Hello,
I have been following this forum for a while, and now we have purchased a plot of land and are planning to build a house on it.
Questionnaire:
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size = 525 m2 (5650 sq ft)
Slope – 1 m (3 ft) elevation difference downward towards the south
Site coverage ratio = 0.4
Floor area ratio unknown
Building envelope, building line and boundary = Plot 18.2 x 29 m (60 x 95 ft), building envelope 12.2 x 20 m (40 x 66 ft). Similar plots on the left and right (new development area)
Edge development = No
Number of parking spaces = 2
Number of floors = 2
Roof pitch = 25–45 degrees
Style = Modern, timeless
Orientation = unknown
Maximum heights / limits = Eaves height 4.5 m (15 ft), ridge height 8.5 m (28 ft). Since eaves height is measured from the base reference height, which is 1.5 m (5 ft) above ground level, we can build two full stories.
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type = Modern, straight and practical. Gable roof oriented east–west (with photovoltaic panels).
Basement, floors = No basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age = 2 adults (around 50), 2 teenagers
Space requirements ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF)
Office: family use or home office? = Home office 4 days a week, requires a dedicated room.
Guests per year = Several, family lives far away and often stays for 1–3 weeks at a time.
Open or closed architecture = Open
Conservative or modern design = Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island = Yes!
Number of dining seats = About 6
Fireplace = Yes, small masonry stove
Music / stereo wall = No, no TV on the ground floor either
Balcony, roof terrace = Yes
Garage, carport = Yes
Utility garden, greenhouse = No, rather flowers and nature, small but nice.
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why something is or isn’t wanted
We enjoy cooking; the kitchen should be the centerpiece. Inside and outside should feel connected. Lots of natural light, no roller shutters.
The ground floor should be accessible and age-appropriate, not just for us but also so that a grandparent could live there someday (then we could use the upper floor). Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
A southern view (fields and forest) is important.
The upper “chill room” should be designed so that a kitchen can be installed later if a child or grandparent wants/needs to live there independently.
We want to build the house from solid wood, though the exact type is not decided yet.
Possibly a polished concrete floor on the ground floor, parquet or similar upstairs. Ground floor ceiling height 2.7 m (9 ft) – is that sufficient? For the ceiling thickness, I have currently planned 40 cm (16 in) using glued solid wood panels (no beams). The upper floor ceiling height can be lower since these rooms are smaller.
Garage is less for a car and more intended as a double carport.
House design
Who designed it:
- Do-it-yourself
What do you like most? Why? Ground floor with easy access to the terrace and garden and a private southern view, covered terrace (usable even in rain). Kitchen near the west terrace with its own access.
What do you dislike? Why? The upper floor feels a bit too large, but this results from the ground floor layout (compromise). Also, I think the staircase doesn’t have enough space.
Cost estimate from architect/planner: We haven’t reached that stage yet, I currently estimate about 2500–3000 Euros/sqm (230–280 USD/sq ft).
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: less than 600K (plot already paid for, terrace and carport I can do myself)
Preferred heating system: Air-source heat pump with underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, what would it be?
- Can give up: Living space, kitchen island
- Cannot give up: Barrier-free accessibility on the ground floor
Why is the design like it is now?
Days of careful planning and adjustments.
What is the most important basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we reduce the house size or cost without losing ground floor functionality (barrier-free)? We worry about costs (maybe unnecessarily). Any other cost drivers you see? (Apart from masonry stove and too much glazing). General feedback is welcome.
(I’m not a native speaker, please excuse any spelling mistakes.)
Thanks to all!
I have been following this forum for a while, and now we have purchased a plot of land and are planning to build a house on it.
Questionnaire:
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size = 525 m2 (5650 sq ft)
Slope – 1 m (3 ft) elevation difference downward towards the south
Site coverage ratio = 0.4
Floor area ratio unknown
Building envelope, building line and boundary = Plot 18.2 x 29 m (60 x 95 ft), building envelope 12.2 x 20 m (40 x 66 ft). Similar plots on the left and right (new development area)
Edge development = No
Number of parking spaces = 2
Number of floors = 2
Roof pitch = 25–45 degrees
Style = Modern, timeless
Orientation = unknown
Maximum heights / limits = Eaves height 4.5 m (15 ft), ridge height 8.5 m (28 ft). Since eaves height is measured from the base reference height, which is 1.5 m (5 ft) above ground level, we can build two full stories.
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type = Modern, straight and practical. Gable roof oriented east–west (with photovoltaic panels).
Basement, floors = No basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age = 2 adults (around 50), 2 teenagers
Space requirements ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF)
Office: family use or home office? = Home office 4 days a week, requires a dedicated room.
Guests per year = Several, family lives far away and often stays for 1–3 weeks at a time.
Open or closed architecture = Open
Conservative or modern design = Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island = Yes!
Number of dining seats = About 6
Fireplace = Yes, small masonry stove
Music / stereo wall = No, no TV on the ground floor either
Balcony, roof terrace = Yes
Garage, carport = Yes
Utility garden, greenhouse = No, rather flowers and nature, small but nice.
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why something is or isn’t wanted
We enjoy cooking; the kitchen should be the centerpiece. Inside and outside should feel connected. Lots of natural light, no roller shutters.
The ground floor should be accessible and age-appropriate, not just for us but also so that a grandparent could live there someday (then we could use the upper floor). Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
A southern view (fields and forest) is important.
The upper “chill room” should be designed so that a kitchen can be installed later if a child or grandparent wants/needs to live there independently.
We want to build the house from solid wood, though the exact type is not decided yet.
Possibly a polished concrete floor on the ground floor, parquet or similar upstairs. Ground floor ceiling height 2.7 m (9 ft) – is that sufficient? For the ceiling thickness, I have currently planned 40 cm (16 in) using glued solid wood panels (no beams). The upper floor ceiling height can be lower since these rooms are smaller.
Garage is less for a car and more intended as a double carport.
House design
Who designed it:
- Do-it-yourself
What do you like most? Why? Ground floor with easy access to the terrace and garden and a private southern view, covered terrace (usable even in rain). Kitchen near the west terrace with its own access.
What do you dislike? Why? The upper floor feels a bit too large, but this results from the ground floor layout (compromise). Also, I think the staircase doesn’t have enough space.
Cost estimate from architect/planner: We haven’t reached that stage yet, I currently estimate about 2500–3000 Euros/sqm (230–280 USD/sq ft).
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: less than 600K (plot already paid for, terrace and carport I can do myself)
Preferred heating system: Air-source heat pump with underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, what would it be?
- Can give up: Living space, kitchen island
- Cannot give up: Barrier-free accessibility on the ground floor
Why is the design like it is now?
Days of careful planning and adjustments.
What is the most important basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we reduce the house size or cost without losing ground floor functionality (barrier-free)? We worry about costs (maybe unnecessarily). Any other cost drivers you see? (Apart from masonry stove and too much glazing). General feedback is welcome.
(I’m not a native speaker, please excuse any spelling mistakes.)
Thanks to all!
I really like the basic concept and the exterior of the house. However, I’m struggling with the apparent disorganization inside. It somehow feels cluttered to me. At first glance, I also noticed that the distance from the car to the refrigerator feels like a long journey. Consider adding a second access to the kitchen. You probably don’t want to carry your weekly groceries and trash all the way through the house.
Have you increased your budget again? Or is there a reliable calculation showing that everything fits within 600 K all-in?
os24laenger schrieb:Good that you
Garage is not really intended for the car
os24laenger schrieb:otherwise there would still be issues with the garage regulations
crossed out the garage
I just can't warm up to it either.
- Ground floor hallway is long, narrow, and dark.
- Entrance to the kitchen is very long.
- Kitchen feels like a dark cave (does it really have no window?).
- Dining room looks cramped. On one side, the balcony folding door can’t open; on the other side, bar stools and dining chairs seem cramped together.
- Living room is an oversized, narrow corridor.
- Kitchen is not connected to the terrace.
- I wouldn’t put the toilet against the dining room wall (noise issues).
- Upstairs room measuring 7.35 x 2.85 meters (24.1 x 9.35 feet) has a disastrous proportion.
Too many compromises for my taste.
- Ground floor hallway is long, narrow, and dark.
- Entrance to the kitchen is very long.
- Kitchen feels like a dark cave (does it really have no window?).
- Dining room looks cramped. On one side, the balcony folding door can’t open; on the other side, bar stools and dining chairs seem cramped together.
- Living room is an oversized, narrow corridor.
- Kitchen is not connected to the terrace.
- I wouldn’t put the toilet against the dining room wall (noise issues).
- Upstairs room measuring 7.35 x 2.85 meters (24.1 x 9.35 feet) has a disastrous proportion.
Too many compromises for my taste.
O
os24laenger31 Jan 2022 23:30PhiIipp schrieb:
At first glance, it seems like quite a long journey from the car to the fridge. Consider adding a second access to the kitchen. You probably don’t want to carry your weekly groceries and the trash all the way through the house. Yes, the long corridor is certainly not an advantage. However, it allows for a "dirty zone" at the cloakroom, and the stairs are upstairs while the toilet downstairs can be reached with clean feet. The distance from the lower bedroom to the toilet is short. I don’t see a need for an additional door at the moment.
K1300S schrieb:
Have you increased your budget? Or is there a reliable calculation confirming that everything fits within $600K all-in? The floor area is about the same as the last design, around 170 m2 (1,830 sq ft). A reliable cost estimate will only be available once the floorplan is finalized—I have to start somewhere. What else could I base calculations on without a plan? There are still plenty of options to cut costs in the finishes.
face26 schrieb:
- Ground floor corridor is long, narrow, and dark.
- Entrance to the kitchen is very long. Agreed, that’s not a plus. However, there is a window by the staircase, so it shouldn’t be too dark. And 1.30 m (4 ft 3 in) isn’t that narrow.
face26 schrieb:
- Kitchen is a dark hole (does it really have no window?) You’re right, I noticed that myself before and have now planned a skylight.
face26 schrieb:
- Dining room looks cramped. The balcony folding door can’t open on one side, and there seems to be very little space between the bar stools and dining chairs.
- Living room is an oversized narrow space.
- Kitchen is not next to the terrace. That may be, but the balcony door can open outward. The middle area is a good spot for a sideboard or an exercise machine, which also frees up some space overall. We like it that way 🙂 Having the kitchen not adjacent to the terrace is worse than before but it’s still not too far. Plus, it stays cooler there with less direct sun exposure.
face26 schrieb:
- I wouldn’t put the toilet on the wall next to the dining room (noise).
- Upstairs room measuring 7.35 x 2.85 m (24 ft 1 in x 9 ft 4 in) has a terrible proportion. If it’s not just a 12 mm (1/2 inch) drywall, the noise should be limited. The shape of the upstairs room is unusual, but I don’t see why it couldn’t work as an office or guest room. Not every room has to be a boring square.
Thanks for your input, I will reconsider some of these points again.
O
os24laenger1 Feb 2022 07:43SoL schrieb:
After using the toilet, I like to wash my hands. Don’t you? Hmm, do you know the difference between a rough floor plan where not every detail is included yet and a finished detailed plan? Or what is this comment supposed to mean?
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