ᐅ Floor plan of a single-family home with a daylight basement on a hillside?
Created on: 24 Nov 2013 21:37
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Dipl-WiING
Hello, as I mentioned before on the forum, due to the sloped site (and the fact that we need a basement anyway) we will probably omit the upper floor.
Now we plan to develop the basement as a fully functional living area with a large glass front. We spent several hours working on the floor plan and wanted to ask an architect for their opinion, but unfortunately all three architects I contacted are currently too busy with other projects.
So I’m asking for your help.
It was important to us that you can go directly from the ground floor down the stairs to the terrace, and otherwise to have as few square meters wasted on hallways as possible. The ground floor (above) is mostly open except for a small guest toilet and an office.
The staircase is separated by a large built-in wall cabinet. The terrace above partly extends the carport and partly will have a wooden structure to bring the terrace size to about 12–14m² (130–150 sq ft). The house is oriented southwest.
Thank you very much for any advice!
Pit
Now we plan to develop the basement as a fully functional living area with a large glass front. We spent several hours working on the floor plan and wanted to ask an architect for their opinion, but unfortunately all three architects I contacted are currently too busy with other projects.
So I’m asking for your help.
It was important to us that you can go directly from the ground floor down the stairs to the terrace, and otherwise to have as few square meters wasted on hallways as possible. The ground floor (above) is mostly open except for a small guest toilet and an office.
The staircase is separated by a large built-in wall cabinet. The terrace above partly extends the carport and partly will have a wooden structure to bring the terrace size to about 12–14m² (130–150 sq ft). The house is oriented southwest.
Thank you very much for any advice!
Pit
W
Wanderdüne29 Dec 2013 00:37Dipl-WiING schrieb:
contacted an old school friend (who is now an architect) over a beerDemian described the correct approach from personal experience. This is how it’s done, and not any other way.
You want to plan the investment of a lifetime based on a conversation with a beer-drinking friend who is supposedly an architect. That’s fine, but that’s exactly how the planning ends up.
If that person really were an architect and genuinely wanted to help you, they would have explained that a design requires a thorough consideration of the client’s wishes, the site conditions, and the legal possibilities for the property.
Simply by eliminating inefficiencies in the sleeping and dressing areas, you would have already covered the costs for commissioning design phases 1-4, plus gained a professional, objective plan for the entire building.
With that said, cheers!
WD
And I can only keep recommending this approach! We are now on the second design draft and currently only discussing minor details, like moving windows one meter (3 feet) to the left or right. We have finished the design phase and will move into the permitting phase in the new year.
What I observe from the discussion is that you have similar ideas to ours, but our architect quickly and well-justified rejected them. One example is the fireplace: nobody can sit at the dining table when it’s on, and the cozy, calming effect is lost since it’s not really visible from a comfortable seating area. Also, having the living area upstairs and the bedrooms downstairs is not ideal because you can always see into your private space from the terrace. I assume the two armchairs by the window upstairs are meant to create a kind of view. Why not place them downstairs directly facing the garden, or else you just end up looking at your neighbors.
How is the property overall in terms of slope? Could you share the natural and planned terrain profile? I assume you have surveyed it or at least asked a friend to do so! Otherwise, as a layperson, I find it difficult to imagine building on a slope. Can you also provide cross-sections showing the terrain? Exterior views are much more important for a house on a slope than for one on flat land.
From my own experience, only once we had all this information could we imagine whether this could become our house!
I can only repeat my advice: open a Word document, find an architect who has experience with building on slopes or the ambition to design such a project. Our experienced and ambitious architect, who likes challenges, admitted at the last meeting that this project really pushed her. But the result is just amazing for us!
demian
What I observe from the discussion is that you have similar ideas to ours, but our architect quickly and well-justified rejected them. One example is the fireplace: nobody can sit at the dining table when it’s on, and the cozy, calming effect is lost since it’s not really visible from a comfortable seating area. Also, having the living area upstairs and the bedrooms downstairs is not ideal because you can always see into your private space from the terrace. I assume the two armchairs by the window upstairs are meant to create a kind of view. Why not place them downstairs directly facing the garden, or else you just end up looking at your neighbors.
How is the property overall in terms of slope? Could you share the natural and planned terrain profile? I assume you have surveyed it or at least asked a friend to do so! Otherwise, as a layperson, I find it difficult to imagine building on a slope. Can you also provide cross-sections showing the terrain? Exterior views are much more important for a house on a slope than for one on flat land.
From my own experience, only once we had all this information could we imagine whether this could become our house!
I can only repeat my advice: open a Word document, find an architect who has experience with building on slopes or the ambition to design such a project. Our experienced and ambitious architect, who likes challenges, admitted at the last meeting that this project really pushed her. But the result is just amazing for us!
demian
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