Hello,
I would like to introduce you to a project that has been developing in my mind for several years now. I look forward to your constructive feedback! First of all: the two views are not entirely up to date. Some windows have different sizes, for example, they are not all floor-to-ceiling. Also, the canopy does not extend to the bay window but ends at the “main facade.”
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: approx. 1250m² (square)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio
Plot ratio
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Boundary construction: the requirement is at least 3m (10 feet) distance from the neighbor’s property line, which we are complying with
Number of parking spaces: 2 mandatory parking spaces; planned are 2 either inside the garage or in front
Roof type: I’m not sure what it’s called, but it is definitely not a flat roof.
Orientation: the garage is on the north side, and the kitchen faces south. The street is a very quiet cul-de-sac running parallel to the house’s front.
Additional requirements: the distance from the property line at the street to the building must be 4m (13 feet); in the area of the office, it may be 3m (10 feet). Building is allowed up to 20m (66 feet) from the street into the property (minus the first 4m, so 16m). Sorry for the missing technical terms and the amateurish description!
Homeowner requirements
Basement, floors: two floors plus basement
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults (40), two children aged 3 and 6
Office: the upstairs office should also serve as a PC workstation. The ground floor office is primarily planned as a storage room but possibly also as a PC workstation.
Guest stays per year: currently none, but probably later when the children are older. They would sleep on extra beds in the children’s rooms. We do not want a separate guest room or guest bathroom/WC.
Open or closed architecture: rather closed. Originally, we thought about an open connection between dining and living room but decided against it, even though the door will mostly remain open. The same applies to the dining room – hallway passage.
Traditional or modern construction: I would describe it as rather traditional. Function over form.
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen facing the dining area, but intentionally no cooking island, rather a standing desk/bar with stools to allow for interaction.
Number of dining seats: at least 4, with the option to extend the table for family gatherings and similar occasions
Fireplace: yes, in the living room on the wall next to the stairs (plus another fireplace in the basement)
Music / stereo wall: no dedicated setup, only a TV in the living room with space for speakers on each side. In the bedroom, a place for a TV is planned in case we want to install one later. Each of the children’s rooms will have a TV.
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage yes; a carport possibly later.
Utility garden, greenhouse: regular garden with a pool adjacent to the living room/terrace
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions:
- Main terrace faces the garden and a small secondary terrace facing the street to enjoy the morning sun or to escape the hot afternoon sun in summer
- Second stairway leading to the basement (not to the upper floor!) to have quicker access from the garden to the workshop
- The WC behind the garage was an idea after removing the WC in the basement. It should also serve as a kind of mudroom after gardening or for the kids. The WC and stairway design are still a work in progress; this is just a snapshot.
- I couldn’t properly represent the wall thickness in my design program. The exterior walls are all 50cm (20 inches) brick; the interior walls are not yet defined individually.
House design
Who created the design: basically by us, now revised with an architect (and still in progress)
What do you like most? Why? The L-shape of the building, because it creates a nice, sheltered terrace and partially screens the garden from the street view.
What do you dislike? Why? The limited daylight in the hallway, especially on the ground floor. I plan to ease this by using glass panels in the doors. There is a window next to the elevator on the upper floor. I am also concerned about the relatively narrow children’s rooms and would appreciate your opinions about whether they are too “thin.”
If you have to give up certain details / add-ons
- can you give up: the WC behind the garage
- can you not give up: hmm…
Why is the design the way it is now?
As mentioned, I wanted an L-shape. The garage location on the north side was non-negotiable for me. The main entrance should also face north, sheltered from wind and rain. The WCs should be ventilated by windows, so not located in interior spaces. I had originally placed the kitchen near the living room to shorten the walk from the car to the kitchen but quickly abandoned that design. It is important for us to access both terraces quickly from the kitchen.
Regarding the upper floor: my wife wanted a small walk-in closet/dressing room, which resulted from the short corridor leading to the bedroom.
We wanted a parent and a children’s bathroom as well as separate toilets, but with the requirement that no toilet is directly inside a bathroom. I am personally not a fan of that due to odor reasons! Since both bathroom and WC should have windows, this was the compromise.
I would like the door from the hallway to the walk-in closet to open outward, but I fear this might cause conflicts with people and the stairs... Removing the door entirely is not an option since we do walk around naked here, and when friends of the children come over and pass by...
The door from the walk-in closet to the bedroom is not a must. It is more of a comfort factor, giving a sense that there is no dark corner in the room when sleeping, if you know what I mean.
I would like to introduce you to a project that has been developing in my mind for several years now. I look forward to your constructive feedback! First of all: the two views are not entirely up to date. Some windows have different sizes, for example, they are not all floor-to-ceiling. Also, the canopy does not extend to the bay window but ends at the “main facade.”
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: approx. 1250m² (square)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio
Plot ratio
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Boundary construction: the requirement is at least 3m (10 feet) distance from the neighbor’s property line, which we are complying with
Number of parking spaces: 2 mandatory parking spaces; planned are 2 either inside the garage or in front
Roof type: I’m not sure what it’s called, but it is definitely not a flat roof.
Orientation: the garage is on the north side, and the kitchen faces south. The street is a very quiet cul-de-sac running parallel to the house’s front.
Additional requirements: the distance from the property line at the street to the building must be 4m (13 feet); in the area of the office, it may be 3m (10 feet). Building is allowed up to 20m (66 feet) from the street into the property (minus the first 4m, so 16m). Sorry for the missing technical terms and the amateurish description!
Homeowner requirements
Basement, floors: two floors plus basement
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults (40), two children aged 3 and 6
Office: the upstairs office should also serve as a PC workstation. The ground floor office is primarily planned as a storage room but possibly also as a PC workstation.
Guest stays per year: currently none, but probably later when the children are older. They would sleep on extra beds in the children’s rooms. We do not want a separate guest room or guest bathroom/WC.
Open or closed architecture: rather closed. Originally, we thought about an open connection between dining and living room but decided against it, even though the door will mostly remain open. The same applies to the dining room – hallway passage.
Traditional or modern construction: I would describe it as rather traditional. Function over form.
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen facing the dining area, but intentionally no cooking island, rather a standing desk/bar with stools to allow for interaction.
Number of dining seats: at least 4, with the option to extend the table for family gatherings and similar occasions
Fireplace: yes, in the living room on the wall next to the stairs (plus another fireplace in the basement)
Music / stereo wall: no dedicated setup, only a TV in the living room with space for speakers on each side. In the bedroom, a place for a TV is planned in case we want to install one later. Each of the children’s rooms will have a TV.
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage yes; a carport possibly later.
Utility garden, greenhouse: regular garden with a pool adjacent to the living room/terrace
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions:
- Main terrace faces the garden and a small secondary terrace facing the street to enjoy the morning sun or to escape the hot afternoon sun in summer
- Second stairway leading to the basement (not to the upper floor!) to have quicker access from the garden to the workshop
- The WC behind the garage was an idea after removing the WC in the basement. It should also serve as a kind of mudroom after gardening or for the kids. The WC and stairway design are still a work in progress; this is just a snapshot.
- I couldn’t properly represent the wall thickness in my design program. The exterior walls are all 50cm (20 inches) brick; the interior walls are not yet defined individually.
House design
Who created the design: basically by us, now revised with an architect (and still in progress)
What do you like most? Why? The L-shape of the building, because it creates a nice, sheltered terrace and partially screens the garden from the street view.
What do you dislike? Why? The limited daylight in the hallway, especially on the ground floor. I plan to ease this by using glass panels in the doors. There is a window next to the elevator on the upper floor. I am also concerned about the relatively narrow children’s rooms and would appreciate your opinions about whether they are too “thin.”
If you have to give up certain details / add-ons
- can you give up: the WC behind the garage
- can you not give up: hmm…
Why is the design the way it is now?
As mentioned, I wanted an L-shape. The garage location on the north side was non-negotiable for me. The main entrance should also face north, sheltered from wind and rain. The WCs should be ventilated by windows, so not located in interior spaces. I had originally placed the kitchen near the living room to shorten the walk from the car to the kitchen but quickly abandoned that design. It is important for us to access both terraces quickly from the kitchen.
Regarding the upper floor: my wife wanted a small walk-in closet/dressing room, which resulted from the short corridor leading to the bedroom.
We wanted a parent and a children’s bathroom as well as separate toilets, but with the requirement that no toilet is directly inside a bathroom. I am personally not a fan of that due to odor reasons! Since both bathroom and WC should have windows, this was the compromise.
I would like the door from the hallway to the walk-in closet to open outward, but I fear this might cause conflicts with people and the stairs... Removing the door entirely is not an option since we do walk around naked here, and when friends of the children come over and pass by...
The door from the walk-in closet to the bedroom is not a must. It is more of a comfort factor, giving a sense that there is no dark corner in the room when sleeping, if you know what I mean.
ypg schrieb:
...But I would not only do this in that specific case, but generally, I would remove or reduce the narrowing offset in the front area of the hallway, caused by the corner of the wardrobe, so that the hallway forms a straight line.
This also applies to the hallway on the upper floor in the same area. I would generally leave out the unnecessary door to the bedroom (behind the dressing room) and the separate toilet in the master bathroom. One might think you won a dozen doors and corners in a bid. @ypg I took the liberty of posting my reply to your post here.
Regarding your first point, I’m not sure I understand correctly. Would you reduce the size of the wardrobe on the ground floor and align the wall flush with that of the WC?
The door between the dressing room and bedroom (which I also mentioned at the beginning based on your post) would be an option for me, not a must. It is basically unnecessary. The only question is whether it provides some kind of separation or privacy for the bedroom.
I’ve already addressed the issue of the toilet in the master bathroom above. I’m not a fan of toilets in bathrooms, hence this additional door (and room within a room).
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
I would at least reconsider all doors that are smaller than 90 cm (35 inches).
The staircase to the garage is rarely used.@hanghaus2023 I’d like to reply to your post right here.
Do you mean that the minimum door width should generally be 90 cm (35 inches)? I would have 90 cm (35 inches) doors only on the ground floor, so to speak, for the main traffic doors. Doors to rooms like the bathroom, toilet, bedroom, office, and children’s rooms I would make 80 cm (31 inches).
I agree with you that the staircase behind the garage leading to the basement is a secondary staircase. But if you need to quickly get something from the basement from the garden (for example, tools from the workshop), it’s invaluable.
S
Sunshine3871 Aug 2023 15:21We often use our staircase from the garage to the basement, either to stay dry when it’s raining or to carry groceries directly from the car into the basement pantry. I think it’s quite practical, but I would make it much smaller and not design it with landings around a corner.
Sunshine387 schrieb:
We often use our staircase from the garage to the basement, either to stay dry when it’s raining or to carry groceries directly from the car to the storage room in the basement. I think it’s practical, but I would design it much smaller and not as a switchback with landings. That’s true, it is quite bulky, even though it’s only 1m (3 feet) wide. The landings do take up space and can be inconvenient when carrying longer items, but they definitely reduce the risk of falling. Also, I don’t know where I could place a straight staircase without losing space for the restroom again.
X
xMisterDx1 Aug 2023 16:05You design a mansion for one million EUR and the children's bedrooms aren’t even close to being the same size... in general, each room is 5 m² (54 ft²) too large, but if you have the money, why not.
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