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

Created on: 18 Aug 2015 20:31

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

kbt0920 Aug 2015 15:16

#31

@Kisska86 .. I just tried this with the house designer .. like type 145 ... but it quickly becomes clear that type P 145 is at least 150 cm (60 inches) wider.

Even with other staircase layouts, it doesn’t get that much easier.

@MrIcemanLE ... I would also consult the architect again. However, not with the requirement to change the staircase layout, but to address the following points as much as possible (referring to your original plan):

Parents’ bed position .. 320 cm (126 inches) is too narrow for a bed with a mattress size of 180x200 cm (71x79 inches). That leaves only about 60 cm (24 inches) on each side of the bed
Children’s rooms should be larger, considering that beds with a width of 140 cm (55 inches) should also fit during their teenage years and that placed wardrobes can be used and accessed properly 😉
Guest bathroom with 176 cm (69 inches) width is too narrow, at least for the intended furniture .. make it wider or consider a different furnishing layout. The shower there should also be 90x90 cm (36x36 inches).
Dining area, in addition to the kitchen, is too tight, no passageways
Southeast-facing windows
Possibly an additional northwest-facing window in the kitchen
Technical area in the utility room .. is this really sufficient? Is it possible to have technical installations and opposing shelves in the 223 cm (88 inches) wide section?
Niche in the utility room facing the kitchen is actually unnecessary and takes away good placement options in the kitchen
For the utility room, also consider whether the entrance from the garage should be positioned further towards the top of the plan. When will this entrance be used? And by whom? How should bicycles be stored? Parking the car in the garage and then unpacking the trunk .. this would rather make sense towards the top of the plan so you don’t have to carry everything past the car (bicycles etc. could also be stored in the garage here 😉 )

Patchwork20 Aug 2015 16:14

#32

Oh dear....

Your priority order:
Straight staircase > cars > walk-in closet > children....

The straight staircase is great, but given the house size and the number of rooms needed, it simply isn’t feasible. I find a children’s room under 14m² (150 square feet) borderline. A walk-in closet is a trend. Just compare the time spent in the walk-in closet with the time children (especially between ages 10 and 18) spend in their bedrooms. What use is a large hallway on the upper floor? Maybe for younger kids, but once they hit puberty, no one will be “playing” there anymore.

Imagine a family gathering on the ground floor... it’s all far too cramped and awkwardly arranged.

Other than the external dimensions, there isn’t much that fits... sorry, that’s just my opinion.

Bieber081520 Aug 2015 21:17

#33

Patchwork schrieb:
Straight staircase > cars > dressing room > kids....

Where did the OP write that? He wants three children's rooms, a home office, and a double garage (all of which seem reasonable to me). He plans to spend 310,000 euros. That might be where the problem lies.

Does anyone know of floor plans with six rooms (each large enough to meet all requirements) totaling about 160 m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space, so that the budget stays manageable?

@MrIcemanLE: Is it possible to build above the garage? Then the upper floor might be significantly larger, all solid construction, not cheap either, but maybe feasible?

MrIcemanLE21 Aug 2015 07:12

#34

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Where did the OP write that? He wants three children’s bedrooms, a home office, and a double garage (all perfectly reasonable in my opinion). He plans to spend 310,000 euros. That could be a problem.

@Bieber0815 thanks for the support. Considering three children’s bedrooms, each around 14-16 m² (150-170 sq ft), might be a bit much given the "tight" budget, right? The garage is not planned to be built over. I also don’t want to increase the size any further—that would only raise costs again.

I’ll probably try out a few more design options. Maybe a good solution will still come up.

kbt0921 Aug 2015 07:47

#35

@MrIcemanLE ... I agree with you. I think you should continue with the approach from Post 25 and the architect’s questionnaire from Post 31. In this version, the children’s rooms have enough free space. If a third child arrives, they’ll just have to wait for the first child to move out before getting a slightly larger room 😉 😉.

I’ve also experimented with other stair designs by now. If you don’t want lots of angled walls and so on, meeting the desired room layout on the upper floor just doesn’t get any easier—at least not for a layperson 😉 ... Especially when you want to follow the very understandable guideline of “no stairway directly in the entrance area.” For me, that’s more important than trying to gain half a square meter for the children’s rooms. Also, don’t forget that there are no roof slopes on the upper floor, so the full room dimensions are available.

Kisska8621 Aug 2015 09:51

#36

I’ll put it this way: we currently have two children but would like to have two more in a few years. Our house has two children's bedrooms on the upper floor and a playroom on the ground floor. So far, both boys share one bedroom, and that will likely continue for a while. When they reach their teenage years and want their own rooms, that will still be possible. At that point, the younger two would have to share a room... I don’t see any problem with that at all. I always enjoyed sharing a room with my sister, and the boys seem very comfortable so far. For me, it was more important to have two large children's bedrooms (each just under 20 m² (215 sq ft) with sloped ceilings, 17 m² (183 sq ft) of usable floor space) rather than three very small rooms... I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. And whether or not we actually have more children later is still an open question. 😉

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

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