ᐅ House Floor Plan with a Separate Apartment – Suggestions for Improvement?

Hello everyone,

we plan to build a house with two residential units on a 472m2 (5,079 sq ft) plot of land (Unit 1: 143.39m2 (1,543 sq ft) / Unit 2: 69.57m2 (749 sq ft)).
The second unit is intended for my parents, while the main unit is for my family, which includes my spouse and three children (ages 7, 13, and 17).
Since our plot is relatively small, we want to build a compact house to maximize the garden space.
We are currently in the final planning stage and would appreciate your feedback on our project.
We have a feeling that we might have overlooked some important aspects or not paid enough attention to certain details because our planning focus was mainly on the compactness of the house.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 472m2 (5,079 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Perimeter development: south and east
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: hipped roof
Architectural style:
Orientation: south/west
Maximum heights / limits: 10m (33 ft)
Additional requirements

Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, number of storeys: no basement
Number of occupants and ages: Unit 1 – 5 people (ages 43, 38, 17, 13, 7); Unit 2 – 2 people, both over 60
Space needs on ground floor / upper floor:
Office: family use or home office? -
Number of guest stays per year: 2-3 times per year
Open or closed layout: open
Traditional or modern build style: modern
Open kitchen, with or without island: open kitchen, no island
Number of dining seats: 5
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony or roof terrace: no
Garage or carport: garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routines, also reasons why certain features are included or excluded

The house should be compact but still feel spacious.

House Design
Planning by:
- planner from a construction company
- architect: by the architect
- do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why? It is a relatively small house with two residential units.
What do you dislike? Why? Maybe some rooms (children’s rooms and the rooms in the secondary unit) are too small?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: approx. 600,000€
Personal budget limit for house including fittings: 650,000€
Preferred heating system: district heating

If you had to give up something, which details or expansions
- could you do without: basically nothing – we have already minimized everything.
- could you not do without: the planned number of rooms

Why did the design end up like it is? For example:
Standard design from the planner?
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Yes

A mix of many examples from various magazines…
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

We wanted the house to be as compact as possible. Maybe we focused too much on compactness and neglected other important aspects.
What do you like about the house, what do you not like so much, and what would be unacceptable?

Quick thought: The two staircases seem like one too many to me. In my opinion, the granny flat should be limited to the ground floor. What are the space requirements here? Is it really necessary to have two bedrooms and two bathrooms?

Also: Is it wise to have the terraces right next to each other? Does the driveway really need to be where it is now? A garage in the northwest is probably not permitted?

Are the parking spaces sufficient for 2 residential units?

I agree with Kaja; the second staircase seems a bit excessive.

Please try to draw a proper table with enough clearance space in each residential unit.

I would suggest placing the parents' unit all on one level and moving your living room to the first floor (1st floor) possibly with a small balcony.
With teenagers or young adults, having two separate living areas could be quite convenient.
Maybe 1 or 2 children's bedrooms under the roof.

The granny flat is not particularly accessible. The parents and you should consider what the future needs might be.

K a t j a schrieb:

Quick thought: the two staircases seem like one too many. In my opinion, the secondary apartment should be limited to the ground floor. What are the space requirements here? Do you really need two bedrooms and two bathrooms?
Also, is it wise to have the terraces right next to each other? Does the driveway have to be where it is now? A garage in the northwest is probably not allowed?

My parents will mostly spend their time on the ground floor. The staircase and the room on the upper floor in the secondary apartment are planned as a guest room, since my parents often have visitors.

Our terrace will be on the west side; the architect placed the terraces next to each other just for the building permit / planning permission application (he wanted to keep it simple).

Garage in the northwest – very good idea: unfortunately, that is not possible because the driveway leads to the play street there. We would have preferred the garage in the northwest as well, as it would have given us more garden space on the south and east sides.

haydee schrieb:

Are the parking spaces sufficient for two residential units?

I agree with Kaja—the second staircase seems a bit excessive.

Please try to draw a proper table with enough clearance space in each residential unit.

I would bring the parents’ unit onto one level and move your living room to the first floor, possibly with a small balcony.
I could imagine this working quite well as two separate living areas, especially for teenagers or young adults.
Maybe one or two children's rooms could go under the roof.

The secondary apartment is not particularly accessible. You and the parents need to consider what the future might look like.

Two parking spaces will probably not be enough. However, we can park additional cars on the north side of the house. The architect did not include these spaces on the plans because the building authority might object.

We deliberately planned the living room for our unit on the ground floor because we want to spend a lot of time in the garden with the children during the summer. Otherwise, we would have to constantly go up the stairs to the first floor to carry things down and back up again, which could get very annoying over time.

MarlenP schrieb:

My parents will mostly stay on the ground floor. The staircase and the room on the upper floor in the granny flat are planned as a guest room, since my parents often have visitors.

And does the guest need a separate bathroom? That seems excessive for a granny flat!

MarlenP schrieb:

Our terrace will be on the west side; the architect only drew the terraces side by side because of the building permit/planning permission application (he wanted to make it easier for himself).

MarlenP schrieb:

Two parking spaces probably won’t be enough. However, we can park additional cars on the north side of the house. The architect did not include these because the building authority might otherwise object.

I would prefer if the architect simply draws everything exactly as it will be in the end. I wouldn’t start with this kind of half-measures – that always ends badly.