ᐅ Floor Plan of a Single-Family Home with a Secondary Suite
Created on: 22 May 2017 10:40
Z
zwei&vierzig
Hello everyone,
We are in the process of building a house and, after much deliberation, have decided on the floor plans. I’d like to share the plans with you and look forward to your objective opinions.
Please do not comment on the kitchen layout. We are currently in the middle of kitchen planning, and the kitchen as shown on the plan will almost certainly not be implemented as is.
The plot has a steep slope from north to south (there is an 8-meter (26 feet) difference between the street and the lower boundary of the property) and a slight slope from east to west (this is the street side, with a 2-meter (6.5 feet) difference). Only the tenant of the basement apartment has access to the garden. Since the house turned out quite large, we decided to include a basement apartment to rent out. It has a separate entrance.
It was important for us to separate the living room from the kitchen and dining area because we have three cats, and I want to buy a nice sofa without worrying about destructive cat claws. Upstairs, we wanted a large hallway as a second living room. I’m not a fan of having TVs or computers in the children’s rooms.
There is no building permit/planning permission for the site. The garage will be built directly on the property boundary.
Building plan/restrictions
Plot size: 630 sqm (6,780 sq ft); plot width: 18 m (59 feet)
Slope: yes, steep south-facing slope
Building envelope, building line, and boundary:
Number of floors: basement/souterrain, two full floors, attic
Floor height: 2.80 m (9.2 feet)
Roof type: 25-degree hip roof
Architectural style: Swedish house (timber frame construction)
Orientation: south
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults and two children (not yet born)
Office: home office
Open or closed architecture: modern, but rather closed architecture
Open kitchen, kitchen island: large open kitchen with island; living room separate
Fireplace: planned
Balcony, roof terrace: large balcony with garden access and a small balcony on the bedroom
Garage: double garage
I hope I’ve covered all the important points upfront.
Best regards from the galaxy!
We are in the process of building a house and, after much deliberation, have decided on the floor plans. I’d like to share the plans with you and look forward to your objective opinions.
Please do not comment on the kitchen layout. We are currently in the middle of kitchen planning, and the kitchen as shown on the plan will almost certainly not be implemented as is.
The plot has a steep slope from north to south (there is an 8-meter (26 feet) difference between the street and the lower boundary of the property) and a slight slope from east to west (this is the street side, with a 2-meter (6.5 feet) difference). Only the tenant of the basement apartment has access to the garden. Since the house turned out quite large, we decided to include a basement apartment to rent out. It has a separate entrance.
It was important for us to separate the living room from the kitchen and dining area because we have three cats, and I want to buy a nice sofa without worrying about destructive cat claws. Upstairs, we wanted a large hallway as a second living room. I’m not a fan of having TVs or computers in the children’s rooms.
There is no building permit/planning permission for the site. The garage will be built directly on the property boundary.
Building plan/restrictions
Plot size: 630 sqm (6,780 sq ft); plot width: 18 m (59 feet)
Slope: yes, steep south-facing slope
Building envelope, building line, and boundary:
Number of floors: basement/souterrain, two full floors, attic
Floor height: 2.80 m (9.2 feet)
Roof type: 25-degree hip roof
Architectural style: Swedish house (timber frame construction)
Orientation: south
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults and two children (not yet born)
Office: home office
Open or closed architecture: modern, but rather closed architecture
Open kitchen, kitchen island: large open kitchen with island; living room separate
Fireplace: planned
Balcony, roof terrace: large balcony with garden access and a small balcony on the bedroom
Garage: double garage
I hope I’ve covered all the important points upfront.
Best regards from the galaxy!
zwei&vierzig schrieb:
What loud machines?Washing machine and dryer turn a comfortable bathroom into a wet room where dirty laundry piles up.
Best regards in brief
Z
zwei&vierzig23 May 2017 11:09RobsonMKK schrieb:
I always find it astonishing what’s being planned here. Over 360 sq meters (about 3,875 sq ft) of floor space (not including the basemented second garage) for 2 actual people and 3 not yet existing...
What is this going to cost?Well, you can subtract the basement and the granny flat. If you’re planning for a family, you should consider that from the start in the design phase. So far, I’ve only heard people complaining about too little living space (not too much).
zwei&vierzig schrieb:
Well, you can subtract the basement and the granny flat. If you plan for a family, you should consider that from the start during the planning phase. So far, I’ve only heard people complain about having too little living space (not too much).That usually happens only after you’ve built a large home for the family and then end up living there as just two people in old age.
I’ve experienced this myself with my parents and many friends’ parents.
We are currently building a 185m² (2000 sq ft) house, and I know that once the children—who don’t even exist yet—move out, the place will feel too big for us.
zwei&vierzig schrieb:
Well, you can just subtract the basement and the granny flat. Why? They are built as part of the house. And if you don’t have that space in the basement, you need it above ground.
We’re talking about almost 400 sqm (4,300 sq ft) of floor area! And as I said, once you have children, they will also live there. I’m not saying you shouldn’t plan for that, but there should be some balance somewhere.
There is a "parent’s" unit on the upper floor of 35 sqm (375 sq ft). The children’s rooms with their bathroom are about the same size. The upstairs hallway is probably a nice idea, but do I really want teenagers causing trouble there in the stairwell later on? If you like that.
Don’t get me wrong, but what do you do with such a huge area? It needs to be cleaned and maintained. Plus, it reduces the usable area in the garden.
What is your allowed floor area ratio / plot coverage? Often, older plots have a floor area ratio of 0.2 or 0.3.
Z
zwei&vierzig23 May 2017 11:54matte1987 schrieb:
That usually happens when you’ve built a large house for the family but later, in old age, only two people live in it again.
I’ve seen this with my parents and with the parents of many acquaintances and friends.
We are building 185m² (1,994 sq ft) now, and I know that when the children, who are not even born yet, have moved out, the house will feel too big for us.Yes, I understand that. Although, if in 20 years I want to stretch my feet into Lake Constance and settle there, I would do so. Well, I’ll take my husband with me. But then the kids won’t have room anymore in a nice 2-3 room flat (apartment).
Z
zwei&vierzig23 May 2017 12:12RobsonMKK schrieb:
Why? They are built in. And if you don’t have the space in the basement, you’ll need it above ground.
We’re talking about nearly 400 sqm (4,300 sq ft) of floor area! And as I said, kids will be living there eventually. I’m not saying you shouldn’t plan for that, but there should be some balance.
There is a "parent’s" room on the upper floor of 35 sqm (375 sq ft). The children’s rooms with their bathroom are about the same size. The upstairs hallway is certainly a nice idea, but do you really want teenagers causing a ruckus in your staircase? Each to their own.
Don’t get me wrong, but what do you want with such a huge area? It needs to be cleaned and maintained. Plus, it reduces the usable space in the garden.
What is your allowed floor area ratio / plot ratio? Often, on older plots like this, the floor area ratio is limited to 0.2 or 0.3.We are currently still moving the layout of the upper floor around a bit. It will probably be “only” 32 sqm (345 sq ft) for the bedroom with bathroom.
I understand your point, and yes, the house will be big. We have our reasons for this. Honestly, the garden is nice but was not the main reason for us to buy and build here. We neither have the energy nor the time to maintain a large garden. I can understand why it’s important for some to have living spaces with direct access to the garden. For us, moving into the basement was never an option.
We are also aware that we will eventually have to sell this house. Maintaining it will definitely be easier in a 3-room apartment. On the other hand, you can plan accordingly. For example, there will be a cleaning closet on every floor, equipped with a vacuum cleaner, mop, etc. That way, you don’t have to carry a vacuum cleaner around all the time. But you have to take that into account when furnishing.
I can’t tell you the exact floor area ratio for the plot. We are going by what is already built.
My main concern here was the floor plan. Is it child-friendly? Have we forgotten anything important? Are we making any fundamental mistakes? In that sense, the discussion has already helped us quite a bit.
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