ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a 150 sqm Townhouse with Gable Roof, 6 Rooms
Created on: 28 May 2024 22:14
L
LeFy2023
Dear forum members,
We have completed a preliminary design for our house together with a company and are now at the beginning of the detailed planning stage. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any suggestions for improvement, critical feedback, and additional ideas or tips regarding the floor plan.
Unfortunately, we do not yet have a site plan, but we do have the floor plans for the ground floor and upper floor at a scale of 1:100, as well as drawings of the house.
Thanks in advance!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700 sqm (7,534 sq ft)
Development according to §34 of the Building Code; the neighborhood features a wide variety of house types, sizes, number of floors, roof styles, etc. A positive preliminary building inquiry exists for a two-story townhouse up to 200 sqm (2,153 sq ft).
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: shallow pitched gable roof, townhouse
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, 1 child (1 year old), possibly a second child planned
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor: 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office for both adults about 3 days per week on average
Occasional overnight guests per year: parents-in-law visit several times a year
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with island if possible
Number of dining seats: 4–8
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, one parking space including a shed
Utility garden, greenhouse: possibly
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included:
- Larger guest room on the ground floor with space for a double bed as the parents-in-law visit frequently
- Guest room on ground floor must also be usable as an office
- Bright rooms / mezzanine
- Open entrance area with open rooms and a view of the garden (a clear sightline)
- Straight concrete staircase to upper floor for dogs and parking space underneath (built-in cupboards)
- Office on upper floor should also serve as a utility/laundry room
- Façade in stone gray with wood cladding elements
House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What is liked most? Why?
- Very practical room layout and good room sizes
- Barrier-free access to the guest shower on the ground floor
- Additional storage space in the roof as a storage binder
- Lots of light through large windows
- Laundry room on upper floor close to the bedrooms/children’s rooms
What is disliked? Why?
- Kitchen might be too small / cramped
- Question whether a passage to the kitchen is necessary
- Main entrance is not barrier-free (terrace exit also not)
- The gray elements in the façade are to be replaced by wood cladding to give the house a more distinctive exterior appearance.
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to do without, which details/features?
- Can do without: second washbasin in upper floor bathroom, round window in dressing room (can have a different shape), kitchen island if it doesn’t fit
- Cannot do without: straight concrete staircase, windows, large lift-and-slide door, larger guest room, mezzanine, guest shower on ground floor, walk-in showers, laundry room on upper floor
Why does the design look as it does now? For example,
This is the initial individual draft without adjustments from us so far. A mezzanine, a larger guest room on the ground floor, storage space in the roof, and laundry room on the upper floor were explicitly requested and implemented accordingly.
We have completed a preliminary design for our house together with a company and are now at the beginning of the detailed planning stage. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any suggestions for improvement, critical feedback, and additional ideas or tips regarding the floor plan.
Unfortunately, we do not yet have a site plan, but we do have the floor plans for the ground floor and upper floor at a scale of 1:100, as well as drawings of the house.
Thanks in advance!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 700 sqm (7,534 sq ft)
Development according to §34 of the Building Code; the neighborhood features a wide variety of house types, sizes, number of floors, roof styles, etc. A positive preliminary building inquiry exists for a two-story townhouse up to 200 sqm (2,153 sq ft).
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: shallow pitched gable roof, townhouse
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, 1 child (1 year old), possibly a second child planned
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor: 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office for both adults about 3 days per week on average
Occasional overnight guests per year: parents-in-law visit several times a year
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with island if possible
Number of dining seats: 4–8
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: yes, one parking space including a shed
Utility garden, greenhouse: possibly
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included:
- Larger guest room on the ground floor with space for a double bed as the parents-in-law visit frequently
- Guest room on ground floor must also be usable as an office
- Bright rooms / mezzanine
- Open entrance area with open rooms and a view of the garden (a clear sightline)
- Straight concrete staircase to upper floor for dogs and parking space underneath (built-in cupboards)
- Office on upper floor should also serve as a utility/laundry room
- Façade in stone gray with wood cladding elements
House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What is liked most? Why?
- Very practical room layout and good room sizes
- Barrier-free access to the guest shower on the ground floor
- Additional storage space in the roof as a storage binder
- Lots of light through large windows
- Laundry room on upper floor close to the bedrooms/children’s rooms
What is disliked? Why?
- Kitchen might be too small / cramped
- Question whether a passage to the kitchen is necessary
- Main entrance is not barrier-free (terrace exit also not)
- The gray elements in the façade are to be replaced by wood cladding to give the house a more distinctive exterior appearance.
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to do without, which details/features?
- Can do without: second washbasin in upper floor bathroom, round window in dressing room (can have a different shape), kitchen island if it doesn’t fit
- Cannot do without: straight concrete staircase, windows, large lift-and-slide door, larger guest room, mezzanine, guest shower on ground floor, walk-in showers, laundry room on upper floor
Why does the design look as it does now? For example,
This is the initial individual draft without adjustments from us so far. A mezzanine, a larger guest room on the ground floor, storage space in the roof, and laundry room on the upper floor were explicitly requested and implemented accordingly.
Schorsch_baut schrieb:
At least this ensures that guests don’t stay longer than necessary. Yes, that’s better than assigning a larger area to the guest room, which is only used a few times a year, than to the living room.
LeFy2023 schrieb:
Also, we have the staircase … and rotated it Why do that now? On one hand, it’s very unwise because children or guests then have to pass right in front of you on the sofa and look at your cozy blanket in the evening.
On the other hand, you lose the opportunity to use the nice 3.30 m (11 ft) floor space for a large wardrobe. After rotating the staircase, a 60 cm (24 inch) wardrobe next to the door no longer fits.
Your changes regarding the bedroom/walk-in closet are worse because you limit your furnishing options and create a second hallway.
By the way: most wardrobes are only about 40 cm (16 inches) deep. You can’t hang clothes properly on the rail with that depth. For the chamber upstairs, kitchen base cabinets are more suitable, where you can integrate appliances.
Kids’ wardrobes are only 40 cm (16 inches) deep when they are babies or toddlers.
Additional notes: The washbasin next to the shower toilet is a small hand basin. In a shower toilet, you might want to do more than just wash your hands. The main bathroom lacks a pre-wall for the small washbasin. It definitely won’t be as spacious as drawn.
Windows: make sure there is still space to place a wardrobe next to them. The same applies to the room doors. This concerns the upper floor utility room as well as all bedrooms, including the walk-in closet.
The freezer and utility room can be narrower.
Kitchen: If you take a look at, for example, the Viebrockhaus Edition 425 II, you can hang cabinets above the window band.
Children’s rooms should have two windows on adjacent walls for ventilation. It’s not mandatory, but it should be an option.
The south side will look unbalanced because of the large but off-center sliding door. I would start by focusing on the window layout first.
Regarding the upper floor with the children’s rooms, I agree with @Schorsch_baut… that’s how I would plan the children’s rooms as well. Also, I wouldn’t plan floor-to-ceiling windows in the children’s rooms. And it’s best to have windows on two sides.
In the bedroom closet area, I would keep the window narrow and also utilize the space behind the door like @K a t j a.
I would keep the hallway upstairs at the planned width of 195 cm (77 inches). Keep in mind, this is the shell construction, and a railing for fall protection will be installed around the stairwell opening. This will automatically make the hallway narrower.
For the kitchen/dining area, I would widen the terrace access at the top of the plan to about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and basically keep the kitchen window as is, maybe shift it a bit to the right (see upper floor). Plan the sink so it’s not directly in front of the window; instead, make that space the main work area where the countertop extends into the window recess, creating a really nice, somewhat deeper work surface. On the left side, there would then be a terrace access that is easy to use and can be reached quickly from the kitchen.
I would also change the direction of the sliding door in the living area.
I would reconsider the window seat, because I wouldn’t place a corner sofa as a room divider like that; I would rather position one section along the bottom of the plan.
What I’m not entirely sure about is whether I like the direction of the stairs. Are you planning any storage space underneath?
In the bedroom closet area, I would keep the window narrow and also utilize the space behind the door like @K a t j a.
I would keep the hallway upstairs at the planned width of 195 cm (77 inches). Keep in mind, this is the shell construction, and a railing for fall protection will be installed around the stairwell opening. This will automatically make the hallway narrower.
For the kitchen/dining area, I would widen the terrace access at the top of the plan to about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and basically keep the kitchen window as is, maybe shift it a bit to the right (see upper floor). Plan the sink so it’s not directly in front of the window; instead, make that space the main work area where the countertop extends into the window recess, creating a really nice, somewhat deeper work surface. On the left side, there would then be a terrace access that is easy to use and can be reached quickly from the kitchen.
I would also change the direction of the sliding door in the living area.
I would reconsider the window seat, because I wouldn’t place a corner sofa as a room divider like that; I would rather position one section along the bottom of the plan.
What I’m not entirely sure about is whether I like the direction of the stairs. Are you planning any storage space underneath?
K a t j a schrieb:
I would also separate the bedroom from the children's room with a thicker wall for sound insulation. Or use the upper floor as the children's room (if there is only one child). In that case, the washing machine/dryer should be placed against the bathroom wall.
K a t j a schrieb:
Regarding the windows – what type of roof was planned again? Two-story house.
ypg schrieb:
Two-story building.Yes, hip roof or gable roof? Or something completely different?K a t j a schrieb:
Yes, hip roof or gable? Or something completely different?Take a look at the first post. Later on, there is also a section drawing showing a low ceiling height.Here is the cross-section of the house again. A pitched roof with a 22-degree slope is planned @K a t j a
I’ll take the idea of stronger walls into consideration. Currently, the masonry wall thickness is 11.5 cm (4.5 inches), and we could increase it to 17.5 cm (7 inches). I would probably do this for the wall between the utility room and the child’s room as well.
Regarding the stairs:
We rotated the staircase because usually you go from the bedrooms to the kitchen, dining area, or living room. This makes more sense for us due to shorter walking distances.
We plan to use the space under the stairs for storage.
Which floor space do you mean? Next to which door?
Regarding wardrobes/furniture:
My design has 60 cm (24 inch) wardrobes throughout. The planner seems to always include their own furniture, but I will double-check and ask to make sure we can place 60 cm (24 inch) wardrobes behind the doors in all rooms except the children’s rooms and the office.
We will keep the dressing room as before, without the wall marked in red.
We will finalize the bathroom details during the execution planning phase. In my sketch, there was a standard-sized washbasin in the guest bathroom. Which pre-wall do you mean in the main bathroom? The bathroom could also be made slightly wider at the expense of the utility room, if necessary.
@Schorsch_baut @kbt09 If we place the beds against the walls marked in red in the children’s rooms, we will later face the problem of not being able to fit a 140 cm (55 inch) double bed there, as the clearances on both sides of the bed would be quite narrow. In my plan, it looks like this:
However, this arrangement would also not work as well if we installed two windows in the children’s rooms instead of one wide, large window, as originally planned.
Regarding windows:
What dimensions would you suggest?
Do you mean planning everything based on the lift-and-slide door?
I looked at the example of the long kitchen window but wasn’t very convinced because from a standing position you can’t look straight outside.
It would be possible to plan a larger corner window next to the lift-and-slide door in the dining/kitchen area, with the option to mirror this in the children’s room upstairs.
Here are again the current facades as they are shown in the floor plan now:
I’ll take the idea of stronger walls into consideration. Currently, the masonry wall thickness is 11.5 cm (4.5 inches), and we could increase it to 17.5 cm (7 inches). I would probably do this for the wall between the utility room and the child’s room as well.
Regarding the stairs:
We rotated the staircase because usually you go from the bedrooms to the kitchen, dining area, or living room. This makes more sense for us due to shorter walking distances.
We plan to use the space under the stairs for storage.
ypg schrieb:
On the other hand, you lose the opportunity to use the nice 3.30 m (11 feet) floor space for a large wardrobe. Because of the rotation of the stairs, a 60 cm (24 inch) wardrobe next to the door no longer fits.
Which floor space do you mean? Next to which door?
Regarding wardrobes/furniture:
My design has 60 cm (24 inch) wardrobes throughout. The planner seems to always include their own furniture, but I will double-check and ask to make sure we can place 60 cm (24 inch) wardrobes behind the doors in all rooms except the children’s rooms and the office.
We will keep the dressing room as before, without the wall marked in red.
ypg schrieb:
Additional: The washbasin in the shower toilet room is just a small hand basin. In a shower toilet, you might want to do more than just wash your hands. There is no pre-wall for the mini washbasin in the main bathroom. It definitely won’t be as spacious as shown.
We will finalize the bathroom details during the execution planning phase. In my sketch, there was a standard-sized washbasin in the guest bathroom. Which pre-wall do you mean in the main bathroom? The bathroom could also be made slightly wider at the expense of the utility room, if necessary.
@Schorsch_baut @kbt09 If we place the beds against the walls marked in red in the children’s rooms, we will later face the problem of not being able to fit a 140 cm (55 inch) double bed there, as the clearances on both sides of the bed would be quite narrow. In my plan, it looks like this:
However, this arrangement would also not work as well if we installed two windows in the children’s rooms instead of one wide, large window, as originally planned.
Regarding windows:
ypg schrieb:
The pantry and utility room can be narrower.
What dimensions would you suggest?
ypg schrieb:
The south side will look asymmetrical due to the large but off-center sliding door. I would start with the window planning there.
Do you mean planning everything based on the lift-and-slide door?
I looked at the example of the long kitchen window but wasn’t very convinced because from a standing position you can’t look straight outside.
kbt09 schrieb:
Kitchen/Dining... I would widen the terrace access at the top of the plan to about 2 m (6.5 feet) and basically keep the kitchen window as is, maybe move it slightly to the right (see upper floor). Plan so that the sink is not directly in front of the window, but rather the main work surface is there, where the countertop even extends as a windowsill into the window reveal, creating a nice, deeper workspace. On the left would be a terrace access that is practical and easily reachable from the kitchen.
It would be possible to plan a larger corner window next to the lift-and-slide door in the dining/kitchen area, with the option to mirror this in the children’s room upstairs.
Here are again the current facades as they are shown in the floor plan now:
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