Hello,
I have been reading along for some time now and finally dare to share a floor plan here.
First, here is the list of questions:
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 576 sqm (6,200 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, slight. According to the site plan, the top "right" corner is at 295.4 meters (970 feet), lower at 293.88 meters (964 feet), left side goes from 295.17 meters (968 feet) to 293.43 meters (963 feet)
Floor area ratio: 0.3
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Applies to house number 16
Surrounding buildings
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: 2 full floors required, plus optional recessed floor (setback floor)
Roof type: Flat roof, max. 5° pitch
Maximum height/limits: Max. 10 m (33 ft) high
Additional requirements: Equipment (heat pump) must be integrated, not external. Maximum of 2 residential units. Specific exterior colors required, rainwater should infiltrate (soil report says this is unlikely). Roofs must be greened. No oil or gas heating allowed.
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Actually, none specified.
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 floors.
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people — 2 adults, 2 children
Ground floor space needs: Daily life (living, kitchen, dining, technical room, guest room)
Upper floor: Family (2 children's rooms, master bedroom, separate bathrooms), home office
Office: Home office, second workspace for occasional use such as a work window sill for example in the bedroom
Guests per year: Currently few.
Open or closed architecture, conservative or modern style: Either is fine.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: We are still considering. Initial wish was separate pantry like in the floor plan. An island would be nice if space allows.
Number of dining seats: Normally 4, rarely up to 8.
Fireplace: None.
Music/stereo wall: Multi-room audio with central unit in technical room.
Balcony, roof terrace: Neither.
Garage, carport: 1 garage
Other wishes: Central vacuum system, laundry chute, smart home (KNX) (I am mostly doing this myself, yes, I am a certified electrician, can program, but will also get additional help)
House design
Who designed the plan:
- Planner from a construction company: Correct, with some input from us. Based on an existing plan.
Price estimate by architect/planner: approx. 485,000 € (euros) for the house, approx. 210,000 € for the plot including basic services (survey, soil report, etc.)
Personal price limit for the house including features: approx. 800,000–850,000 € (including land)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump
If you had to give up, which details/extra features could you skip:
- Could skip:
- Cannot skip:
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by the planner? Yes, with minor wishes from us (wall between study and child’s room 2, T-walls in bathrooms, porch roof, conservatory, pantry)
What do you find especially good or bad about it? So far it seems to fit; apart from possibly the pantry/dining room, we don’t see major issues yet. But that’s why I’m here now.
Edit: The furniture shown in the floor plans can be safely ignored. Planners seem to like adding these.
Best regards
Ganneff
I have been reading along for some time now and finally dare to share a floor plan here.
First, here is the list of questions:
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 576 sqm (6,200 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, slight. According to the site plan, the top "right" corner is at 295.4 meters (970 feet), lower at 293.88 meters (964 feet), left side goes from 295.17 meters (968 feet) to 293.43 meters (963 feet)
Floor area ratio: 0.3
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Applies to house number 16
Surrounding buildings
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: 2 full floors required, plus optional recessed floor (setback floor)
Roof type: Flat roof, max. 5° pitch
Maximum height/limits: Max. 10 m (33 ft) high
Additional requirements: Equipment (heat pump) must be integrated, not external. Maximum of 2 residential units. Specific exterior colors required, rainwater should infiltrate (soil report says this is unlikely). Roofs must be greened. No oil or gas heating allowed.
Client requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Actually, none specified.
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 floors.
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people — 2 adults, 2 children
Ground floor space needs: Daily life (living, kitchen, dining, technical room, guest room)
Upper floor: Family (2 children's rooms, master bedroom, separate bathrooms), home office
Office: Home office, second workspace for occasional use such as a work window sill for example in the bedroom
Guests per year: Currently few.
Open or closed architecture, conservative or modern style: Either is fine.
Open kitchen, kitchen island: We are still considering. Initial wish was separate pantry like in the floor plan. An island would be nice if space allows.
Number of dining seats: Normally 4, rarely up to 8.
Fireplace: None.
Music/stereo wall: Multi-room audio with central unit in technical room.
Balcony, roof terrace: Neither.
Garage, carport: 1 garage
Other wishes: Central vacuum system, laundry chute, smart home (KNX) (I am mostly doing this myself, yes, I am a certified electrician, can program, but will also get additional help)
House design
Who designed the plan:
- Planner from a construction company: Correct, with some input from us. Based on an existing plan.
Price estimate by architect/planner: approx. 485,000 € (euros) for the house, approx. 210,000 € for the plot including basic services (survey, soil report, etc.)
Personal price limit for the house including features: approx. 800,000–850,000 € (including land)
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump
If you had to give up, which details/extra features could you skip:
- Could skip:
- Cannot skip:
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by the planner? Yes, with minor wishes from us (wall between study and child’s room 2, T-walls in bathrooms, porch roof, conservatory, pantry)
What do you find especially good or bad about it? So far it seems to fit; apart from possibly the pantry/dining room, we don’t see major issues yet. But that’s why I’m here now.
Edit: The furniture shown in the floor plans can be safely ignored. Planners seem to like adding these.
Best regards
Ganneff
M
motorradsilke27 Jun 2025 15:55In the utility room, I would place the inverter on the right-hand wall according to the plan, where the laundry chute is planned. Move the electrical panel slightly to the right, behind the door, and shift the door a bit downward on the plan. This way, the washing machine and dryer fit side by side along the top wall of the plan. Alternatively, the sink can be placed next to the door. Or the washing machine and dryer could be along the right-hand wall, with the sink beside them. Having the washing machine and dryer side by side provides a nice work surface.
Ganneff schrieb:
They also do basements, so they should be able to give me a guideline without too much wasted effort). By now, it’s becoming clear to me that "BHL" doesn’t refer to an unknown material, but rather means "client-provided service".
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
motorradsilke schrieb:
Or place the washing machine and dryer against the right wall, with the sink next to them. Having the washer and dryer side by side creates a nice work surface. They do, even though we’re used to stacking them so far. I’m trying to position the sink near the door, if it fits.
I’m considering whether the utility room door could simply open towards the hallway. That would free up space in the utility room, and since it’s not planned as an escape route, it should be okay. Sure, there’d be some overlap with the storage room door, but that doesn’t bother me much initially.
11ant schrieb:
I’m starting to realize that "BHL" doesn’t refer to an unfamiliar material, but rather stands for "Builder’s Scope of Work" or “client’s responsibility.” Oh, did I miss or ignore a question about that? Yes, your realization is correct; that’s what it means.
I like the note on the plan that shutters on fixed glass elements cannot be cleaned. My cousin has had this for many years and is constantly annoyed by it, so you should definitely avoid that.
The rooms should now definitely be furnished to scale to identify tight spots (especially kitchen/dining); the conservatory as well, because right now I can’t imagine any furnishing or practical use there due to the two doors. At 1.25m (4 feet), it’s more like a winter hallway... in my view, that’s an unnecessarily expensive gimmick without added value. I would actually prefer to enlarge the multipurpose room instead to make real use of the additional space by simply extending the room. Why should you then have little light?
It all depends on your personal idea of furnishing and using this room (and the others).
Personally, I would definitely miss having a shower on the ground floor in the long term.
But you also have to be able to place a bed...
I wouldn’t put too much importance on that either, at least not at the expense of other necessary things.
I would actually skip the laundry chute on the upper floor because it really complicates the planning. How do you want to furnish your bedroom? The second bathroom upstairs/kids’ bathroom obviously replaces the shower I find missing on the ground floor. I would swap the toilet and shower so that a nice walk-in shower fits. Built-in and without glass or with only a half-high screen, it also requires less maintenance than a full glass shower with a door and is cheaper. Then, after entering the bathroom, you would have a nice wall for shelves, hooks, etc., with the shower behind it (no laundry chute).
I don’t like your bathroom layout as it is. I would rather see the toilet on the wall where the bathtub is now. The bathtub currently has a rather prominent spot but is rarely used. The shower, which is used frequently, is sufficient at 90x90cm (35x35 inches), but it also needs a door. You might want to play a bit of Tetris with its layout. I could imagine the shower (half-high glass) with approximately 140x90cm (55x35 inches) directly on the bedroom wall. Whether the "T" shape makes sense would have to be determined during the planning process.
The rooms should now definitely be furnished to scale to identify tight spots (especially kitchen/dining); the conservatory as well, because right now I can’t imagine any furnishing or practical use there due to the two doors. At 1.25m (4 feet), it’s more like a winter hallway... in my view, that’s an unnecessarily expensive gimmick without added value. I would actually prefer to enlarge the multipurpose room instead to make real use of the additional space by simply extending the room. Why should you then have little light?
It all depends on your personal idea of furnishing and using this room (and the others).
Personally, I would definitely miss having a shower on the ground floor in the long term.
Ganneff schrieb:
The guest room currently has a window that is far too small planned, only 72cm (28 inches) high. Same height as in the kitchen—yay, symmetry. But I don’t really care about that; a 125cm (49 inches) window should be installed to have enough light in that room.
But you also have to be able to place a bed...
Ganneff schrieb:
We will probably leave it out altogether. Nice feature, but not essential. Laundry bags go into the bathrooms, and then you carry them when loading the machines...
I wouldn’t put too much importance on that either, at least not at the expense of other necessary things.
I would actually skip the laundry chute on the upper floor because it really complicates the planning. How do you want to furnish your bedroom? The second bathroom upstairs/kids’ bathroom obviously replaces the shower I find missing on the ground floor. I would swap the toilet and shower so that a nice walk-in shower fits. Built-in and without glass or with only a half-high screen, it also requires less maintenance than a full glass shower with a door and is cheaper. Then, after entering the bathroom, you would have a nice wall for shelves, hooks, etc., with the shower behind it (no laundry chute).
I don’t like your bathroom layout as it is. I would rather see the toilet on the wall where the bathtub is now. The bathtub currently has a rather prominent spot but is rarely used. The shower, which is used frequently, is sufficient at 90x90cm (35x35 inches), but it also needs a door. You might want to play a bit of Tetris with its layout. I could imagine the shower (half-high glass) with approximately 140x90cm (55x35 inches) directly on the bedroom wall. Whether the "T" shape makes sense would have to be determined during the planning process.
Papierturm27 Jun 2025 20:17Overall, I like these plans much better than the old ones.
My two cents:
- Laundry chute: We planned one for a long time as well but eventually decided against it. It really causes a lot of trouble, is expensive, and does it actually provide that much convenience?
- Conservatory: I used to have a non-shaded conservatory in front of the entrance door (rental apartment). Despite continuous ventilation to the outside (great for animals...), it would get over 50°C (122°F) in summer, and the heat radiated inside through the door. I totally understand the desire for light! However, I would either go for a bay window with large panes or enlarge the entire room (bay windows can be expensive as well) and work with big windows. Conservatories often sound much better on paper than in everyday life. There’s a huge amount of glass to clean and extreme heat buildup without shading. Alternatively, you have to keep them shaded for half the year, which isn’t pleasant either.
- The guest room is very small. And there’s a laundry chute marked there?! I currently see two laundry chutes in the plans? The guest room can be used with some rearranging, but it will definitely be quite cramped. This also matters for the window area! Definitely think about furniture placement and what you want to fit in there.
- Especially the master bathroom: I would lay out the space using ropes or similar to check if all the dimensions really work. On paper, it seems very tight to me (same for the kids’ bathroom, but the tight spot is different and subjectively less bothersome). Since I know the usual quirks from home builders: have storage shelves drawn in on both sides of the bathtub right away. You will probably want to have them anyway, so it’s better to include them in the plan from the start.
- In the living-dining area, you have very little wall space due to the many floor-to-ceiling elements (patio door, lift-and-slide door, conservatory...). Floor-to-ceiling elements are tricky. When I walk through neighborhoods, almost all of these have been converted back into something like regular windows using pleated blinds or other solutions. I would reconsider how window areas are used daily. Especially in the children’s rooms, I’m quite sure these will quickly be converted with pleated blinds or similar.
My two cents:
- Laundry chute: We planned one for a long time as well but eventually decided against it. It really causes a lot of trouble, is expensive, and does it actually provide that much convenience?
- Conservatory: I used to have a non-shaded conservatory in front of the entrance door (rental apartment). Despite continuous ventilation to the outside (great for animals...), it would get over 50°C (122°F) in summer, and the heat radiated inside through the door. I totally understand the desire for light! However, I would either go for a bay window with large panes or enlarge the entire room (bay windows can be expensive as well) and work with big windows. Conservatories often sound much better on paper than in everyday life. There’s a huge amount of glass to clean and extreme heat buildup without shading. Alternatively, you have to keep them shaded for half the year, which isn’t pleasant either.
- The guest room is very small. And there’s a laundry chute marked there?! I currently see two laundry chutes in the plans? The guest room can be used with some rearranging, but it will definitely be quite cramped. This also matters for the window area! Definitely think about furniture placement and what you want to fit in there.
- Especially the master bathroom: I would lay out the space using ropes or similar to check if all the dimensions really work. On paper, it seems very tight to me (same for the kids’ bathroom, but the tight spot is different and subjectively less bothersome). Since I know the usual quirks from home builders: have storage shelves drawn in on both sides of the bathtub right away. You will probably want to have them anyway, so it’s better to include them in the plan from the start.
- In the living-dining area, you have very little wall space due to the many floor-to-ceiling elements (patio door, lift-and-slide door, conservatory...). Floor-to-ceiling elements are tricky. When I walk through neighborhoods, almost all of these have been converted back into something like regular windows using pleated blinds or other solutions. I would reconsider how window areas are used daily. Especially in the children’s rooms, I’m quite sure these will quickly be converted with pleated blinds or similar.
Arauki11 schrieb:
I think the note in the plan stating that roller shutters on fixed glass elements cannot be cleaned is a good one. In fact, my cousin has had something like this for many years and is constantly annoyed by it; so you should definitely avoid that. Hrm. I didn’t overlook that, but considering how often we’ve cleaned the roller shutters here over 30 years – and all of them are easily accessible – I doubt it will really bother us. (The officially counted number is... zero). I don’t see what or why I would clean on parts like that, they aren’t glossy white surfaces anyway.
Arauki11 schrieb:
The rooms absolutely need to be furnished to scale now to identify any tight spaces (especially kitchen/dining); the sunroom definitely as well, because with the two doors I currently can’t imagine any furniture or sensible use. 1.25m (4 feet) is really more like a winter corridor... in my opinion, that’s an unnecessarily expensive luxury without added value. I’ll get back to furnishing this weekend. I already started with the kitchen/dining area and living room on the ground floor. I’ll redraw the plan with the current layout (and also paint the upper floor), and make more cardboard furniture pieces. This time I want to extend this to the other rooms as well, even though the kitchen is the main focus/driver.
The sunroom is quite nice, but with the doors and those wall sections it feels weird.
Arauki11 schrieb:
It depends entirely on your personal idea of how to furnish/use this room (and the others). Personally, I would definitely miss a shower on the ground floor in the long term. I don’t think a shower on the ground floor can be sensibly integrated under the current circumstances.
If magically the basement could be included within our budget, allowing us to move all the technical installations down there (and possibly even the utility room), then – even with a probable reduction in floor area – there would be space. Yes. Otherwise? Probably not.
Arauki11 schrieb:
How do you plan to furnish your bedroom? Waterbed, nightstands, wardrobes and a bit of “let’s see how it goes in the coming days.”
Arauki11 schrieb:
The constantly used shower with 90x90 (35x35 inches) is sufficient, but it also needs a door. You might want to play a bit of Tetris with that. I could imagine a shower (half-height with glass) about 140x90 cm (55x35 inches) directly on the bedroom wall. Whether a “T” shape is a useful solution would have to be evaluated during the planning. Hrm. Let’s see if I can come up with something nice this weekend.
Arauki11 schrieb:
I would actually skip the laundry chute on the upper floor; it really causes problems with the planning. Papierturm schrieb:
Laundry chute: We also planned one for a long time but eventually removed it. It really causes a lot of trouble, is expensive, and I’m not sure it brings that much added convenience. It would have been useful if we hadn’t moved the utility room downstairs; until then it was well integrated. Now – it just isn’t anymore.
Papierturm schrieb:
Sunrooms are tricky; they sound much better on paper than in daily life. An awful lot of glass surfaces to clean, extreme heat build-up without shading. Alternatively, you have to keep them shaded for half the year, which isn’t pleasant either. The alternative is a bay window. Slightly less expensive, but then “only” a set of windows and no door. Although that could also be nice if you put three windows along the long side, with the middle one having a deep window seat; that sounds good to me as well.
If we keep a depth of 1.25m (4 feet), there wouldn’t be any side doors there. I’m not sure if that’s a big problem – I could imagine having at least one door to the terrace directly there would be nice. If so, then maybe it could be made about 1.50m (5 feet) deep.
Arauki11 schrieb:
But you have to be able to place a bed... Papierturm schrieb:
The guest room is very small. And I see a laundry chute marked there?! Currently, I see two laundry chutes in the plan? You overlooked my comment that it was still marked there because it was originally planned there.
In the guest room, we plan to have a sofa bed and a wall-mounted folding bed. This way, both can be “put away” during daily use and brought out as beds when needed. I still have to test the size arrangement. Yes, it’s relatively small, but the utility room on the left is much better, and on the right where it is now, there would only be more space if I took it from the kitchen. And no, the kitchen is simply far more important.
But – this room is intended for occasional overnight guests and otherwise “if you need some retreat” or “a quiet space for a hobby/reading/etc.”, but unlike a children’s room or office, it won’t be used permanently. That should be sufficient.
Papierturm schrieb:
With all the floor-to-ceiling elements (patio doors, lift-and-slide doors, sunroom...) in the living-dining area, you have very little wall space. Floor-to-ceiling elements are tricky. Walking through neighborhoods here, nearly all of them have been adapted with pleated blinds or other solutions to function more like normal windows. I would reconsider how window surfaces are used daily. Especially in the children’s rooms, I am almost certain that they will quickly be converted with pleated blinds or similar. Floor-to-ceiling windows are our way to bring in more light and a sense of openness. In the living/dining area, I don’t believe in pleated blinds; in the children’s rooms, maybe. But we hesitate to make them normal-height windows – if so, probably double width to compensate. But that would steal wall space, which is premium here anyway.
Ok, with non-floor-to-ceiling windows you do get a windowsill for Christmas decorations and such. I’ll bring this up again in the next discussion round to rethink it, but hrmm, meh. Let’s see.
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