Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Building on a slope, flat roof
Basement, floors: 1 basement, 1 ground floor, 1 upper floor
Number of people, age: 2-4
Use: Family use, work (office)
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Semi-open?
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Yes, a masonry fireplace is planned
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace/garden accessible from the upper floor
Garage, carport: Double garage in the basement
House Design
Who created the design: Architect
Why does the design look the way it does?
The architect designed the house based on a room plan we developed, which was very well implemented with some economically sensible adjustments in the current plan. The basement includes a double garage, a utility room, and the entrance hall. On the ground floor are 2 children’s rooms, a bedroom, a large bathroom, and a storage room. The basement and ground floor are kept simple and meet our needs perfectly. Due to the slope, the living area is located on the upper floor, as well as the terrace and garden, which are accessible from there.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
In our opinion, the upper floor still needs some optimization.
Living Area
The distance from the TV wall to the exterior wall is currently 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in). In our current apartment, it is 4.5 meters (14 ft 9 in), and we would like a bit more space here.
Bathroom
There is a second bathroom with a large shower on the upper floor. However, the shower is too large for us — the bathroom on the upper floor should be smaller and more functional (which also saves costs).
Dining Table
In the architect’s plan, the dining table is integrated into the living room. This is possible for us but not our preferred choice. We would prefer the kitchen and dining table to be separate yet still openly connected.
I traced the architect’s plan roughly and made some changes to the floor plans. The following adjustments were made:
- I replaced the large shower with a corner shower and reduced the shower area, converting the remaining corner into a built-in closet. This allowed me to move the kitchen slightly forward. I adjusted the storage room accordingly. The space gained was used to move the dining table closer to the kitchen. The small corner next to the dining table and kitchen (marked with a blue line) was intended as a small cloakroom to store items like slippers or vests for quick trips to the terrace (since the main entrance is in the basement).
- I reduced the office width from 3 meters (9 ft 10 in) to 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in) to increase the living room width to about 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in). I might reduce the office size further? (The original office layout is no longer visible in the pictures.)
What are your thoughts?
Style, roof type, building type: Building on a slope, flat roof
Basement, floors: 1 basement, 1 ground floor, 1 upper floor
Number of people, age: 2-4
Use: Family use, work (office)
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Semi-open?
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: Yes, a masonry fireplace is planned
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace/garden accessible from the upper floor
Garage, carport: Double garage in the basement
House Design
Who created the design: Architect
Why does the design look the way it does?
The architect designed the house based on a room plan we developed, which was very well implemented with some economically sensible adjustments in the current plan. The basement includes a double garage, a utility room, and the entrance hall. On the ground floor are 2 children’s rooms, a bedroom, a large bathroom, and a storage room. The basement and ground floor are kept simple and meet our needs perfectly. Due to the slope, the living area is located on the upper floor, as well as the terrace and garden, which are accessible from there.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
In our opinion, the upper floor still needs some optimization.
Living Area
The distance from the TV wall to the exterior wall is currently 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in). In our current apartment, it is 4.5 meters (14 ft 9 in), and we would like a bit more space here.
Bathroom
There is a second bathroom with a large shower on the upper floor. However, the shower is too large for us — the bathroom on the upper floor should be smaller and more functional (which also saves costs).
Dining Table
In the architect’s plan, the dining table is integrated into the living room. This is possible for us but not our preferred choice. We would prefer the kitchen and dining table to be separate yet still openly connected.
I traced the architect’s plan roughly and made some changes to the floor plans. The following adjustments were made:
- I replaced the large shower with a corner shower and reduced the shower area, converting the remaining corner into a built-in closet. This allowed me to move the kitchen slightly forward. I adjusted the storage room accordingly. The space gained was used to move the dining table closer to the kitchen. The small corner next to the dining table and kitchen (marked with a blue line) was intended as a small cloakroom to store items like slippers or vests for quick trips to the terrace (since the main entrance is in the basement).
- I reduced the office width from 3 meters (9 ft 10 in) to 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in) to increase the living room width to about 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in). I might reduce the office size further? (The original office layout is no longer visible in the pictures.)
What are your thoughts?
Okay, I understand that looking at the upper floor in isolation without knowing the entire project is not very helpful. So, here is the full overview:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 620 sqm (6,675 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Gross floor area ratio: unknown
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see images
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2 full floors, 1 basement level
Roof type: flat roof
Architectural style: cubic
Orientation: southwest
Maximum heights / restrictions: see images
Other requirements: see images
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: flat roof, cubic
Basement, number of floors: basement with double garage
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, planned for 2 children
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, office, living area
Office: family use or home office?: home office
Occasional overnight guests per year: the couch will suffice…
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: semi-open
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: see images
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: possibly
Additional wishes: utilize the slope, living areas in top floor, terrace facing south, minimize earthworks
House Design
Designer: architect
What do you especially like? Why?: living area on the top floor and terrace/garden offer a beautiful wide view
What do you not like? Why?: see original post
Estimated cost according to architect/planner:
The building will not be a KfW-standard house; it will be solid construction with Ytong blocks (very quiet area). The parts of the basement and ground floor in contact with the earth will be made of waterproof concrete.
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures: approx. 650k, excluding kitchen, lighting, and some new furniture.
Preferred heating system: unclear. We initially proposed a heat pump in the building permit / planning permission, which formed the basis of the cost estimate. However, since subsidies no longer apply (unless building a KfW house)... possibly a more affordable gas heating system will be installed. I am open to suggestions. I plan to have discussions with the heating engineer soon. Currently, a decentralized ventilation system is planned, but I am considering whether a centralized system might be better.
If you had to give up some details / extras, which ones would they be?
- Floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom and office
- Masonry fireplace
Why did the design become what it is now?
Overall, we are very satisfied with the architect’s work. The slope and cardinal directions were utilized very well. The upper floor and terrace offer a wide and very nice view. We also really like the driveway including space for trash bins.
The approval process is already underway.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: approx. 620 sqm (6,675 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Gross floor area ratio: unknown
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see images
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2 full floors, 1 basement level
Roof type: flat roof
Architectural style: cubic
Orientation: southwest
Maximum heights / restrictions: see images
Other requirements: see images
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: flat roof, cubic
Basement, number of floors: basement with double garage
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, planned for 2 children
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, office, living area
Office: family use or home office?: home office
Occasional overnight guests per year: the couch will suffice…
Open or closed layout: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: semi-open
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: yes
Balcony, roof terrace: see images
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: possibly
Additional wishes: utilize the slope, living areas in top floor, terrace facing south, minimize earthworks
House Design
Designer: architect
What do you especially like? Why?: living area on the top floor and terrace/garden offer a beautiful wide view
What do you not like? Why?: see original post
Estimated cost according to architect/planner:
bowbow91 schrieb:
Shell construction
150,000
Interior finishing*
170,000
Excavation (approx. 800 m3 (1,050 yd3))
42,000
Roof (flat roof)
45,000
Exterior landscaping
52,000
Electrical, plumbing, heating
84,000
Additional costs*
90,000
In the items interior finishing and additional costs, I have summarized quite a bit to avoid too much detail.
Total costs around 630k
Good luck
The building will not be a KfW-standard house; it will be solid construction with Ytong blocks (very quiet area). The parts of the basement and ground floor in contact with the earth will be made of waterproof concrete.
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures: approx. 650k, excluding kitchen, lighting, and some new furniture.
Preferred heating system: unclear. We initially proposed a heat pump in the building permit / planning permission, which formed the basis of the cost estimate. However, since subsidies no longer apply (unless building a KfW house)... possibly a more affordable gas heating system will be installed. I am open to suggestions. I plan to have discussions with the heating engineer soon. Currently, a decentralized ventilation system is planned, but I am considering whether a centralized system might be better.
If you had to give up some details / extras, which ones would they be?
- Floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom and office
- Masonry fireplace
Why did the design become what it is now?
Overall, we are very satisfied with the architect’s work. The slope and cardinal directions were utilized very well. The upper floor and terrace offer a wide and very nice view. We also really like the driveway including space for trash bins.
The approval process is already underway.
P
pagoni20208 Feb 2021 13:34As always, the question is whether the furniture dimensions are realistic... in some areas it feels a bit tight. I would take a closer look at the kitchen stove, dining, and living room to see if it will work for you.
The walk-in closet in the bedroom definitely seems too small. For a 20m² (215 sq ft) space, it might be better to create a room with a wardrobe. Perhaps you could take a bit of space from the two children’s rooms, which would still be sufficient.
Overall, an interesting floor plan.
The walk-in closet in the bedroom definitely seems too small. For a 20m² (215 sq ft) space, it might be better to create a room with a wardrobe. Perhaps you could take a bit of space from the two children’s rooms, which would still be sufficient.
Overall, an interesting floor plan.
I quite like the floor plan. One question – although I might be completely mistaken: In the section drawing, the 20cm (8 inches) floor construction is always missing, right? 2.6m (8 feet 6 inches) room height + 0.2m (8 inches) concrete ceiling + 0.2m (8 inches) floor construction add up to a 3.0m (10 feet) floor-to-floor height.
11ant schrieb:
It’s best to first show the originals, before we try to piece things together from your words and, as you already realize, somewhat unpolished drawing skills.
The garage level is shorter – so a partial basement?
In sloped sites, the term “ground floor” is usually confusing; a cross-section drawing is much more helpful for understanding.see above. Exactly, the garage level is shorter.
kbt09 schrieb:
A few wall lengths on the plans would be helpful ... as it is, I have some doubts about the usability of the ground floor bathroom after the rearrangement ... and the kitchen/dining area also looks quite tight.
The stair situation when coming up from the basement also looks rather cramped if you come directly toward a wall.
The hallway area in the basement might also benefit from some additional depth.Thanks for the suggestion. The utility room can definitely be slimmed down a bit to enlarge the hallway.
What do you mean by “coming up from the basement”? You just end up facing the storage room on the ground floor. I see hardly any way to improve that without shrinking the storage room.
pagoni2020 schrieb:
As always, the question is whether the furniture dimensions are realistic... in some areas it looks tight. I would take a closer look at the stove, dining area, and living room to see if it will really work for you.
The walk-in closet in the bedroom definitely seems too small; maybe with 20 m² (215 sq ft), you should create a room with wardrobes. Perhaps you could take some space from the two children’s rooms, which would still be sufficient.
Overall, an interesting floor plan.That’s exactly the problem ;-) especially the living and dining areas are causing us some concern. As mentioned in the original post, we would ideally like to separate the dining area from the living area. The question is whether that can be cleverly integrated into the kitchen area. Maybe removing the kitchen island or possibly planning a smaller U-shaped kitchen with a peninsula.
emundem schrieb:
I quite like the floor plan. One question – though I might be completely mistaken: In the section, are the 20 cm (8 inches) floor build-up layers missing? 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) ceiling height + 0.2 m (8 inches) concrete slab + 0.2 m (8 inches) floor build-up would give a 3.0 m (10 ft) story height.In the story height, only one slab per floor is taken into account. The floor build-up is not shown, so the ceiling height will later be 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) minus the floor build-up.
Has the building application already been submitted?
The structural calculations should be included in that, right? Even if your proposed adjustments are possible, the kitchen will actually become cramped. Also, the table will be in the way.
Without having paper and pencil at hand, the options I see are either to move the staircase to the left according to the plan, which will affect the lower floors, or to extend the kitchen upwards on the plan, place the pantry where the guest bathroom currently is, and shift the rest accordingly, so that the living area gives up some space—in other words, a counterclockwise rotation.
The structural calculations should be included in that, right? Even if your proposed adjustments are possible, the kitchen will actually become cramped. Also, the table will be in the way.
Without having paper and pencil at hand, the options I see are either to move the staircase to the left according to the plan, which will affect the lower floors, or to extend the kitchen upwards on the plan, place the pantry where the guest bathroom currently is, and shift the rest accordingly, so that the living area gives up some space—in other words, a counterclockwise rotation.
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