ᐅ Floor Plan for a Single-Family Home, 210 m² plus Basement – Your Opinions

Hello everyone,

after a long period of quietly reading, we have now reached an important step. We are planning a single-family house with approximately 210 sqm (2,260 sq ft) of living space on an existing plot of land (about 900 sqm (9,690 sq ft), almost square, no special building regulations) in the district of Landshut.

Through several visits to show homes and discussions with various providers, a floor plan has gradually developed that reflects our ideas very well.

We would greatly appreciate constructive feedback from you. We are currently unsure about distances, passageways, and hallway sizes, especially how the planned widths will feel in practice or if they are practical.

An initial cost estimate is around 2,500 €/sqm (DIY or self-managed trades work is possible and even preferred) plus 100,000 € for the basement and demolition costs (mostly self-performed), totaling approximately 625,000 € (excluding kitchen and other fittings). Does this seem realistic?

Thanks in advance!
Sebastian

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 900 sqm
Slope no
Site coverage ratio -
Floor area ratio -
Building envelope, building line, boundaries -
Border development no
Number of parking spaces 2 – already available in adjacent buildings (in addition to the 900 sqm)
Number of floors 2
Roof style gable roof
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum height/limitations none
Other requirements none

Builders’ requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type
Basement, floors basement with 2 floors
Number of occupants, age 2 adults 30+, 2 children under 5
Room requirements on ground floor kitchen/dining/living, guest room/bathroom, cloakroom; upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with dressing room, bathroom with sauna
Office: family use or home office? – family use
Overnight guests per year about 5
Open or closed architecture open
Conservative or modern design
Open kitchen, kitchen island yes
Number of dining seats 8
Fireplace yes
Music/stereo wall
Balcony, roof terrace if possible
Garage, carport already existing
Utility garden, greenhouse
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why something is included or not

House design
Planning by:
DIY
What do you particularly like? Why?
Combination of bedroom/dressing room with bathroom, spacious entrance area
What do you dislike? Why?
Large empty spaces in living/dining area and hallway on the upper floor
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
600,000 € excluding land
Personal price limit for house, including fittings:
700,000 € excluding land
Preferred heating technology:
groundwater heat pump

If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
-could you do without: roof terrace, full basement
-cannot do without: generous kitchen

Why is the design as it is now? e.g.
Based on several prefab house designs, the plan grew from visits to prefab home parks

What is the key question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Are the planned distances, especially in the hallways, sufficient or too generous? Is the cost estimate realistic? Thanks!

Without measurements, it is difficult to assess the distances accurately.
The toilet in the ground floor bathroom should be rotated to avoid too little space.
Upstairs, the bathtub stands out as it seems very narrow.
The bedroom does not really feel like a comfortable room.
Without measurements, I find the design unworthy of further consideration: for 210 m² (2260 sq ft), the children's bathroom is combined with the guest toilet, and there is a long corridor running through the entire house to reach the kitchen, passing along the lounge area. I have already mentioned the bedroom and the bathroom being larger than the children's room...

Where is the plot located? Please include that information as well.

Should the children on the ground floor always have to use the bathroom there and go up and down the stairs? The bathroom on the upper floor is huge, and if a child were to use the toilet there, they would first have to close the sliding door, which would also need to be lockable. That is very impractical.

Best regards,
Sabine

When calculating demolition costs, be sure to include disposal fees. This is not inexpensive. Electrical installation (EL) is rarely cost-effective in this area.

Let me guess: the design is inspired by a combination of features you liked in other houses

• Arrangement of the sleeping area and dressing room in an open plan
• Sauna with space for lounge chairs and
• adjoining spa-like bathroom
• Shower on the ground floor
• Central pantry without natural light
• Open kitchen connected to the dining area
• "Captain’s" bay window
• Guest room/office right at the entrance
• Central stove

All nice features on their own, but as modules in your design they don’t work well because practical everyday aspects haven’t been considered—especially those concerning children (which you can tell from the fact that these rooms are unfurnished). A pantry heated by a stove is not ideal for food storage. The distance from the entrance to the kitchen is long—you don’t want to have to walk that far. And others already mentioned...

What to do?
Make a list like the one above, and add another list that outlines what you (all) like to do and how your daily life looks or is supposed to look. Then take this to someone eager to design a building based on your functional and non-functional requirements. Whether that’s a prefabricated house manufacturer, a general contractor, or an architect is secondary for now—my pick would again be the latter. How large the house will be will become clear—you’re not fixed on 215m² (2,313 sq ft), right? Sometimes smaller is better—even without necessarily being cheaper.

The budget looks roughly okay for now.

I think you forgot to include the additional construction costs in your cost calculation, didn’t you?
House 210 x 2500, basement 100k = 625k
Demolition? Additional construction costs?