ᐅ Floor plan single-family house on south-facing slope Remodeling upper floor can wait
Created on: 29 Apr 2015 10:27
A
AbbygaleHello everyone,
I have been following this forum for some time and would now like to get your input for our planning.
A brief overview of the situation: We plan to build the house brick by brick, doing a lot of the work ourselves since almost the entire family consists of various tradespeople. The plans are the first draft from our architect, but there are several things we don’t like or mandatory requirements that haven’t been implemented yet.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 518m² (approx. 18m x approx. 29m (59ft x 95ft))
Slope: South-facing slope, 2m (6.6ft) drop over the 29m (95ft), access only from the south
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio:
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 18m x 14.5m (see file for detailed info)
Border development: Garage
Number of parking spaces: 2 & double garage
Number of stories:
Roof type: Gable roof, 30-38°
Architectural style: Classic
Orientation: East-West
Maximum heights/limits: Ridge height uphill 3.5m (11.5ft) / downhill 8.5m (28ft) / eaves height 7.5m (25ft)
Additional requirements
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Classic, gable roof, rectangular footprint (no bay windows)
Basement, number of floors: Because of the slope, a basement is basically necessary (?), otherwise prefer none.
"UG" (basement level), ground floor (GF), attic (only shell)
Number of occupants, ages: She 26, he 27, planning for 2 children
Space requirements on GF, upper floor (UF):
UG/basement: 2 children’s bedrooms, bathroom, utility/technical room, storage, office with space for 2 desks and a sofa bed
GF: Living/dining room, kitchen with pantry, bathroom, guest WC, bedroom, walk-in closet, laundry room
UF: Only prepared for possible future finishing
Office: Family use, occasionally home office (5-10 times per year)
Overnight guests per year: Negligible
Open or closed layout: Rather closed, but kitchen / living / dining open-plan
Conservative or modern design: Open to both, probably leaning more conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with bar counter for visual separation
Number of dining seats: Standard 6, optional up to 12
Fireplace: Water-bearing tiled stove
Music / stereo wall
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace preferably on top of the double garage, small terrace in front of the children’s rooms in the basement
Garage, carport: Double garage with direct access to the house
Vegetable garden, greenhouse
Other requests / special features: Essential requirement: Main entrance must be on the same level as the living room (ground floor), not in the basement
House Design
Who created the plans:
- Planner from a building company
- Architect: Architect
- DIY by us
What do you particularly like?
What do you dislike?
Cost estimate by architect/planner: To follow
Personal price limit for the house: $320,000 - $350,000
Preferred heating type: Still open, definitely underfloor heating supported by tiled stove
What I don’t like about the architect’s plan:
Ground floor:
Utility room in basement -> must be on ground floor
Tiled stove not included
Kitchen a bit small
Pantry poorly designed (freezer also needs to fit)
Walk-in closet too small for two people (?)
Basement:
Hallway from the entrance - must be accessible from the garage
Children’s rooms and office too narrow and corridor-like
Both children’s rooms a bit too small
Office too large
Bathroom on north side with only a light well - would complete excavation be possible here? Otherwise placement to the east on the external wall?
I have not drawn any plans myself yet, as I find the slope quite challenging. I would like to bring concrete suggestions to the next meeting with the architect on what I want to solve differently and how. We do not want to finish the attic for now (actually never), as we do not like sloped ceilings and with the options in the basement, we would like to save costs on attic finishing.
Can you help me with new ideas or input on what we might have completely overlooked?
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback.
I have been following this forum for some time and would now like to get your input for our planning.
A brief overview of the situation: We plan to build the house brick by brick, doing a lot of the work ourselves since almost the entire family consists of various tradespeople. The plans are the first draft from our architect, but there are several things we don’t like or mandatory requirements that haven’t been implemented yet.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 518m² (approx. 18m x approx. 29m (59ft x 95ft))
Slope: South-facing slope, 2m (6.6ft) drop over the 29m (95ft), access only from the south
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio:
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 18m x 14.5m (see file for detailed info)
Border development: Garage
Number of parking spaces: 2 & double garage
Number of stories:
Roof type: Gable roof, 30-38°
Architectural style: Classic
Orientation: East-West
Maximum heights/limits: Ridge height uphill 3.5m (11.5ft) / downhill 8.5m (28ft) / eaves height 7.5m (25ft)
Additional requirements
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Classic, gable roof, rectangular footprint (no bay windows)
Basement, number of floors: Because of the slope, a basement is basically necessary (?), otherwise prefer none.
"UG" (basement level), ground floor (GF), attic (only shell)
Number of occupants, ages: She 26, he 27, planning for 2 children
Space requirements on GF, upper floor (UF):
UG/basement: 2 children’s bedrooms, bathroom, utility/technical room, storage, office with space for 2 desks and a sofa bed
GF: Living/dining room, kitchen with pantry, bathroom, guest WC, bedroom, walk-in closet, laundry room
UF: Only prepared for possible future finishing
Office: Family use, occasionally home office (5-10 times per year)
Overnight guests per year: Negligible
Open or closed layout: Rather closed, but kitchen / living / dining open-plan
Conservative or modern design: Open to both, probably leaning more conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with bar counter for visual separation
Number of dining seats: Standard 6, optional up to 12
Fireplace: Water-bearing tiled stove
Music / stereo wall
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace preferably on top of the double garage, small terrace in front of the children’s rooms in the basement
Garage, carport: Double garage with direct access to the house
Vegetable garden, greenhouse
Other requests / special features: Essential requirement: Main entrance must be on the same level as the living room (ground floor), not in the basement
House Design
Who created the plans:
- Planner from a building company
- Architect: Architect
- DIY by us
What do you particularly like?
What do you dislike?
Cost estimate by architect/planner: To follow
Personal price limit for the house: $320,000 - $350,000
Preferred heating type: Still open, definitely underfloor heating supported by tiled stove
What I don’t like about the architect’s plan:
Ground floor:
Utility room in basement -> must be on ground floor
Tiled stove not included
Kitchen a bit small
Pantry poorly designed (freezer also needs to fit)
Walk-in closet too small for two people (?)
Basement:
Hallway from the entrance - must be accessible from the garage
Children’s rooms and office too narrow and corridor-like
Both children’s rooms a bit too small
Office too large
Bathroom on north side with only a light well - would complete excavation be possible here? Otherwise placement to the east on the external wall?
I have not drawn any plans myself yet, as I find the slope quite challenging. I would like to bring concrete suggestions to the next meeting with the architect on what I want to solve differently and how. We do not want to finish the attic for now (actually never), as we do not like sloped ceilings and with the options in the basement, we would like to save costs on attic finishing.
Can you help me with new ideas or input on what we might have completely overlooked?
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback.
Hello,
Personally, I would consider the following:
* The hallway is spacious, but the wardrobe area is somewhat small. It might make sense to remove the pantry, enlarge the kitchen slightly (to accommodate freezer and storage), and use the entire wall as a wardrobe (for baby car seats, sports gear, school bags, etc., which you will still have). However, this would mean there is no storage space on the ground floor for vacuum cleaners, household items, etc. Perhaps a small cleaning closet could be integrated into the wardrobe.
* I would personally prefer the WC window to be on the north side, because 1. it’s farther from the entrance, and 2. it doesn’t block natural light in front of the mirror. Whether this fits with the exterior view would need to be checked by the architect.
* The dining area being located on the main passageway to the living/kitchen area and in front of the TV is not well planned in my opinion. Overall, less than 10m (33 feet) for the kitchen/dining/living area feels quite limited, which is naturally due to the terrace and boundary setbacks.
* Access to the bedroom “only” through the living area is also not ideal. It can be noisy if one person goes to bed early or is ill, etc. Having young children on a different floor, separated by a door to the stairwell (distance) would not work for me. You often need to go to the children at night and currently only hear them through a baby monitor. When the children are toddlers, coming to the parents can only happen via the stairs, through the living area… There is no alternative to at least temporarily accommodate the children on the same floor until they are older.
* A double sink for two people seems unnecessary to me as well.
* Access from the garage to the house is often unnecessary. But for this sloping plot with the front door on the ground floor (only reachable via stairs) or the narrow, space-consuming secondary entrance (without wardrobe), direct access would be very useful—in this case, I would remove the secondary entrance and give more space to the small children’s rooms!
* The office is very large, and the children’s rooms are small. Overall, the basement is poorly designed—it looks like the architect ran out of ideas.
I would try relocating the study to the ground floor and placing the parents’ area in the basement. Possibly by assigning the storage room in the garage to the house and roofing over the balcony, or by finishing the attic after all.
On the ground floor, I would experiment with a different, more practical layout for the kitchen/dining/living area.
Personally, I would consider the following:
* The hallway is spacious, but the wardrobe area is somewhat small. It might make sense to remove the pantry, enlarge the kitchen slightly (to accommodate freezer and storage), and use the entire wall as a wardrobe (for baby car seats, sports gear, school bags, etc., which you will still have). However, this would mean there is no storage space on the ground floor for vacuum cleaners, household items, etc. Perhaps a small cleaning closet could be integrated into the wardrobe.
* I would personally prefer the WC window to be on the north side, because 1. it’s farther from the entrance, and 2. it doesn’t block natural light in front of the mirror. Whether this fits with the exterior view would need to be checked by the architect.
* The dining area being located on the main passageway to the living/kitchen area and in front of the TV is not well planned in my opinion. Overall, less than 10m (33 feet) for the kitchen/dining/living area feels quite limited, which is naturally due to the terrace and boundary setbacks.
* Access to the bedroom “only” through the living area is also not ideal. It can be noisy if one person goes to bed early or is ill, etc. Having young children on a different floor, separated by a door to the stairwell (distance) would not work for me. You often need to go to the children at night and currently only hear them through a baby monitor. When the children are toddlers, coming to the parents can only happen via the stairs, through the living area… There is no alternative to at least temporarily accommodate the children on the same floor until they are older.
* A double sink for two people seems unnecessary to me as well.
* Access from the garage to the house is often unnecessary. But for this sloping plot with the front door on the ground floor (only reachable via stairs) or the narrow, space-consuming secondary entrance (without wardrobe), direct access would be very useful—in this case, I would remove the secondary entrance and give more space to the small children’s rooms!
* The office is very large, and the children’s rooms are small. Overall, the basement is poorly designed—it looks like the architect ran out of ideas.
I would try relocating the study to the ground floor and placing the parents’ area in the basement. Possibly by assigning the storage room in the garage to the house and roofing over the balcony, or by finishing the attic after all.
On the ground floor, I would experiment with a different, more practical layout for the kitchen/dining/living area.
Hello Milkie,
Thank you very much for your detailed response!
*Yes, there is a garden at the back of the house on the north side, but its final size will depend on the house itself.
I also feel that the connection between the living spaces and the garden is missing. However, in the current plan, we do have a nice view of the valley. Actually, I had imagined the living room extending across the entire width of the house, with a terrace corner facing north. Simply to have a seating area there as well, to better include the garden.
*The cloakroom is indeed very small, considering everything that needs to be accommodated there. Perhaps some storage space can still be gained on the wall under the stairs.
*What we consciously want is the bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room on the ground floor. The children are not here yet, and they won’t be living in the house forever. That is why we want the ground floor to function as an independent living unit. My husband and I each had our (children’s) rooms on a different floor than the parents, so this is intentional. The staircase isn’t really a “hallway” either, as it is separated only by the living room or children’s room doors.
*Having the WC window on the north side is actually better and will definitely be implemented.
*I also think the entire living/dining layout isn’t very successful. I would prefer to look out through the nice corner glazing rather than having my sofa positioned in front of it, causing reflections on the TV.
If you enter the house from the garage (which is what we want), isn’t having the staircase diagonally at the opposite end of the house somewhat inconvenient?
The garage could theoretically be placed on the other side of the house, which would allow the office and children’s room downstairs to get some sun in the evening. However, that would mean giving up the terrace on the garage and losing the entrance on the right side as well…
Thank you very much for your detailed response!
*Yes, there is a garden at the back of the house on the north side, but its final size will depend on the house itself.
I also feel that the connection between the living spaces and the garden is missing. However, in the current plan, we do have a nice view of the valley. Actually, I had imagined the living room extending across the entire width of the house, with a terrace corner facing north. Simply to have a seating area there as well, to better include the garden.
*The cloakroom is indeed very small, considering everything that needs to be accommodated there. Perhaps some storage space can still be gained on the wall under the stairs.
*What we consciously want is the bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room on the ground floor. The children are not here yet, and they won’t be living in the house forever. That is why we want the ground floor to function as an independent living unit. My husband and I each had our (children’s) rooms on a different floor than the parents, so this is intentional. The staircase isn’t really a “hallway” either, as it is separated only by the living room or children’s room doors.
*Having the WC window on the north side is actually better and will definitely be implemented.
*I also think the entire living/dining layout isn’t very successful. I would prefer to look out through the nice corner glazing rather than having my sofa positioned in front of it, causing reflections on the TV.
If you enter the house from the garage (which is what we want), isn’t having the staircase diagonally at the opposite end of the house somewhat inconvenient?
The garage could theoretically be placed on the other side of the house, which would allow the office and children’s room downstairs to get some sun in the evening. However, that would mean giving up the terrace on the garage and losing the entrance on the right side as well…
I would also be bothered by the long route from the entrance to the kitchen. You have to walk all around the pantry, although it could be much more direct, right where the wardrobe is planned.
Have a new design made that structures the living room and reduces this narrow cellar entrance corridor.
Have a new design made that structures the living room and reduces this narrow cellar entrance corridor.
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