ᐅ Floor plan of a new country house in a large garden under Section 34 (including demolition)
Created on: 19 Jan 2025 18:39
M
marcoblu
Hello dear community,
Last year, we purchased a house in Brandenburg. Initially, we planned to renovate and remodel the existing building. After receiving initial quotes exceeding 500,000€ (approximately 500,000 USD), we decided to change course and are now planning a new build.
We first contacted a few prefabricated house providers, but were not satisfied with the proposed plans. So, we downloaded the app Home Design 3D and kept designing until we achieved a result we were really happy with.
We would appreciate any feedback, ideas, and criticism. Our next step is to find a suitable contractor based on the floor plan. Attached are the questionnaire and some additional thoughts behind the planning.
Zoning plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 3000 sqm (approximately 32,000 sq ft)
Further requirements: §34, details not yet known
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: rather country house style, gable roof
Basement, floors: No basement, 1.5 floors
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, 1 child, possibly +1 child
Space needs on ground and upper floors: –
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guests per year: occasional
Open or closed layout: rather closed
Conservative or modern design: rather conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed kitchen
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: yes
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony
Garage, carport: existing garage stays, carport for camper
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: large garden
House design
Who created the plan: Self-designed using iPad app
- Planner from a construction company
- Architect
- Do-it-yourself
What do you like most? Why? Orientation of all main rooms to the south
What don’t you like? Why? Bedroom entrance from hallway
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: in progress
Personal price limit for the house including fixtures: 500,000€ (approximately 500,000 USD)
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/features could you do without? Balcony
Which are essential? Terrace, easy access to the garden
Why is the design the way it is now?
For example, standard design from planner? We refined it until we really liked it.
Which of your wishes were realized by the architect?
A mixture of many examples from various magazines...
What makes this design particularly good or bad in your opinion?
Maximum space optimization
Additional notes from us:
General
Ground Floor
General
Hallway
Utility Room
Bathroom
Kitchen
Living Room
Guest Room
Upper Floor:
General
Bathroom
Bedroom
Study
Guest Room
Last year, we purchased a house in Brandenburg. Initially, we planned to renovate and remodel the existing building. After receiving initial quotes exceeding 500,000€ (approximately 500,000 USD), we decided to change course and are now planning a new build.
We first contacted a few prefabricated house providers, but were not satisfied with the proposed plans. So, we downloaded the app Home Design 3D and kept designing until we achieved a result we were really happy with.
We would appreciate any feedback, ideas, and criticism. Our next step is to find a suitable contractor based on the floor plan. Attached are the questionnaire and some additional thoughts behind the planning.
Zoning plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 3000 sqm (approximately 32,000 sq ft)
Further requirements: §34, details not yet known
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: rather country house style, gable roof
Basement, floors: No basement, 1.5 floors
Number of people, ages: 2 adults, 1 child, possibly +1 child
Space needs on ground and upper floors: –
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guests per year: occasional
Open or closed layout: rather closed
Conservative or modern design: rather conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed kitchen
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: yes
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony
Garage, carport: existing garage stays, carport for camper
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: large garden
House design
Who created the plan: Self-designed using iPad app
- Planner from a construction company
- Architect
- Do-it-yourself
What do you like most? Why? Orientation of all main rooms to the south
What don’t you like? Why? Bedroom entrance from hallway
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: in progress
Personal price limit for the house including fixtures: 500,000€ (approximately 500,000 USD)
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/features could you do without? Balcony
Which are essential? Terrace, easy access to the garden
Why is the design the way it is now?
For example, standard design from planner? We refined it until we really liked it.
Which of your wishes were realized by the architect?
A mixture of many examples from various magazines...
What makes this design particularly good or bad in your opinion?
Maximum space optimization
Additional notes from us:
General
- Gable roof with east-west solar panels
- Similar to neighboring buildings
Ground Floor
General
- Wide doors on the ground floor, at least 1 m (3.3 ft) wide
- The ground floor is wheelchair accessible
- Patio roof in front of kitchen and half of the living room
Hallway
- Entrance area offers a niche for coats and shoes
- Space under the stairs usable as storage
- Stairwell and hallway on the first floor receive natural light
Utility Room
- Large utility room planned with at least 12 m² (130 sq ft)
- Northeast orientation, so the heat pump can be placed behind the carport
Bathroom
- Adjacent to the utility room
- Outdoor water tap
Kitchen
- Short walking distances:
- Kitchen accessible from entrance and dining room
- Pantry accessible through a cupboard in the kitchen
- Patio door leading from kitchen to garden
- Sliding door to separate kitchen acoustically and for odors from living room
- Small seating area in kitchen with enough space for quick meals (possible with a window seat?)
- Outdoor water tap
Living Room
- Floor-to-ceiling windows in living and dining area
- Fireplace planned
- Space for TV in a niche
- Area for cabinets
- One lift-and-slide door
Guest Room
- Option to use as bedroom
- At least 12 m² (130 sq ft)
Upper Floor:
General
- Balcony on the first floor facing south
- Accessible from two rooms
Bathroom
- Separate toilet and bathroom
- Bathroom has a bathtub
- Built-in cabinet behind the sink
Bedroom
- Floor-to-ceiling windows in living and sleeping areas, i.e., all south-facing rooms
- Does not border directly on the toilet or bathroom
Study
- Two almost equally sized rooms on the first floor serve as studies
Guest Room
- Another room on the upper floor can be used as a guest or hobby room
marcoblu schrieb:
Visit the suppliers with the floor plan and get another quote / see what they say? You can save yourself that. On average, the cost remains calculated at €3000 per m² (about $280 per sq ft). Except for the extravagant features, the factor still holds in combination with their scope of work description. Weberhaus will therefore be more expensive than Danwood, but offers higher quality.
marcoblu schrieb:
Find an architect and get the floor plan done properly, then look for a supplier with a finished floor plan? Exactly. Find an architect and have them develop a plan based on your room requirements, wishes, and budget, without starting from a draft. The architect will also provide advice.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
I haven't read anything about a slope. Or maybe I missed it. What slope are you referring to (which one)? I don't remember any being mentioned.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
H
hanghaus202321 Jan 2025 09:1611ant schrieb:
Where do you get the idea of (which?) slope? – I don’t remember any being mentioned. Neither do I. That’s why I’m asking. Apparently, there are technical experts (TE) who don’t see this as a problem.
W
wiltshire21 Jan 2025 12:45ypg schrieb:
To be honest: occasional overnight guests could take a taxi home, sleep on the sofa, or use a sofa bed in an 8m² (86ft²) office. That might be an option for guests from the local area. When we have overnight guests, they usually come from a distance where a taxi isn’t practical. Still, the idea makes perfect sense, and as an alternative to a taxi, it’s worth offering your guests both a taxi and a nearby accommodation room rather than building a dedicated guest room. It takes decades for the cost of building such a room to be justified by "occasional" guests.
marcoblu schrieb:
Does anyone have tips for a sensible approach? You’re already on the right track describing what you want. I recommend taking a moment to step back:
Try putting that into less architectural bullet points and more into “prose.” Describe a typical daily routine, recurring situations, favorite activities and hobbies, what moments are meaningful to you, how you like to relax or celebrate, how you plan to live with children, how you imagine they will grow and their needs will change, where the dog runs around, who works from home and when, and what needs that creates—things like that. Illustrate this with a kind of “mood board” – a collection of images that resonate with you. These can be architectural details, moods, colors, garden, light, anything that speaks to you. Everyone can create their own mood board if they want.
For example: Saying “I feel comfortable with plenty of natural light” is different from the requirement “all main rooms facing south.” If an architect, within building regulations and your budget, finds a way to meet the first requirement (lots of natural light) without south-facing rooms, that solves the first wish, but not the literal second requirement. Perhaps this is where the “tunnel vision” you already mentioned begins.
So: Discussing “What does quality of life and living mean to me?” or “How would I prefer to live?” with an architect is key to them designing well for you—or key to having a provider suggest a suitable floor plan.
And: One simple rule helps in choosing: An architect or provider who doesn’t engage with these questions is not the right choice. If someone truly listens to your lifestyle wishes without immediately drawing rooms or showing plans, but asks what’s behind them, chances are you’ve almost found the right service provider. Of course, personal compatibility, an impression of competence, and pricing should also be considered.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
I don’t either. That’s why I asked. Apparently, there are general contractors who don’t see the problem. The aerial photo in the opening post may not be strong evidence, but it does raise an initial suspicion of a fairly level plot, at least not one clearly favoring a basement.
wiltshire schrieb:
Also: A simple rule helps with choosing a provider: An architect or contractor who is not willing to engage in this way can be ruled out right away. If someone really considers your lifestyle needs without immediately sketching rooms or showing something, but instead asks what’s behind it, you have almost found the right professional for you. Of course, likeability, the impression of competence, and the price level must also be taken into account. Many first-time homebuilders nowadays have become spoiled by MRIs and ultrasounds and have lost spatial imagination, pushing their architects impatiently toward visualizing tools. While I can’t exactly endorse it, I can at least understand why young architects may respond to these market demands by quickly putting concrete surface patterns into the 3D simulation basket at full speed. When then someone like me, a conservative old fart, raises a warning finger at the conceptual level, pointing out that the homework hasn’t even been done yet, it can only come across as spoiling the fun. To laypeople, the prototype already looks "finished." They think, if it’s worth spending expensive printer ink, the building official must also like it since they even followed the silly eaves height for their sake. When these nice plans cost just three grand despite having a qualified university architect, especially if the general contractor only has to add a price and finalize them, the architect even gets five-star Internet customer reviews. In a market economy, each generation—currently one that perceives itself as a “consumer” even in homeownership, which really is an investment rather than consumption—gets exactly the “quality” it is willing to pay for. In a buyer’s market, every lid finds its pot. Marketing experts (still paid by the pots) ensure that the lids imagine themselves at the strong end of the lever. Philosophically, it is strange to watch this unfold. As a builder-savvy consultant, I and some colleagues struggle to still bring projects to completion (not just appearance). But this requires a different level of effort compared to the generation of the parents of today’s builders. So I (still: gladly) talk to a wall, urging to plan before starting to draw. But influencing builders takes time—years, during which a general contractor must survive—so I don’t blame suppliers for now tending to fulfill even the seemingly superficial wishes of clients. But people don’t build a third house for themselves if the first shot was already a hit. I used to be able to end this here with a smiling punctuation mark.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
…and a site plan with dimensions and reasonably accurate building placements is required to take into account
marcoblu schrieb:
- we would like to keep the outbuildings. These limit the building area to 10 x 14 m (33 x 46 ft).
- The carport next to the house is intended for a camper and will be built "at some point". However, we would like to maintain the distance to the neighbor so that this is possible. The barn already stands 6 meters (20 ft) on the property boundary.
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