ᐅ Floor plan of a detached single-family house approximately 200 m² with two separate living units
Created on: 23 Feb 2023 23:30
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ThomasMagmar
Preliminary note: This is not a specific building project, but it is something that may happen in the future if possible. Many of my friends have recently built houses and are currently in the process, but for myself it will still take some time. However, since I am quite interested in the subject and have skills in 3D design, I have started to think about how my "dream house" should look. I am fully aware that the floor plan may still change due to the location.
Therefore, I don’t need comments about how planning like this in advance doesn’t make sense. My goal is to see what is roughly possible and reasonable or not, and to gain more experience.
Development plan / restrictions Not available
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Modern, gable roof, future-oriented
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 floors + attic area for storage
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults + 2 children
Space requirement on ground floor and upper floor: Approximately 90m² (970 sq ft) each
Office: Family use or home office? Yes
Occasional guests per year: Possible but not planned
Open or closed architecture: Rather closed
Conservative or modern construction: Mixed
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Partly, no
Number of dining seats: 2 with couch ^^
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Probably
Balcony, roof terrace: Yes, yes
Garage, carport: Garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: Possibly garden shed
If possible, the garden should face south, among other reasons because photovoltaics will be used.
House design
Who planned it: Do-it-yourself with Inventor!
What do you especially like: The use of the house for several life phases
What do you dislike? Why? More difficult / expensive utility connections, presumed costs ^^
Price estimate according to architect / planner: Own estimate 600k without land
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: Currently unclear
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up certain details / expansions
- Can give up: Large utility room, changing room
- Cannot give up: Terrace
Why did the design turn out the way it is? For example:
I tried to create a floor plan that keeps the house practical for different stages of life. Both the ground floor and the upper floor can be used as independent apartments with minor modifications, for example when the children are not yet there, when they move out, or if the marriage should break down. Depending on the situation, either one floor or both can be rented out. The garage and utility room remain accessible to both floors. In addition, features such as photovoltaics, KNX (home automation system), empty conduits etc. should prepare the house for the future.
Therefore, I don’t need comments about how planning like this in advance doesn’t make sense. My goal is to see what is roughly possible and reasonable or not, and to gain more experience.
Development plan / restrictions Not available
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Modern, gable roof, future-oriented
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 floors + attic area for storage
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults + 2 children
Space requirement on ground floor and upper floor: Approximately 90m² (970 sq ft) each
Office: Family use or home office? Yes
Occasional guests per year: Possible but not planned
Open or closed architecture: Rather closed
Conservative or modern construction: Mixed
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Partly, no
Number of dining seats: 2 with couch ^^
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Probably
Balcony, roof terrace: Yes, yes
Garage, carport: Garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: Possibly garden shed
If possible, the garden should face south, among other reasons because photovoltaics will be used.
House design
Who planned it: Do-it-yourself with Inventor!
What do you especially like: The use of the house for several life phases
What do you dislike? Why? More difficult / expensive utility connections, presumed costs ^^
Price estimate according to architect / planner: Own estimate 600k without land
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: Currently unclear
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up certain details / expansions
- Can give up: Large utility room, changing room
- Cannot give up: Terrace
Why did the design turn out the way it is? For example:
I tried to create a floor plan that keeps the house practical for different stages of life. Both the ground floor and the upper floor can be used as independent apartments with minor modifications, for example when the children are not yet there, when they move out, or if the marriage should break down. Depending on the situation, either one floor or both can be rented out. The garage and utility room remain accessible to both floors. In addition, features such as photovoltaics, KNX (home automation system), empty conduits etc. should prepare the house for the future.
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Costruttrice24 Feb 2023 12:04ThomasMagmar schrieb:
No, this is a single wide bed. The door (with cutout) also goes into the wall and is basically an L-shape lying down, so the bottom edge of the door would be just above the mattress.🤨 That’s just absurd!
Get a second duvet and pillow and put them on the guest fold-out sofa. If needed, you can switch rooms and have everything ready. It’s not much extra effort, but you get proper spatial and acoustic separation, instead of a messy sliding door right over the mattress!
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ThomasMagmar24 Feb 2023 12:09kbt09 schrieb:
- Garages are generally allowed to be built right on the property line, but the use of the area on top of the garage must comply with the 3m (10 feet) distance rule... so a fence or something similar should be installed to prevent entering the 3m (10 feet) zone of the neighboring property.I can’t say exactly how far the neighboring property is, but maintaining the 3m (10 feet) distance might be feasible depending on the size of the lot. Or, if you’re lucky, it could be the last house/property on the street.
kbt09 schrieb:
- Stairs... there is an overview of staircase layouts with some minimum dimensions in the https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundriss-planung-unbedingt-vor-beitrag-erstellung-lesen.11714/.I already looked at that beforehand, and my stairs roughly match the staircase shown in the top right. They are a bit shorter but wider. As I said, I found those staircase dimensions from a supplier. If the stairs need to be a little longer or wider, I could still adjust that. We’re probably only talking about a few centimeters.
kbt09 schrieb:
- Utility rooms and building service areas should always be planned facing the street or positioned so that no other parts of the building block access to all service connections. This should at least be avoided.I’m aware of that and mentioned it in my original post. I considered swapping the utility room and the ground floor bathroom, but I wasn’t really happy with any option. I would be willing to cover additional costs (if allowed), even if the service lines have to be routed around the garage.
kbt09 schrieb:
- Hallways, yes, it’s better to make them space-efficient, but they should also be designed so that larger items can be carried around corners and to provide a welcoming feel to the house.What specific issues do you see as potentially impossible? On the ground floor, there is access via the front door, utility room door, and garden terrace. The upper floor even has its own entrance. The biggest challenge for me would probably be moving the bed in the bedroom once the wardrobes are already in place.
kbt09 schrieb:
- Children’s bathroom... is it only a toilet? Where will the children shower? Also, when planning bathrooms, you should consider stud walls or cladding for WC drainage pipes and take into account the floor below.That bathroom is intended mainly for quick toilet visits, for example, during the night before or after sleeping. Otherwise, it would be used for brushing teeth or washing hands only. The children can, of course, always use the main bathroom for showering etc. Regarding the plumbing, I had assumed the pipes might run inside the exterior walls, but I would need to research that further. If necessary, I might have to increase the width to about 1.2–1.3m (4–4.3 feet) because of the cladding.
kbt09 schrieb:
Kitchen... also consider planning carefully here. It is always practical to have access from the kitchen to the garden or barbecue area.There is already a large opening of 1.8 x 2m (6 x 6.5 feet) from the kitchen to the dining room, which provides quick access to the terrace. Therefore, I don’t really see the need for a separate direct access from the kitchen.
kbt09 schrieb:
- Cupboards, etc... it’s unattractive to enter a house or room and have a tall cupboard immediately next to the entrance door. It takes away openness.I could have noted the heights in some cases. At the spot you mentioned, no cupboard is planned, just a smaller chest of drawers. This can be used to place items like car keys. Above it could be the control panel if a smart home system is installed (another tablet would be in the living room). The coat rack would be directly to the right of the entrance area.
kbt09 schrieb:
- So... study floor plans, follow the threads here, and learn from them 😉Thank you for the feedback; I take these points to heart. For some things, I believe there is no absolute right or wrong, only preferences.
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ThomasMagmar24 Feb 2023 12:11hanghaus2023 schrieb:
I just meant that north should be at the top of the plan. Unfortunately, you have south at the top.Oh, yes, you’re right, I could/should still change that. I tried so many different options, moving and rotating everything that in the end the cardinal directions got mixed up. At the beginning, north was also at the top ^^
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ThomasMagmar24 Feb 2023 12:28Costruttrice schrieb:
Just because you plan a sliding door between two beds doesn’t mean it bothers the other person any less than without one. The sliding door does not reduce noise.
What added value do you expect from a kids’ bathroom without a shower?
I also find it strange that a walk-in closet is planned larger than a child’s bedroom. Of course, you could argue that 12m² (130 sq ft) is enough since it was enough for you. But in a new build with so much space, there should really be more to make out of it. Or do all your friends build the same way?
In my opinion, 600k won’t be enough for the project either. Regarding sound insulation with the sliding door, I also have my doubts and have therefore marked it as a bit of a gimmick. Naturally, I would need to test this in advance with a decibel meter to see how much noise can actually be blocked. I doubt that the sliding door lets no sound through at all; the real question is whether it reduces enough to provide a noticeable benefit.
How often do people use the toilet versus how often do they shower? The children would have a somewhat closer and easier access, and the toilet in the main bathroom (or the whole bathroom) would be free more often. When sitting on the toilet, one usually wants privacy. Also, the “kids’ bathroom” wouldn’t necessarily have to be tiled, making a later conversion easier once the children move out.
As mentioned before, the walk-in closet partly serves as a storage area since there is no basement, and its size is largely influenced by the layout of the kitchen on the ground floor. Most plans I have seen include a child’s bedroom of 15–20m² (160–215 sq ft), but these often have only one or no office at all. If the “kids’ bathroom” were removed, about 1m² (11 sq ft) could be added to each space.
We first need to wait and see how prices develop in the near future. If possible, I would of course try to reduce some costs through DIY work. A fully turnkey project could quite possibly match your estimate.
You already have fixed opinions and don’t really want to experiment with floor plans but have already fallen in love with your layout. You can tell from statements like
And, what’s the point of a children’s toilet that would require two more unplanned entrances when the rest would still be accessed through the master bathroom? It’s better to have one centrally located bathroom that’s easy for all residents of the upper floor to reach. Plus, the toilet drain would end up in the living room 😉
If the entrance area is just a chest of drawers, where would coats and such go, especially for a 4-person household with children?
Regarding drawing... there are standardized drawing symbols:
- Tall cabinets shown as a box with a cross inside
- Wall cabinets as a box with a diagonal line
- Dressers, etc. as simple boxes
Stairs... a few centimeters here and there add up. Also, when planning a two-unit dwelling, keep in mind that beds, sofas, and other large furniture need to be carried up the stairs. It’s better to plan generously in a sketch than to be too tight.
ThomasMagmar schrieb:
There is a large opening of 1.8 x 2 m (6 x 6.5 ft) from the kitchen to the dining room, making it easy to access the terrace quickly. Therefore, I don’t see an additional direct entrance from the kitchen as really necessary.
And, what’s the point of a children’s toilet that would require two more unplanned entrances when the rest would still be accessed through the master bathroom? It’s better to have one centrally located bathroom that’s easy for all residents of the upper floor to reach. Plus, the toilet drain would end up in the living room 😉
If the entrance area is just a chest of drawers, where would coats and such go, especially for a 4-person household with children?
Regarding drawing... there are standardized drawing symbols:
- Tall cabinets shown as a box with a cross inside
- Wall cabinets as a box with a diagonal line
- Dressers, etc. as simple boxes
Stairs... a few centimeters here and there add up. Also, when planning a two-unit dwelling, keep in mind that beds, sofas, and other large furniture need to be carried up the stairs. It’s better to plan generously in a sketch than to be too tight.
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ThomasMagmar24 Feb 2023 12:47Costruttrice schrieb:
🤨 That’s just absurd!
Get yourself a second duvet and pillow set and store them on the guest sofa bed. In case of need, you just switch rooms and have everything ready. It’s not much more effort, but you get a proper spatial and acoustic separation instead of a mess like a sliding door over the mattress! Maybe you’re right, but for now I don’t necessarily see it as absurd. I would have to somehow test how much noise would actually be transmitted in reality. It is definitely “unusual” or not “common,” but just because something isn’t common doesn’t mean it has to be bad.
mayglow schrieb:
Personally, even though I’m not really able to create functional floor plans myself, I immediately see too many awkward corners and edges here that don’t really fit. On top of that, apparently “clever features” were added, which simply don’t work in practice. For example, the children’s bathroom seems to have been added after the fact, it wasn’t originally there, and then that sounded like a great idea. But adding two doors to a bathroom smaller than 2 square meters (sqm) (about 22 square feet) and putting the soil pipes right through the living room is quite far from a functional design.
Think again about your room program (what is essential, what is optional) and how you want to live in the space, then consult an architect and/or look at existing plans to see if they fit your needs. I myself don’t have the skill to create a sensible floor plan from scratch, but the good thing is, I don’t have to 😉 You are completely right in your assessment that the “children’s bathroom” was not part of the original plan, and I’m still considering whether it would make sense or not.
The concern about the soil pipes running through the living room is definitely something to think about, though I’m not sure how disruptive that actually is. The toilet probably won’t be used very often, especially during the times when the living room is used most. I should probably talk to someone who has this setup to find out.
I have looked at plenty of plans already, and I don’t like about 90% of them at all. Everyone has their own ideas and wishes, and there are different conditions to meet. My goal is to create a suitable house that accommodates two children plus office spaces and allows each floor to function as a separate apartment. You normally don’t find plans like that.
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