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
ypg schrieb:
There are advantages to moving the sliding door in the living room out of the plane of the individual living room wall, in case you want to fully close off the living room at some point.
In the study, I would probably plan just a single window and align it with the one below.
Is the sink below the window intentional?
In the utility room, I would set up space for a cabinet and a workspace for laundry, and prefer it to be free of technical equipment. Yes, that’s why the door should still be moved over. There’s enough space for it. We’re thinking of using “mobile shelving units” that can be placed either in front of the wall panel (facing the dining area) or shifted aside. The top part will be attached to the lift-and-slide door—that can’t be avoided—but the bottom part doesn’t need to be.
The sink below the window actually matches what we sketched ourselves. On the other hand, it takes away the option for a mirror, which I just noticed. I’m wondering if I should move the window slightly to the right and the sink to the left towards the door (or vice versa). Oh well, always those details... (But for the building permit / planning permission, it probably doesn’t matter if the window shifts a few centimeters (inches) or not, right?)
Only a single window in the study—why? To make it look better from the outside? That’s actually not very important to me, appearance-wise.
Utility room: I’ll review the exact positioning of the items with them again during the detailed planning.
HuppelHuppel schrieb:
Why should the supplier care about the window? I’m wondering that too, but apparently some do make a fuss about it.
Ganneff schrieb:
Home office with only one single window – why? Is it just to match the exterior appearance? That’s actually not that important to me, the outside. That too. But south-facing windows can be tricky for working because they let a lot of heat into the house, not just in summer.
ypg schrieb:
True. But south-facing windows can be tricky to work with because they let a lot of heat into the house, not just in summer.Ok. Thanks, I think I’ll take that risk. The windows should have good U-values (definitely better than what I have now), and if it doesn’t work out, I still have the external blinds in front.
Papierturm1 Jul 2025 16:31Ganneff schrieb:
On the ground floor, there is a slightly wider sliding door – now double-leaf. We are still considering this, but regardless of whether it slides or not: it should be moved further to the right. I don’t know why it was shifted to the left. (*At least* it should align straight down from the wall panel, hitting the wall for about 10 or 15 cm (4 or 6 inches) width). This is also possible with this wider door.First of all, congratulations! Comparing the latest drawing to the first one, I find the latest one significantly better.Regarding the quote above: There’s a good reason why architects at large house suppliers are sometimes called "draftsmen" a bit derogatorily.
Doors sometimes get moved in a rather creative way. I had to smile. It was expected that it would end up right in front of the partition wall, so it can’t have been intentional.
Ganneff schrieb:
The sink under the window actually matches what we drew ourselves.Sink height is usually around 90 cm (35 inches). The window sill height then needs to be higher.I would consider if there’s another option here. A mirror is important, in my opinion.
Oh man, always these details.... (But – for the building permit / planning permission, it probably doesn’t matter whether the window moves a few centimeters or not?!)Yes. Minor deviations are acceptable.Ganneff schrieb:
Okay. Thanks, I think I’ll take that risk. The windows should come with good U-values, definitely better than what I have now, and if it doesn’t work out, I still have the external blinds in front.The greenhouse effect of glazed areas isn’t really influenced by the U-value. The key factor here is the g-value. And even with modern triple glazing, this is still quite high.There are solar control glazing options with relatively low g-values. However, this is something I wouldn’t usually consider for standard windows. While good for heat protection in summer, it results in higher energy costs in colder periods because less solar gain warms the house through the windows, and it also reduces visible light transmission (so rooms stay darker).
Therefore, external blinds are a good solution for large south-facing windows.
Papierturm schrieb:
“Draftsman” for architectsYou have to say: he works quickly. That can lead to mistakes being overlooked.Similar topics