How do
SoL schrieb:
38, 37, 8, 6, 2, 2
fit with
SoL schrieb:
Birthday: January 1, 1970 (Age: 52)
You should be honest. You expect that from us, don’t you?
First of all, thank you for the detailed response.
Regarding the price, we will receive a calculated figure this coming Saturday, including the previous floor plan adjustments. The scope of work description is surprisingly good and includes significantly more than expected.
The site occupancy index is 0.3, the floor area ratio is not specified in the zoning plan. The building envelope is defined as 3 meters (10 feet) distance from the public road and 5 meters (16 feet) from the northern property boundary. Unfortunately, I do not yet have a dimensioned plan.
An attic floor will not work because of the 8-meter (26 feet) height restriction; the attic would not be properly usable, especially since only 2 full storeys are allowed, not 2.5.
Thanks for the note, I probably left the default value when registering.
I cannot change it myself, so I will contact a moderator.
Best regards
Regarding the price, we will receive a calculated figure this coming Saturday, including the previous floor plan adjustments. The scope of work description is surprisingly good and includes significantly more than expected.
K1300S schrieb:
What requirements does the zoning plan specify regarding this (building envelope, site occupancy index, floor area ratio)? Otherwise: Would an attic floor (combined with a reduced building footprint) be an option?
The site occupancy index is 0.3, the floor area ratio is not specified in the zoning plan. The building envelope is defined as 3 meters (10 feet) distance from the public road and 5 meters (16 feet) from the northern property boundary. Unfortunately, I do not yet have a dimensioned plan.
An attic floor will not work because of the 8-meter (26 feet) height restriction; the attic would not be properly usable, especially since only 2 full storeys are allowed, not 2.5.
You should be honest. That is what you expect from us, right?
Thanks for the note, I probably left the default value when registering.
I cannot change it myself, so I will contact a moderator.
Best regards
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