ᐅ Floor plan of a semi-detached house, 7 by 16 meters, on a 390-square-meter plot in a residential development

Hello everyone,
we are currently in the middle of planning the floor plan. Unfortunately, I don’t have the architect’s drawing yet, but I wanted to get your opinions already. I’m afraid the house might be too dark because of the north-facing side, so I actually want to include as many windows as possible.
Thanks in advance!

Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 390
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio 0.4
Floor area ratio 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundary fully utilized
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof 38 degrees

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof type, building type: modern
Basement, floors: ground floor, first floor, attic
Number of occupants, age: 4 (2 adults + 2 children aged 4 & 3), but more children are planned
Office: family use or home office?
Guest bedrooms per year: 5-10
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open & island
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: no
Carport later: yes
Utility garden
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things are desired or not: I would like everything open on the ground floor. Since we have the north side, I’m worried it will be too dark, so I try to plan windows everywhere or doors with side panels. The utility/technical room must be behind the kitchen. First floor: knee wall at 50cm (20 inches). 2 children’s bedrooms & 1 bedroom with walk-in closet. If more children come, the parents will move to the attic. I also want a laundry/utility room upstairs.
Attic: to be finished later.

House design
Planning by: self-planned
What do you particularly like? Why? Open, spacious living area
What do you not like? Why? Bathroom and toilet arrangement bothers me
Preferred heating system: not decided yet, probably heat pump

If you have to give up any details or additions
- can give up: upstairs utility room, freestanding bathtub
- cannot give up: kitchen layout, windows

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Can I plan the windows better so it stays nice and bright? And I don’t like the bathroom 100%, would appreciate tips.

Would the architect also plan it this way? 😳

Yes, he liked it. What is wrong?

The ground floor is basically one long hallway. When you enter through the front door, you look down a 17 m (56 ft) long corridor, with everything lined up on the left and right sides. There is no proper coatroom before you reach the kitchen, which you have to pass through to go upstairs or downstairs. With plans for four children, it becomes noisy, chaotic, and crowded. There is not enough storage space. Upstairs, the walk-in closet and the master bedroom are located on the west side with plenty of room, while the children are placed in two narrow rooms with small east-facing windows?

I had planned the ground floor differently, but the utility room needs to be on the exterior wall, and since we didn’t want a guest toilet without a window, we placed the wardrobe in the center, which I’m also not happy with. Unfortunately, we are only allowed to build 7 meters (23 feet) wide, and to have a large enough house, we wanted to use the full 16 meters (52 feet) in length. That’s why the layout is, unfortunately, narrow and long.

Regarding the upper floor: in my opinion, the children’s rooms are not small—each is 16.7 m² (180 ft²) including the sloped ceiling. However, you are right about the orientation, and we have already thought about that. Also, we plan to move into the attic in a few years, so the children will then have the “large” room.

Why not build smaller and fully develop the attic right away? The extra length doesn’t really add usable space. That way, you don’t get well-utilized living space of about 300 m² (3,230 sq ft). And with a basement? Depending on the region and features, you’re looking at a budget approaching a million. If the budget is around that size, I would entrust the project to an architect rather than planning it yourself.