ᐅ Floor plan – house design carried out by a structural engineer

Hello everyone,

I would like to open a discussion about our current floor plan. The house was designed by a civil engineer whom we contracted for all service phases according to HOAI. My main concern is whether we might have overlooked something important or if there are aspects we haven't fully considered. I would be very grateful for any tips, suggestions, or criticism.

Here is an excerpt from the checklist:
Plot size: 2200 m2 (0.54 acres)
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Architectural style: urban villa
Orientation: see plans
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, 2-3 children
Office: home office, no clients
Guests per year: 10
More closed architecture
Rather conservative construction style
Closed kitchen with cooking island
Number of dining areas: 2
Fireplace: yes
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, double garage

House design
Designer: IBS Staudacher, Borna
Favorite features: double door to the kitchen, TV corner with view of the garden and fireplace
Disliked features: narrow hallway on the ground floor and narrow staircase
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 300,000€
Personal budget for house including fittings: 310,000€
Preferred heating system: air- or ground-source heat pump

If you had to give up something, which details or extensions
- could you do without: fireplace (possibly retrofit later), large terrace window (tilt-and-slide window)
- cannot do without: office on the ground floor, dining area in the kitchen

I find the upper floor quite okay. However, I would use the space between Child 1 and Child 2 to add a small bathroom for the kids.

The ground floor – well, no. There are too many issues that bother me.
- Dining area is too narrow
- Living room is a walkthrough to the office
- Kitchen is large but awkward to furnish
- Hallway has already been mentioned; it’s too narrow
- The living room area is too narrow at 3.69 meters (12 feet)
- Staircase placement is not ideal
- Utility room is a long narrow space with many corners. Also, I miss direct access to the outside, for example to dry laundry or for kids to come in with dirty clothes.

In my opinion, there’s not much that can be fixed here, and the problems cannot be solved with small adjustments. I think the ground floor needs to be completely redesigned, which means the entire house, as it is, becomes obsolete. Sorry. 😕

- Living room measuring 3.69 x 3.7 meters (12.1 x 12.1 feet) with a fireplace seems too small in my opinion.
- The kitchen island doesn’t really work because the wall is too close.
- The dining area might be too tight.
- The bay window looks a bit odd – it is only 40 cm (16 inches) deep.
- Narrow utility room area and an even narrower access to the house.
- On the ground floor, there is quite a bit of hallway space.
- Very generous hallway compared to relatively small children's rooms.
- The upper floor is somewhat complicated and maze-like in places.
- Is the bathtub really necessary in that bathroom?

Overall: there is a lot of hallway space relative to the living area, and the layout is somewhat convoluted in parts. I think a different type of staircase might save you valuable square meters, which could then be used for living spaces instead.

The elevations and sections are missing 😀 I assume that’s because your names and other details are prominently displayed.

Here are the anonymized plans 😳

The bay window is this shallow because I don’t want a lean-to roof (or whatever it’s called). If the bay window gets deeper, the roof overhang on the rest of the wall becomes quite large.

Since we need to make 5 rooms accessible on the upper floor and have a long staircase, a long corridor can’t be avoided.

The small bathroom is a good idea, but I imagine the view from the corridor into the garden to be quite nice. Maybe that will become a cozy reading corner someday.

I’m also not really happy with the kitchen yet. There should be a corner bench in the niche.

The utility room leads through the garage to the outside. Muddy items can be stored in the garage or utility room and then you’re right next to the shower 😎

Originally, I wanted a double door between the entrance hall and the corridor, but somehow we couldn’t fit everything in.

The doorway to the study is intentional since most of the work (lesson planning) is done in the evening, and the other room is right next door. :p 🙂

Would you add a window or a strip of windows above the couch? I’m unsure if it would be distracting or if that corner might be too dark.

MrIcemanLE schrieb:
The utility room leads through the garage to the outside. So, muddy clothes can be stored either in the garage or in the utility room.

I always find this a bit tricky in real life. My kids are outside very often, and quite frequently they use the regular patio door in the living room to come in and out. Now, their feet are sandy or muddy (by feet I mean the parts of their legs you can’t take off ;-) ), and the kids want to grab ice cream from the freezer in the utility room. Either you have to open the garage door, or the kids have to awkwardly wipe their feet first, which never really gets them clean enough to avoid bringing sand or dirt into the living room. I’m glad that my kids can just quickly go back and forth without making a big fuss every time. Would you open the garage door every time your kids are outside?

By the way, I also think having access to the kitchen directly from the kitchen is quite convenient.

Manu1976 schrieb:
... Do you want to open the garage every time your kids are outside? ...

The garage also has a back exit to the garden ;-)