ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for a City Villa of Approximately 180 sqm with Basement in Berlin
Created on: 18 Jun 2020 00:15
J
julimos
Hello everyone,
after reading a lot and gathering suggestions and ideas, I would like to present our building project and hope for advice on potential pitfalls as well as recommendations for optimizations or useful changes.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 710 sqm (7,645 sq ft), 19 m (62 ft) wide, approximately 37 m (121 ft) long
Slope: Completely flat
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: setback lines are 5 m (16 ft) from the street and 5 m (16 ft) from the right property boundary. Because it is a dead-end street, the driveway must be placed to the left of the house, leaving 14 m (46 ft) for house plus driveway. Therefore, the floor plan is about 10 m (33 ft) wide.
Edge development: None
Number of parking spaces: No requirement
Number of floors: up to 2
Roof type: -
Architectural style: §34 - almost all building types exist on this street
Orientation: -
Maximum heights / limits: 2-storey, open development, otherwise §34 Federal Building Code
Other requirements: -
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Brick-clad city villa, main windows and room orientation facing the garden to the rear
Basement, floors: Basement plus 2 floors
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults, 2 children (1 and 4 years old)
Ground floor room requirements: Living room, kitchen, guest room, guest/additional bathroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children's rooms
Office: Currently partly home office, could become 100% home office
Guest stays per year: More than 50 nights
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Semi-open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Garage, carport: Driveway with 1–2 parking spaces is sufficient
House Design
Who developed the plan: A mix of a professional planner (initial draft) and DIY adjustments
We particularly like: Floor-to-ceiling windows on ground and upper floors facing the garden (rear), open kitchen, short distances between kitchen and basement, and living room and upper floor
What we dislike: Large hallway upstairs – caused by the staircase orientation on the ground floor and the unfavorable lot shape
General contractor offer: 410,000 + approx. 120,000 additional costs/furnishing/floor coverings/painting/demolition of existing building (We plan to do much of this ourselves and have no extravagant demands)
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 550,000
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump (gas is too far away, borehole drilling not economical. Possibly vertical loop heat collector if space is sufficient according to heating load calculation, but the garden has several trees and installations that cannot or should not be removed)
If you had to give up, on which details/extensions
-could you do without: Additional toilet upstairs, although we currently miss it due to frequent guests
-could you not do without: Large windows to the garden/terrace & basement (There is still an existing (far too small) house with a basement on the plot. Without a basement, almost as much earth would have to be moved). We will not finish the basement initially (only tiling in the utility room and front basement area planned)
Why does the design look like it does now?
A mix of a standard design and many adaptations. The shape of the plot strongly dictates the form of the house, which can only be extended to the rear.
The basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters:
Does the floor plan work from your perspective? Should the staircase be rotated after all (with the drawback that the access to the upper floor passes through the "mudroom" area)?
Have we completely overlooked anything?
Thank you very much!
after reading a lot and gathering suggestions and ideas, I would like to present our building project and hope for advice on potential pitfalls as well as recommendations for optimizations or useful changes.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 710 sqm (7,645 sq ft), 19 m (62 ft) wide, approximately 37 m (121 ft) long
Slope: Completely flat
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: setback lines are 5 m (16 ft) from the street and 5 m (16 ft) from the right property boundary. Because it is a dead-end street, the driveway must be placed to the left of the house, leaving 14 m (46 ft) for house plus driveway. Therefore, the floor plan is about 10 m (33 ft) wide.
Edge development: None
Number of parking spaces: No requirement
Number of floors: up to 2
Roof type: -
Architectural style: §34 - almost all building types exist on this street
Orientation: -
Maximum heights / limits: 2-storey, open development, otherwise §34 Federal Building Code
Other requirements: -
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Brick-clad city villa, main windows and room orientation facing the garden to the rear
Basement, floors: Basement plus 2 floors
Number of occupants, ages: 2 adults, 2 children (1 and 4 years old)
Ground floor room requirements: Living room, kitchen, guest room, guest/additional bathroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children's rooms
Office: Currently partly home office, could become 100% home office
Guest stays per year: More than 50 nights
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Semi-open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Garage, carport: Driveway with 1–2 parking spaces is sufficient
House Design
Who developed the plan: A mix of a professional planner (initial draft) and DIY adjustments
We particularly like: Floor-to-ceiling windows on ground and upper floors facing the garden (rear), open kitchen, short distances between kitchen and basement, and living room and upper floor
What we dislike: Large hallway upstairs – caused by the staircase orientation on the ground floor and the unfavorable lot shape
General contractor offer: 410,000 + approx. 120,000 additional costs/furnishing/floor coverings/painting/demolition of existing building (We plan to do much of this ourselves and have no extravagant demands)
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 550,000
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump (gas is too far away, borehole drilling not economical. Possibly vertical loop heat collector if space is sufficient according to heating load calculation, but the garden has several trees and installations that cannot or should not be removed)
If you had to give up, on which details/extensions
-could you do without: Additional toilet upstairs, although we currently miss it due to frequent guests
-could you not do without: Large windows to the garden/terrace & basement (There is still an existing (far too small) house with a basement on the plot. Without a basement, almost as much earth would have to be moved). We will not finish the basement initially (only tiling in the utility room and front basement area planned)
Why does the design look like it does now?
A mix of a standard design and many adaptations. The shape of the plot strongly dictates the form of the house, which can only be extended to the rear.
The basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters:
Does the floor plan work from your perspective? Should the staircase be rotated after all (with the drawback that the access to the upper floor passes through the "mudroom" area)?
Have we completely overlooked anything?
Thank you very much!
Thank you. Now that I also see the exterior dimensions, I think this typical standard floor plan shouldn’t simply be stretched to fit the 10 x 12 meters (33 x 39 feet) because that causes the rooms to become elongated.
Let’s start in detail with the staircase: if you look closely, you’ve blocked the kitchen door with the cellar stairs.
If you check the pinned posts, you’ll see the stair dimensions provided. 3.55 meters (11.65 feet) is too short. The kitchen door is poorly positioned so that when entering, you almost run into furniture. These are common planning mistakes that can be avoided if you have some knowledge, are an architect, or have experience in planning.
This also applies to corridors that are too large. I always say: if the bedroom can’t even fit a 3-meter (10-foot) family wardrobe, then the design isn’t right. In the end, not much thought went into this plan.
I don’t see any short distances; they are quite long because of the elongated house shape.
I would keep the south side free for a seating area, and place the living rooms more towards the southwest and the kitchen towards the terrace at the back (top of the plan), where it belongs.
Is parking or a double carport really not possible on the right side of the plan? Hmm… best to double-check!
If it really can’t go there, but not only then, I would imagine a different house: somewhat narrower and longer, not symmetrical, and without a central entrance.
But no matter what I see: it’s your house, so have a professional plan for this challenging plot. This floor plan skeleton is not well suited for the lot.
Then I would pick up on the idea of giving the many guests a private area, for example by creating a section with a bathroom in the cellar, which would ease the size demands of the house.
Pay attention to the floor area ratio! The terrace counts as part of the house.
Let’s start in detail with the staircase: if you look closely, you’ve blocked the kitchen door with the cellar stairs.
If you check the pinned posts, you’ll see the stair dimensions provided. 3.55 meters (11.65 feet) is too short. The kitchen door is poorly positioned so that when entering, you almost run into furniture. These are common planning mistakes that can be avoided if you have some knowledge, are an architect, or have experience in planning.
This also applies to corridors that are too large. I always say: if the bedroom can’t even fit a 3-meter (10-foot) family wardrobe, then the design isn’t right. In the end, not much thought went into this plan.
julimos schrieb:
short distances kitchen<->cellar and living room<->upper floor
I don’t see any short distances; they are quite long because of the elongated house shape.
julimos schrieb:
Due to the dead-end street, the driveway has to be on the left side of the house
I would keep the south side free for a seating area, and place the living rooms more towards the southwest and the kitchen towards the terrace at the back (top of the plan), where it belongs.
Is parking or a double carport really not possible on the right side of the plan? Hmm… best to double-check!
If it really can’t go there, but not only then, I would imagine a different house: somewhat narrower and longer, not symmetrical, and without a central entrance.
But no matter what I see: it’s your house, so have a professional plan for this challenging plot. This floor plan skeleton is not well suited for the lot.
Then I would pick up on the idea of giving the many guests a private area, for example by creating a section with a bathroom in the cellar, which would ease the size demands of the house.
Pay attention to the floor area ratio! The terrace counts as part of the house.
Hey,
thanks a lot for your comments. I believe they refer to the first draft from the day before yesterday. I created a new one yesterday, further down on page 1, which I’m attaching here again.
Regarding the driveway: the other side of the house is absolutely not an option, as the driveway would have to cross the entire front garden. At the end of the dead-end street (that is “in front of” our property on the right side) there is a path or park. Also, nothing at all is allowed to be built behind the building line.
We would also like a terrace on the south side, but unfortunately the neighbor’s garage is built on the boundary line there, covering about two thirds of the length of our planned house. Right behind it is the neighbor’s relatively tall house. So, if there is sun on the south side of the house, the terrace behind the house also gets sun. We are also planning an additional seating area further back in the garden that gets sun earlier. We may also extend the terrace behind the house a little around the planned left corner of the house.
We have also considered a guest room/area in the basement, but that would only replace the guest room on the ground floor, and there is actually plenty of space there (a home office on the upper floor facing the garden is a must—and also serves nicely as a buffer between the bedroom and the children’s rooms).
Fortunately, the terrace does not count towards the floor area ratio; otherwise, the size would actually be problematic (this area was finalized in the 1960s, so the old land-use ordinance applies—this was also confirmed by the building authority/planning department).
Thanks for taking a look.
thanks a lot for your comments. I believe they refer to the first draft from the day before yesterday. I created a new one yesterday, further down on page 1, which I’m attaching here again.
Regarding the driveway: the other side of the house is absolutely not an option, as the driveway would have to cross the entire front garden. At the end of the dead-end street (that is “in front of” our property on the right side) there is a path or park. Also, nothing at all is allowed to be built behind the building line.
We would also like a terrace on the south side, but unfortunately the neighbor’s garage is built on the boundary line there, covering about two thirds of the length of our planned house. Right behind it is the neighbor’s relatively tall house. So, if there is sun on the south side of the house, the terrace behind the house also gets sun. We are also planning an additional seating area further back in the garden that gets sun earlier. We may also extend the terrace behind the house a little around the planned left corner of the house.
We have also considered a guest room/area in the basement, but that would only replace the guest room on the ground floor, and there is actually plenty of space there (a home office on the upper floor facing the garden is a must—and also serves nicely as a buffer between the bedroom and the children’s rooms).
Fortunately, the terrace does not count towards the floor area ratio; otherwise, the size would actually be problematic (this area was finalized in the 1960s, so the old land-use ordinance applies—this was also confirmed by the building authority/planning department).
Thanks for taking a look.
julimos schrieb:
I think they are referring to the initial draft from the day before yesterday, That's right, I still had that one on my phone. The current one is much more consistent, although the upper floor is still a bit of a disaster.
julimos schrieb:
Regarding the driveway: the other side of the house absolutely won't work, because the driveway would have to go through the entire front yard, as at the end of the cul-de-sac (that is, "in front of" our property on the right side) there is a pathway or park. I think we’re talking past each other: you can design the “front yard” as garden beds on either side of a forecourt. This is quite common; we have it as well, where you turn the steering wheel right in your forecourt and then park on the right side. You’ll need more parking space anyway with two kids plus visitors. I wouldn’t rule it out in your position.
julimos schrieb:
Also, nothing is allowed to be built behind the building line. Building line?
Do you mean the setback from the property boundary?
julimos schrieb:
Home office on the upper floor facing the garden is a must. Why?
I think your staircase position is wrong.
Try a) rotating it so that it exits centrally at the top, then rearrange the rooms accordingly,
b) place child 1 in the current bathroom location. Rearrange the rest and drastically reduce the hallway size that way.
I won’t mention minor issues like the guest bathroom shower being inaccessible due to the toilet position—those can be fixed later. And the kitchen… that reminds me of older country-style kitchens…
ypg schrieb:
I think we’re talking past each other: You can design the "front yard" as beds on the left and right sides of a forecourt. That’s quite common, we have the same setup where you turn the steering wheel to the right in the forecourt and then park on the right side. You’ll need more parking space anyway with two children plus guests. I wouldn’t rule that out. Good point, you’re absolutely right. I’ll take a closer look. Fortunately, we don’t necessarily need parking spaces for all visitors because there’s usually enough street parking available. But of course, that could change.
ypg schrieb:
Setback line?
Do you mean the building setback? It is actually a formally established "setback line," which I believe only exists in (West?) Berlin and originates from some old Prussian building law that was carried over. Without this setback line, we could build wider… unfortunately, it costs us 2 meters (6.5 feet).
ypg schrieb:
Why?
I think your staircase position is wrong.
Try a) rotating it so that it exits in the middle upstairs; then rearrange the rooms accordingly
b) place child 1 where the bathroom is now. Rearrange everything else and significantly reduce the hallway as a result.
I won’t even mention the small issues like the guest bathroom shower being unusable due to the toilet’s position, since that can be fixed later. Also the kitchen... it reminds me of old farmhouse kitchens... You’re right, the bathroom furniture is only placed there initially to better visualize the size.
I’ll take your suggestion and try to redraw it this evening. That could also make the kitchen less wide if the staircase is moved a bit. Thanks!!
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