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

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

HaseUndIgel27 Dec 2024 15:13

#37

nordanney schrieb:

No offense, but saying “I absolutely want to” can sometimes be self-defeating.

No worries, I’m not taking it the wrong way.
I would put it as “I know what I want,” but yes, that exact resistance to advice combined with a pathological know-it-all attitude would probably have caused similar problems even with a separate architect involved.

But I don’t think we need to get into deep psychology about me now—the opportunity has passed. Before this thread shifts further into the advantages of competent planning, I’d like to get back to the subject and try to improve my skills and the quality of the floor plan. The general topic has already been discussed enough in other threads.

I expect to be able to post a revised version, especially regarding the kitchen, bathroom, and all the windows, late tonight.

hanse98727 Dec 2024 15:41

#38

HaseUndIgel schrieb:

I expect to be able to post a revised version tonight, mainly concerning the kitchen, bathroom, and all the windows.

Then also add patio furniture to the plan.

Nida35a27 Dec 2024 15:41

#39

HaseUndIgel schrieb:

Layperson: Of course, neither my wife nor I come from the construction industry, but we both hold positions where we handle similar technical tasks in completely different contexts.

Then you can read drawings and visualize their content spatially, which is a good basis for reflecting other people’s ideas back into the drawings if you like them.
Read the provided notes several times and consider whether you would like them.
If this results in several floor plan options, you will find the one that suits you best.
Example: Kitchen with a peninsula and patio door

Modern kitchen with white cabinets, wooden countertop, red accent wall; hanging Christmas ornament.

HaseUndIgel27 Dec 2024 15:44

#40

Nida35a schrieb:

Example kitchen with peninsula and patio door

Hey, thanks a lot for the example. That’s always helpful.

nordanney27 Dec 2024 16:17

#41

HaseUndIgel schrieb:

Of course, we definitely want to schedule an appointment before finalizing the floor plan. Especially regarding the window placement, it needs to fit a practical kitchen layout.

I found an "old" photo showing how we arranged the kitchen area. The kitchen wasn’t fully installed yet, and the backsplash behind the cooktop was still missing. Maybe it can serve as inspiration.

Modern kitchen with island, gray cabinets, and cluttered countertop.

HaseUndIgel27 Dec 2024 23:31

#42

Hello everyone, I just spent a few more hours making some adjustments and have attached the results.

There was a major replacement of the windows on the upper floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows now only on the south side.
The kitchen now has an exit to the garden, but I’m still unsure how or if this can be designed nicely in the elevation view. With a width of 1.885 m (6 feet 2 inches), a floor-to-ceiling door doesn’t fit there. Also, having a (floor-to-ceiling) door directly next to a window with a windowsill above the countertop is problematic for roller shutters and probably doesn’t make sense at all. I need to revisit this, though maybe only after a more detailed kitchen planning.
Many walls were shifted to make the furnishing more plausible according to our actual needs.
As far as my patience allowed (I’m still working with a vector graphics program without architectural functions), I tried to actively design the exterior views. I didn’t draw the elevations separately, so it requires some ability to imagine them from the floor plans. Also, it’s not yet accurate to the exact centimeter, but the architect working with the general contractor can straighten that out.

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

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