ᐅ Floor plan for a newly built two-story single-family house, 200 m² (2,150 sq ft)

Created on: 26 Dec 2024 16:14
H
HaseUndIgel
Hello everyone and Merry Christmas,

after I posted a question about the heat pump to be used a few days ago, I now want to continue with the main and fundamental thread regarding the floor plan.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 618 m² (6660 sq ft)
Slope: None
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: None
Building envelope, building line and boundary: See image
Peripheral development: No
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: up to 2
Roof shape: All allowed; for hip or gable roofs 25° - 50° pitch
Architectural style: None specified
Orientation: None specified
Maximum height / limits: 9 m ridge height (29.5 ft)
Other requirements: Photovoltaic system covering at least 50% of usable roof surface

Homeowner Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: "Urban villa but Northern German style"
Basement, floors: 2 full stories, no basement
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people, 32, 32, 1, -2 years
Room requirements on ground and upper floors: Study (ground floor), Study/guest room (upper floor)
Office: Family use or home office? 1 office for full-time use, 1 additional as a guest room hybrid
Number of guest stay days per year: approx. 10-15 days, mostly family
Open or closed layout: Open
Conservative or modern construction: More modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen, with island if it fits, otherwise U- or L-shaped
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Carport for 1 car
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why certain things are wanted or not: Nothing noteworthy

House Design
Who designed the plan: Planner (Architect?) of the general contractor (GC)
What do you particularly like and why?
  • Straight staircase
  • Covered entrance and terrace
  • Spacious enough for our needs

What do you dislike and why?
  • Ground floor WC probably too small
  • Pantry doesn’t make much sense (maybe omit)
  • Layout of the bathroom upstairs (we already have alternative ideas)
  • Unsure if there is enough light in the living/dining area
  • Slightly too big / bulky
  • A bit too expensive

Price estimate according to architect/planner: 565,000 EUR
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 730,000 EUR (including garden, carport, photovoltaics, kitchen, additional costs)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump is basically a must (no gas connection)

If you have to give up, which details / extras
  • Can be skipped: open atrium, pantry, if necessary the type of covering on entrance and terrace (set back under the upper floor)
  • Cannot be skipped: Storage space

Why did the design turn out the way it did?
Three-hour meeting with the architect at the general contractor, starting from a similar model house (this was a 1.5-story house with a gable roof), several iterations on tracing paper, then a week later the digital design was received.

Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Covered entrance and terrace set back under the upper floor, bedroom with dressing room, 2 studies (1 ground floor, 1 upper floor).

What do you think makes the design good or bad? Overall we quite like the whole package.

I’m looking forward to your opinions and am curious about what you think. If we still like the design in January, we will probably proceed with further planning with the general contractor.
Ground floor plan including kitchen, dining, living, workspace, entrance hall, WC and carport

Upper floor plan with bedroom, dressing room, children's room, guest room, bathroom, hallway

Section through two-story house with roof structure, underfloor heating, windows and doors

Two-story brick house with gable roof; four facades (east, south, north, west)

Site plan of a plot: red boundary, green area, blue borderlines, scale 0–20 m (0–65 ft), neighboring buildings
A
Arauki11
30 Dec 2024 12:44
This is generally the case—almost anything can work. The important thing is for each person to ask themselves whether they are okay with the possible consequences. There are certainly people who don’t mind, and for them, that’s fine. That’s also why I mentioned the splash guard, where there are different opinions about the minimum width. Likewise, it’s possible that the boundary isn’t caught exactly to the centimeter (in my case, it was completely botched but unfortunately noticed too late), and if that happens on both sides, you lose a few centimeters at an already tight spot.
11ant30 Dec 2024 14:20
HaseUndIgel schrieb:

I find it interesting that there are many old buildings here without it, where in my opinion the facing brick is still perfectly fine. But maybe they also do extensive cleaning there.
Which the facing brick should be color-through for, anyway.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
HaseUndIgel30 Dec 2024 15:51
Arauki11 schrieb:

It can also happen that you don’t hit the exact boundary by the millimeter (in my case it was completely messed up but unfortunately noticed too late), and if this happens on both sides, you're losing a few centimeters (inches) in an already tight spot.

Yes, absolutely correct. In the current plan, we are moving the house slightly further south to ease the situation on the north side. There will be a platform in front of the entrance, which will also mark the end of the splash guard in that direction. Under the carport roof, the splash guard is not needed.

We are still unsure whether to implement ypg’s idea regarding the orientation of the bike shed, but otherwise we already like the entrance better.
HaseUndIgel30 Dec 2024 17:08
11ant schrieb:

Primarily, I am interested in the content of the question.

Regarding the windows:

The general contractor’s current offer includes plastic windows from Kneer Süd Fenster, specifically the KF 700 model.
Specifications KF 700:
  • Thermal insulation up to 0.68 W/m²K
  • Sound insulation up to class 4
  • Burglary protection up to RC 2
The question is, is this sufficient, or should one upgrade to the KF 734 S model, perhaps only in the bedrooms.
Specifications KF 734 S:
  • Thermal insulation up to 0.73 W/m²K
  • Sound insulation up to class 5
  • Burglary protection up to RC 3
Or are these windows not good anyway, and should one choose something completely different?

The offer also states the following about the windows:

All windows made of fully reinforced white plastic system KF 700 with:
  • Triple-pane thermal insulation glazing with Ug value = 0.5 W/m K
  • Central sealing system with 3 seals
  • Installation depth: 80 mm (3.1 inches)
  • Number of chambers: 6 chambers
  • Material: fiber composite made from the high-tech RAU-FIPRO® material, continuous co-extruded outer layer of high-quality RAU-PVC for best surface quality
  • Windows tested according to RAL and CE standards
  • Uw of the window 0.68 W/(m°C) according to DIN EN ISO 10077-1:2006 for the reference size 1230 x 1480 mm (48.4 x 58.3 inches)
Lightweight glass:
  • Extra lightweight triple insulating glass
  • CLIMATOP XN Extra Light
  • Glass weight: 22.5 kg/m (15.0 lb/ft)
  • Sound reduction of windows 37 dB with standard glass and asymmetric glass structure.
Background information: The house is located in a newly developed residential area, so no loud traffic is expected directly outside the front door. Approximately 110 meters (360 feet) to the north or northeast runs a country road, which is exactly where the town exit is located. Between are some trees and a few other houses. A few simple rough calculations suggest that even the KF 700 with its 37 dB sound insulation should be sufficient to prevent indoor noise even with heavy traffic. However, I would appreciate your opinions.

Additionally, the offer includes the following per window (which of course does not affect sound insulation):

Security fittings RC 2 N
  • At least 6 steel mushroom head locks
  • Sash lifter with integrated misuse lock
  • Drill protection
  • Corner bearings with rotary brake
  • Additional locking safeguard
  • Lockable handle according to DIN
  • Anti-lift protection
  • (Excluding special shapes (round/sloped), sizes below minimum, and tilt windows)
11ant30 Dec 2024 20:07
HaseUndIgel schrieb:

The question is, is something like this sufficient, or should one rather go for the KF 734 S, maybe only in the bedrooms.
If they provide better sound insulation, basically yes. But bedrooms are mostly used at night, when shutters are usually closed as well.
HaseUndIgel schrieb:

Or are these windows maybe just rubbish anyway and it’s better to choose something completely different?
[...] Material: fiber-reinforced composite made from the high-tech material RAU-FIPRO®, continuous co-extruded outer layer made of high-quality RAU-PVC for the best surface quality
That doesn’t sound like rubbish, and when building with a general contractor, I would exceptionally source the windows through them rather than the installer.
HaseUndIgel schrieb:

Central sealing system with 3 seals # Installation depth: 80mm (3 inches) # Number of chambers: 6 chambers
See "How many chambers does a window need?" for reference. I would generally choose central sealing, but bearing depth and number of chambers alone don’t mean much.
HaseUndIgel schrieb:

Sound insulation value of the window is 37 dB with standard glass and asymmetrical glazing configuration.
There are no explanations about this on the manufacturer’s website.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
HaseUndIgel31 Jan 2025 21:58
Hello everyone,

After almost exactly one month of silence, I wanted to provide a status update on the project.

We took a short break at the beginning of January to reflect and re-evaluate some of our previous assumptions. During this time, we also considered reasons for starting a new design that would allow us to move away from certain ideas (for example, the straight staircase) in order to use the space more efficiently.

In the end, however, we decided to continue with the current design and are now close to signing the contract with the general contractor. I’m attaching the current version of the plans here.

There won’t be any significant changes to the floor plan. Maybe some walls will shift by a few centimeters (inches), and the detailed planning of the bathroom and kitchen is still pending. Additionally, other aspects of the detailed planning are still missing, such as determining where the pipes for the central supply and exhaust air system will run.

With that, this thread has served its main purpose for us—many thanks again to everyone involved! If anyone is interested, I would be happy to continue the thread to document progress in planning and construction, and I will surely have some questions in the future as well.
Four views of a two-story brick house (east, south, west, north) with windows and doors.

Two-story brick house with gable roof and a single-story flat-roofed extension on the right.

Architectural section A-A: cross section of a two-story house with underfloor heating

Ground floor plan: kitchen/dining/living room, terrace, office, storage room, carport, utility/technical room.

First floor plan with rooms: Child I, Child II, guest, bedroom, walk-in closet, bathroom, corridor.