ᐅ Floor Plan Single-Family Home 165 sqm First Draft – Architect Dissatisfied
Created on: 27 Oct 2024 14:06
K
Kirschsaftlady
Hello everyone,
since we are not completely satisfied with the first draft from our architect and find it difficult to translate our wishes into a design ourselves, or because some things might even be incompatible, we would appreciate suggestions and tips.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 954 sqm (10,270 sq ft)
Slope: approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) downward from the street along the entire length
Floor-space index (FSI): 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see architect’s plan
There is a development plan, but all exceptions we want have been approved without issues or have already been permitted for our street.
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: gable roof, single-family house, possibly with a bay window
Basement, floors: slab-on-grade, 2 full stories with a sufficiently high knee wall, small storage space under the roof
Number of occupants, age: currently 2 adults and one toddler, planning for an additional child
Space requirements on ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF):
GF: combined utility and technical room, entrance area, cloakroom niche, guest bathroom with shower, office, open living-dining-kitchen area. Pantry, storage under the stairs
UF: 2 children’s rooms at least 15 sqm (160 sq ft) each, master bedroom with walk-in closet, family bathroom with walk-in shower and double sinks, hallway with daylight and preferably space for a chair or a small table for a sewing machine
Office: family use or home office? Home office nearly daily
Guests per year: hardly any
Open or closed layout: semi-open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: semi-open (visually screened) with attached island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: either a double garage or a garage with carport
Additional wishes:
Stairs either straight or with a landing, not spiral
Living-dining-kitchen area should not be arranged in a single line without privacy screens, all areas with a view into the garden
Prefer an additional access from the garage/carport through the utility room
Master bedroom oriented top left on the plan, bed with a view out of a floor-to-ceiling window into the garden. Preferred access to the bedroom through the dressing room or the dressing room behind the wall behind the bed (headboard).
Prefer children’s rooms not adjoining the master bedroom wall-to-wall
I will link a plan of a kitchen we really liked in a show house
Prefer the stairs to be naturally lit
Living room at least as large as in the current plan
House Design
Designed by: architect
What do you particularly like? Why? The ground floor, except kitchen and dining area, especially the living room, is well separated and without direct view into the kitchen. The dining area feels somewhat cramped; the kitchen should be wider rather than longer, as currently the attached island looks lost.
What do you dislike? Why? Kitchen and dining area, walk-in closet cramped in a niche, bathroom too large, upper floor hallway without windows. Window areas in the master bedroom and also in the dining-kitchen area too large, cloakroom niche too small.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: none yet, a discussion about the design is still pending.
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings: excluding the plot, with all additional costs, survey, and soil report, we still have a budget of 600,000. It will be a prefabricated house, possibly painting and partial flooring done by ourselves, landscaping also mainly DIY and not immediately.
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with photovoltaic system
If you have to give up on certain details/extensions:
-can you do without: children’s room next to the master bedroom, storage and office could move upstairs if necessary, utility and technical rooms separated, second access not mandatory, pantry access directly from kitchen as well as from utility room not mandatory, bay window not essential as long as it doesn’t make the layout too open
-can’t you do without: stair shape, room layout, bedroom location, “semi-open” living-dining-kitchen area, cloakroom integrated into a niche
Why is the design the way it is?
There was an on-site meeting where brainstorming on paper followed. The current draft more or less resulted from this, but it was not yet final with dimensions and sizes, so for example, the problem with the kitchen and dining area was not visible. We communicated the negative points about the upper floor on site and actually expected a new alternative afterward.
I think all relevant information is included above; I’m happy to provide more if needed.
The dining table does not have to be directly in front of the kitchen; the focus is solely on the kitchen layout itself.
Thanks in advance for all your tips!
since we are not completely satisfied with the first draft from our architect and find it difficult to translate our wishes into a design ourselves, or because some things might even be incompatible, we would appreciate suggestions and tips.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 954 sqm (10,270 sq ft)
Slope: approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) downward from the street along the entire length
Floor-space index (FSI): 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see architect’s plan
There is a development plan, but all exceptions we want have been approved without issues or have already been permitted for our street.
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: gable roof, single-family house, possibly with a bay window
Basement, floors: slab-on-grade, 2 full stories with a sufficiently high knee wall, small storage space under the roof
Number of occupants, age: currently 2 adults and one toddler, planning for an additional child
Space requirements on ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF):
GF: combined utility and technical room, entrance area, cloakroom niche, guest bathroom with shower, office, open living-dining-kitchen area. Pantry, storage under the stairs
UF: 2 children’s rooms at least 15 sqm (160 sq ft) each, master bedroom with walk-in closet, family bathroom with walk-in shower and double sinks, hallway with daylight and preferably space for a chair or a small table for a sewing machine
Office: family use or home office? Home office nearly daily
Guests per year: hardly any
Open or closed layout: semi-open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: semi-open (visually screened) with attached island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: no
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: either a double garage or a garage with carport
Additional wishes:
Stairs either straight or with a landing, not spiral
Living-dining-kitchen area should not be arranged in a single line without privacy screens, all areas with a view into the garden
Prefer an additional access from the garage/carport through the utility room
Master bedroom oriented top left on the plan, bed with a view out of a floor-to-ceiling window into the garden. Preferred access to the bedroom through the dressing room or the dressing room behind the wall behind the bed (headboard).
Prefer children’s rooms not adjoining the master bedroom wall-to-wall
I will link a plan of a kitchen we really liked in a show house
Prefer the stairs to be naturally lit
Living room at least as large as in the current plan
House Design
Designed by: architect
What do you particularly like? Why? The ground floor, except kitchen and dining area, especially the living room, is well separated and without direct view into the kitchen. The dining area feels somewhat cramped; the kitchen should be wider rather than longer, as currently the attached island looks lost.
What do you dislike? Why? Kitchen and dining area, walk-in closet cramped in a niche, bathroom too large, upper floor hallway without windows. Window areas in the master bedroom and also in the dining-kitchen area too large, cloakroom niche too small.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: none yet, a discussion about the design is still pending.
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings: excluding the plot, with all additional costs, survey, and soil report, we still have a budget of 600,000. It will be a prefabricated house, possibly painting and partial flooring done by ourselves, landscaping also mainly DIY and not immediately.
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with photovoltaic system
If you have to give up on certain details/extensions:
-can you do without: children’s room next to the master bedroom, storage and office could move upstairs if necessary, utility and technical rooms separated, second access not mandatory, pantry access directly from kitchen as well as from utility room not mandatory, bay window not essential as long as it doesn’t make the layout too open
-can’t you do without: stair shape, room layout, bedroom location, “semi-open” living-dining-kitchen area, cloakroom integrated into a niche
Why is the design the way it is?
There was an on-site meeting where brainstorming on paper followed. The current draft more or less resulted from this, but it was not yet final with dimensions and sizes, so for example, the problem with the kitchen and dining area was not visible. We communicated the negative points about the upper floor on site and actually expected a new alternative afterward.
I think all relevant information is included above; I’m happy to provide more if needed.
The dining table does not have to be directly in front of the kitchen; the focus is solely on the kitchen layout itself.
Thanks in advance for all your tips!
Gerddieter schrieb:
Trying to save what can be saved – this architect (?) will have to completely redesign if he wants money from you because this is professionally wrong and poor, and it is a misconception that an architect can plan whatever they want and then must receive the fee.
If he doesn’t want a complete restart – which I hope for you – then agree on a payment for separation. Exactly.
It will certainly get worse during construction, so for me, separation would be the only option. Surely, nothing or not everything has been paid yet, so he would have to demand that from you consistently. Anyone can confirm the absurd defects or missing implementation of your requirements; he surely knows this and is also aware that he handed over such poor work to you.
A fact-based and clear letter with a payment offer could be an effective approach; what could possibly go wrong?
It strongly reminds me of my own experience from what feels like 100 years ago during my first build with no knowledge at all. The plan came from the family construction company, and the foreman could have been the signatory back then since we built with the then-common green dot. Due to two small deviations, however, an architect had to sign at least, and I was young. The exterior view did not match the floor plan in detail—for example, with tight window placements—and he asked if he could contribute his own ideas. I said, “why not,” and in the end, I paid a similar amount dutifully (which I definitely wouldn’t do again), even though we immediately discarded the floor plan because none of our wishes were really included.
I’m curious to see how things will develop for you.
K
Kirschsaftlady29 Oct 2024 20:27I will try to answer everything.
Regarding the slope/terrain profile
The 1 meter (3 feet) difference across the entire plot was an estimate made by the architect during the site visit. There are no exact measurements or surveys yet. However, when standing in front of the plot, it looks very flat, so there definitely is no significant slope. I am attaching more of the zoning plan, which might help. Since I want to keep the location confidential, I had to take screenshots and couldn’t upload the full file.
No terrain-related planning is currently planned by the architect.
Regarding the architect/contract
Unfortunately, we had to pay half of the fee at the start of the service. Since we have seen several other designs that do not contain such glaring flaws, we still hope that something reasonable can come out of this if the architect himself, and not the student, takes over the planning. However, if he does not respond to our requested changes, we will probably have to part ways and hope to minimize financial losses.
We submitted the room program with square meter (sq meter) specifications to the architect before the meeting.
Sketches/plans
We have not received any additional hand sketches besides the ones I uploaded. It must be said that, based on these sketches, we initially liked the ground floor quite well, although the room sizes were not yet clear there. We were not fully aware at that time that the utility room is practically unusable. We immediately criticized the upper floor, saying that we did not like it.
Regarding the attempt to rescue the ground floor
Thank you very much for your effort! By now, we are convinced that the ground floor needs to be completely redesigned, since the position of the staircase simply makes the upper floor impractical. The idea of having a utility room under the stairs, separate from the main utility room, is definitely worth considering. With the kitchen layout, I am a bit particular and definitely want the view from the island to face the garden and not towards the living-dining area. Therefore, the entire kitchen needs to be wider to fit a reasonably sized island.
Regarding the slope/terrain profile
The 1 meter (3 feet) difference across the entire plot was an estimate made by the architect during the site visit. There are no exact measurements or surveys yet. However, when standing in front of the plot, it looks very flat, so there definitely is no significant slope. I am attaching more of the zoning plan, which might help. Since I want to keep the location confidential, I had to take screenshots and couldn’t upload the full file.
No terrain-related planning is currently planned by the architect.
Regarding the architect/contract
Unfortunately, we had to pay half of the fee at the start of the service. Since we have seen several other designs that do not contain such glaring flaws, we still hope that something reasonable can come out of this if the architect himself, and not the student, takes over the planning. However, if he does not respond to our requested changes, we will probably have to part ways and hope to minimize financial losses.
We submitted the room program with square meter (sq meter) specifications to the architect before the meeting.
Sketches/plans
We have not received any additional hand sketches besides the ones I uploaded. It must be said that, based on these sketches, we initially liked the ground floor quite well, although the room sizes were not yet clear there. We were not fully aware at that time that the utility room is practically unusable. We immediately criticized the upper floor, saying that we did not like it.
Regarding the attempt to rescue the ground floor
Thank you very much for your effort! By now, we are convinced that the ground floor needs to be completely redesigned, since the position of the staircase simply makes the upper floor impractical. The idea of having a utility room under the stairs, separate from the main utility room, is definitely worth considering. With the kitchen layout, I am a bit particular and definitely want the view from the island to face the garden and not towards the living-dining area. Therefore, the entire kitchen needs to be wider to fit a reasonably sized island.
K
Kirschsaftlady29 Oct 2024 20:39hanghaus2023 schrieb:
Are houses 47 and 49 already built? I finally managed to get the quoting right. On plot 49, there is only a foundation slab and an incomplete shell; no other houses nearby yet. It looks like they might have done a slight earthwork buildup towards the garden, if that was what the question was referring to.
H
hanghaus202330 Oct 2024 09:43The zoning plan answers the remaining questions. It’s more about where the neighbors’ houses and their garages are located.
If you want the view from the kitchen to face the garden, then without SK.
With a 7% slope, it looks like this if you don’t want a gradient from the street to the house.
If you want the view from the kitchen to face the garden, then without SK.
With a 7% slope, it looks like this if you don’t want a gradient from the street to the house.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
The development plan answers the open questions. It’s more about where the neighbors’ houses and their garages are located.
If you want the view from the kitchen to face the garden, then without a half-storey.
At a 7% slope, it looks like this if you don’t want a gradient from the street to the house.
I also find this kind of kitchen layout nicer, and it can be easily combined with a pantry. There are many kitchen manufacturers that can design hidden doors to the pantry for something like this.
M
magdalena78930 Oct 2024 10:06And what exactly is "SK," please? Thank you.
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