ᐅ Floor plan of a semi-detached house

Hello everyone,
Last month we bought a nice plot of land and are currently planning our semi-detached house. Thanks to SweetHome3D, this can now be done from the sofa.
Our builder also offers architectural services, but we have already tried designing the floor plan ourselves and are looking forward to your feedback.

Here are some details:
Plot size: Total 800 sqm (8,611 sq ft), 400 sqm (4,305 sq ft) per half
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Our building envelope: 6 x 13.5 m (20 x 44 ft), internal dimensions: 5.6 x 13 m (18 x 43 ft)
Roof type: Gable roof, 45 degrees
Style: Modern/family
Orientation: Southwest
Building type: Semi-detached house
Basement: Yes
Number of floors: Single story
Number of occupants: Currently two
Kitchen: Semi-open, preferably with a sliding door
Fireplace: Yes
Other wishes/special features/daily routine: It is important for us to have a passage from the bedroom through the walk-in closet to the bathroom
Roof slopes cannot be drawn in our program: The slopes are on the east and west sides; the bedroom includes a dormer with floor-to-ceiling windows; the room "Child 1" has a window on the south side; the room "Child 2" has a roof window
Terrace/garden is planned to the west.

I look forward to your suggestions!

Best regards,
Anne

A well-meaning tip: It is better to use professional architectural services.
At first glance, without dimensions and just as bullet points:

• Kitchen as a walkthrough room
• Staircase too small and will not work like this
• Only 20 cm (8 inches) exterior walls?
• Are there load-bearing walls, or is that unnecessary with 6 m (20 feet)?
• Bathroom drainage
• Lost space in the bedroom
• Door slopes
• Laundry handling?

Oh dear. This is far from a good floor plan. Try fitting a sofa and a dining table into a width of 5.60 meters (18 feet 5 inches). THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!!! For the dining area alone, you need to plan at least 3.50 meters (11 feet 6 inches) if you want to be able to walk around the table. That leaves about 2 meters (6 feet 6 inches) for a sofa.

- The staircase is cramped.
- The kitchen is huge but hardly functional in terms of furnishing. It only has one window and is a pass-through room.
- There is a lot of wasted space in the basement.
- On the upper floor, all rooms are narrow and long (“corridor rooms”).
- How high is the knee wall going to be? You might run into headroom problems when getting into bed.
- Only one roof window in the children’s room? Poor child, they won’t be able to look outside. Also, try fitting a 1.50-meter (5 feet) wardrobe in the children’s room—it simply won’t work.
- The walk-in closet will be a dark hole. No chance to have a window.
- Sloped walls (leading to the children’s rooms) are usually constructed at a 45-degree angle.
- Two doors in the tiny bathroom. That will only be a functional bathroom without any nice features like a larger bathtub, double sink, or a spacious shower.
- Honestly, I have no idea how the staircase is supposed to work. Where exactly is the entrance? If I assume the hallway on the ground floor, the first step is at the front. That means upstairs you walk straight into the wall of children’s room 2, and downstairs into the wall of the storage/hobby room.

Since a floor plan stands and falls with the staircase, you’ll have to start completely from scratch. If I were you, I would bring in someone who really knows what they’re doing.

No good... better to choose a standard floor plan.

Well no, you don’t design a house from the sofa!

@Manu1976 ... my first thought is, how is the staircase supposed to work

I also consider just 20cm (8 inches) exterior walls unrealistic. On the exposed outside, it’s more likely around 36.5cm (14.5 inches), and towards the neighboring house approximately 20cm (8 inches). That leaves only about 545cm (215 inches) of interior width from the overall 600cm (236 inches) exterior dimension.