ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for a Single-Family Home with Basement on a Small Plot
Created on: 16 Sep 2019 08:38
A
AnniSke
Hello everyone!
After reading here for quite some time (and checking out nearly all floor plan questions for similar lot sizes and building dimensions), we now have some questions about the preliminary design from our builder.
Our situation is similar to the forum post from Wednesday, but our main focus is on the basement J
This is the first draft based on a rough idea of what we envision and what is important to us (the design seems quickly done to me—see the projecting dormer—or is that common nowadays?), but overall all our requests have been considered. We see room for improvement especially in the basement level, the basement stairs/daylight wells, and the size of the living/dining area (probably only fixable with a larger house footprint). The upper floor works well for us.
Independently from the builder, we came up with a similar floor plan that meets our needs; it is nothing “special” but fits our ideas well.
We would appreciate it if some of you could share practical tips or suggestions for changes so that we can respond to the builder and discuss possible deviations.
Feel free to be thorough and please also point out any potentially major planning mistakes.
I have attached the following:
Development Plan / Restrictions
Lot size: approx. 360 m² (still not fully measured, as the plot is being subdivided)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: see site plan; 3 m (approx. 10 ft) on three sides, less on street side due to protected green strip with fruit trees (not our property); open building style
Edge development: no (usually allowed for townhouses, but specifically excluded for carports and garages in the development plan); edge development allowed for uncovered parking spaces
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories allowed: 1-2 full stories
Roof type: gable roof (up to 38°), shed roof, flat roof (up to 25°)
Architectural style: classic-modern?
Orientation: ridge line along the street
Maximum heights / limits: eaves height max. 7.50 m (24.6 ft) above the access road (lot lies slightly below street level)
Additional requirements: none
Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: classic/modern detached single-family house, gable roof 38°, knee wall preferably raised to 1 m (3 ft)
Basement, number of floors: basement included, 1.5 floors
Number of people, ages: 2 (both 29), 1 child (1.5 years), at least 1 more (preferably 2) planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF)
GF: kitchen (with sliding door, can be smaller, no separate dining area), living/dining area (currently about 32 m² (344 sq ft), our furniture is designed for this and we would like to keep it), future master bedroom, bathroom with shower (house should theoretically be usable on one level in an age-appropriate way)
UF: 3 children’s rooms, bathroom
Basement: utility room, technical room, workshop, office/guest room
Office (family use or home office?): office desired (in basement), home office at least once a week
Guests per year: about twice a month 2 people, every two weeks 1 person → guest room desired (can later be combined with office in the basement if a bedroom is needed on the ground floor)
Open or closed architecture: closed
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island: no, smaller cooking area, separated by sliding door
Number of dining seats: permanently for 5 (current dining table has 8 seats)
Fireplace: yes, preferred
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: no
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: some vegetable garden, so we want to place the building close to the build boundary to maximize garden space
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: none
House Design
Planner: planner from a building company; the second attached version is our own adjusted “solution” with the house widened by 0.5 m (approx. 1.6 ft) and furniture drawn in the living/dining and bedroom areas which we already own.
What do you especially like?: the solution with a coat area and shower niche on the ground floor, the stairs, level, masonry showers, spacious children’s rooms, fireplace location between living and dining areas, large home office/guest room in basement, where both “uses” can be nicely combined.
Why?: we had not thought of the coat and shower concept in the floor plan ideas, find it practical and reasonably age-appropriate (though the dimensions could be slightly wider), and had no clue where best to put a fireplace.
What don’t you like? Why?: living/dining area too small, at 22 m² (237 sq ft) we cannot fit our furniture, kitchen is too large, we don’t need a separate seating area in the kitchen (we currently eat all meals in the dining area), the exterior basement stairs with the bend take up too much space, and we don’t want a carport as it would have to be inside the building zone (uncovered parking is allowed as edge development), the concrete daylight wells in the basement.
Price estimate from architect/planner: not yet available, initial rough offer before planning (130 m² (1400 sq ft) with basement) was 315,000 including standard ancillary construction costs, but with a “standard basement”; we might need a waterproof concrete shell (“white tub”), estimated extra cost about 20,000 according to the builder
Personal price limit for the house: 340,000 (furniture is already owned from current large apartment (126 m² (1356 sq ft) living space), kitchen belongs to us and only needs minor changes, cost covered separately)
Preferred heating technology: we considered a ground source heat pump, but the builder has had problems twice in the building area with insufficient supply temperature and therefore recommends an air-to-water heat pump on the south side of the house. Has anyone had experience with this?
If you have to give up something, what details/features?
Can give up: dormer, large kitchen, fully heated basement
Cannot give up: basement (due to small lot and 3 children planned), bedroom on ground floor, bathroom with shower on ground floor
Why is the layout the way it is now?
Draft from planner after a brief initial discussion about our preferences (we did not provide a detailed list of requirements)
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? bedroom on ground floor, bathroom with shower, staircase design, bathroom with shower and tub on upper floor, basement with office
What do you think works well or poorly? we like the overall distribution of floors, but are not yet convinced by the basement layout.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Any ideas to improve the basement (e.g., no bent stairs, maybe no basement hallway at stairs, maybe no daylight wells)? Any improvements for other floors (e.g., larger living/dining area)? Is there any place to add a laundry chute (nice to have but not essential)?
We look forward to your ideas and feedback J
Best regards and many thanks in advance!
After reading here for quite some time (and checking out nearly all floor plan questions for similar lot sizes and building dimensions), we now have some questions about the preliminary design from our builder.
Our situation is similar to the forum post from Wednesday, but our main focus is on the basement J
This is the first draft based on a rough idea of what we envision and what is important to us (the design seems quickly done to me—see the projecting dormer—or is that common nowadays?), but overall all our requests have been considered. We see room for improvement especially in the basement level, the basement stairs/daylight wells, and the size of the living/dining area (probably only fixable with a larger house footprint). The upper floor works well for us.
Independently from the builder, we came up with a similar floor plan that meets our needs; it is nothing “special” but fits our ideas well.
We would appreciate it if some of you could share practical tips or suggestions for changes so that we can respond to the builder and discuss possible deviations.
Feel free to be thorough and please also point out any potentially major planning mistakes.
I have attached the following:
- Site plan assumed by the builder
- Builder’s planning (floor plans, section, exterior view)
- Our modified floor plans based on the builder’s draft (larger living/dining area, smaller kitchen, different basement stairs)
Development Plan / Restrictions
Lot size: approx. 360 m² (still not fully measured, as the plot is being subdivided)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: see site plan; 3 m (approx. 10 ft) on three sides, less on street side due to protected green strip with fruit trees (not our property); open building style
Edge development: no (usually allowed for townhouses, but specifically excluded for carports and garages in the development plan); edge development allowed for uncovered parking spaces
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories allowed: 1-2 full stories
Roof type: gable roof (up to 38°), shed roof, flat roof (up to 25°)
Architectural style: classic-modern?
Orientation: ridge line along the street
Maximum heights / limits: eaves height max. 7.50 m (24.6 ft) above the access road (lot lies slightly below street level)
Additional requirements: none
Homeowner Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: classic/modern detached single-family house, gable roof 38°, knee wall preferably raised to 1 m (3 ft)
Basement, number of floors: basement included, 1.5 floors
Number of people, ages: 2 (both 29), 1 child (1.5 years), at least 1 more (preferably 2) planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF)
GF: kitchen (with sliding door, can be smaller, no separate dining area), living/dining area (currently about 32 m² (344 sq ft), our furniture is designed for this and we would like to keep it), future master bedroom, bathroom with shower (house should theoretically be usable on one level in an age-appropriate way)
UF: 3 children’s rooms, bathroom
Basement: utility room, technical room, workshop, office/guest room
Office (family use or home office?): office desired (in basement), home office at least once a week
Guests per year: about twice a month 2 people, every two weeks 1 person → guest room desired (can later be combined with office in the basement if a bedroom is needed on the ground floor)
Open or closed architecture: closed
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island: no, smaller cooking area, separated by sliding door
Number of dining seats: permanently for 5 (current dining table has 8 seats)
Fireplace: yes, preferred
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: no
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: some vegetable garden, so we want to place the building close to the build boundary to maximize garden space
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: none
House Design
Planner: planner from a building company; the second attached version is our own adjusted “solution” with the house widened by 0.5 m (approx. 1.6 ft) and furniture drawn in the living/dining and bedroom areas which we already own.
What do you especially like?: the solution with a coat area and shower niche on the ground floor, the stairs, level, masonry showers, spacious children’s rooms, fireplace location between living and dining areas, large home office/guest room in basement, where both “uses” can be nicely combined.
Why?: we had not thought of the coat and shower concept in the floor plan ideas, find it practical and reasonably age-appropriate (though the dimensions could be slightly wider), and had no clue where best to put a fireplace.
What don’t you like? Why?: living/dining area too small, at 22 m² (237 sq ft) we cannot fit our furniture, kitchen is too large, we don’t need a separate seating area in the kitchen (we currently eat all meals in the dining area), the exterior basement stairs with the bend take up too much space, and we don’t want a carport as it would have to be inside the building zone (uncovered parking is allowed as edge development), the concrete daylight wells in the basement.
- Regarding the basement daylight wells: my father (landscape architect) suggests a landscaped slope on that side of the house instead of concrete daylight wells (I roughly marked some slope lines on our design) with stairs integrated into the slope at the rear of the house. What do you think of this option? We are unsure about stair drainage for rain, but this should be manageable with proper drainage (could be routed by pipe to the cistern we must install per development plan). Any other ideas?
Price estimate from architect/planner: not yet available, initial rough offer before planning (130 m² (1400 sq ft) with basement) was 315,000 including standard ancillary construction costs, but with a “standard basement”; we might need a waterproof concrete shell (“white tub”), estimated extra cost about 20,000 according to the builder
Personal price limit for the house: 340,000 (furniture is already owned from current large apartment (126 m² (1356 sq ft) living space), kitchen belongs to us and only needs minor changes, cost covered separately)
Preferred heating technology: we considered a ground source heat pump, but the builder has had problems twice in the building area with insufficient supply temperature and therefore recommends an air-to-water heat pump on the south side of the house. Has anyone had experience with this?
If you have to give up something, what details/features?
Can give up: dormer, large kitchen, fully heated basement
Cannot give up: basement (due to small lot and 3 children planned), bedroom on ground floor, bathroom with shower on ground floor
Why is the layout the way it is now?
Draft from planner after a brief initial discussion about our preferences (we did not provide a detailed list of requirements)
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? bedroom on ground floor, bathroom with shower, staircase design, bathroom with shower and tub on upper floor, basement with office
What do you think works well or poorly? we like the overall distribution of floors, but are not yet convinced by the basement layout.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Any ideas to improve the basement (e.g., no bent stairs, maybe no basement hallway at stairs, maybe no daylight wells)? Any improvements for other floors (e.g., larger living/dining area)? Is there any place to add a laundry chute (nice to have but not essential)?
We look forward to your ideas and feedback J
Best regards and many thanks in advance!
kaho674 schrieb:
but including the building siteExactly, but it’s a carport... so of course it’s not allowed outside the property boundary...@Escroda Yes, I meant uncovered on the street side, sorry!
Escroda schrieb:
The justification for the development plan could be helpful. It should also be available by the end of September with the city council decision. There was a complete draft for the building area where 1.5 stories were planned for the edge plots and 2 stories for the centrally located houses, but as mentioned, this has already been adjusted.
Or can I find that directly somewhere in the development plan I already have?
@AnniSke Are you building in Thuringia? Just out of curiosity, which area? As a fellow Thuringian?
I want to revisit the basement discussion. Basically, it’s already been said... People want to keep the house footprint small because the plot is small. But if you move "living spaces" into the basement, you have to sacrifice area for retaining walls and light wells—which in turn reduces the garden size!—and there is a huge effort involved in burying the basement since the plot is flat—and that with a limited budget. To me, that just doesn’t make sense, honestly.
I have a friend I visit occasionally and sometimes stay overnight. When her husband isn’t home, I can sleep "upstairs," but when he is, I get the official guest room in the basement. And sorry, even just for sleeping... it’s still a basement, with a light well, it smells like a basement, and you walk through the utility rooms with concrete floors... the atmosphere isn’t pleasant, even if I only pass through once in the evening and once in the morning. And by the time I wake up in the morning, I usually feel uncomfortable. So I’m also not in favor of guest rooms in the basement, and for working there, that would be out of the question for me.
By the way, I also have a small plot, 306m² (3,290 sq ft), with a detached single-family house on it. Since it only has to accommodate three people (two children and myself), 100m² (1,076 sq ft) is enough for us. With your extra 50m² (538 sq ft) of land, you can definitely gain 50m² (538 sq ft) of living space with good planning, and still have a bit more garden left. Go for it! Keep the living spaces above ground!
I want to revisit the basement discussion. Basically, it’s already been said... People want to keep the house footprint small because the plot is small. But if you move "living spaces" into the basement, you have to sacrifice area for retaining walls and light wells—which in turn reduces the garden size!—and there is a huge effort involved in burying the basement since the plot is flat—and that with a limited budget. To me, that just doesn’t make sense, honestly.
I have a friend I visit occasionally and sometimes stay overnight. When her husband isn’t home, I can sleep "upstairs," but when he is, I get the official guest room in the basement. And sorry, even just for sleeping... it’s still a basement, with a light well, it smells like a basement, and you walk through the utility rooms with concrete floors... the atmosphere isn’t pleasant, even if I only pass through once in the evening and once in the morning. And by the time I wake up in the morning, I usually feel uncomfortable. So I’m also not in favor of guest rooms in the basement, and for working there, that would be out of the question for me.
By the way, I also have a small plot, 306m² (3,290 sq ft), with a detached single-family house on it. Since it only has to accommodate three people (two children and myself), 100m² (1,076 sq ft) is enough for us. With your extra 50m² (538 sq ft) of land, you can definitely gain 50m² (538 sq ft) of living space with good planning, and still have a bit more garden left. Go for it! Keep the living spaces above ground!
Region of Central Thuringia and you?
Thanks for your assessment @Altai regarding the basement and plot size. At least we're not the only ones with such a small plot who still want to build a detached house on it—it's nice to hear that. How much did you have left over (house footprint about 60 sqm (650 sq ft))?
Yes, we also considered building a bit larger instead of having a basement, and realistically, that has to be taken into account if the budget doesn’t allow it. But as long as we don’t have an offer in black and white, the Mole family can still dream a little.
Thanks for your assessment @Altai regarding the basement and plot size. At least we're not the only ones with such a small plot who still want to build a detached house on it—it's nice to hear that. How much did you have left over (house footprint about 60 sqm (650 sq ft))?
Yes, we also considered building a bit larger instead of having a basement, and realistically, that has to be taken into account if the budget doesn’t allow it. But as long as we don’t have an offer in black and white, the Mole family can still dream a little.
J
j.bautsch18 Sep 2019 09:49Altai schrieb:
And sorry, even just for sleeping... it’s a basement after all, with a light well, it smells like a basement, and you have to walk through the "utility rooms" on a concrete floor... the atmosphere isn’t pleasant, even if I just go through it once in the evening and once in the morning. And as soon as I wake up early, I definitely feel uncomfortable. So I’m not really in favor of having a guest room in the basement, and for working there, it would be totally out of the question for me. Well, to me, not all basements are the same. At my aunt’s place, it’s designed very cozily. No concrete floor, but the same tiles as in the living room upstairs and normal wallpaper on the walls. The bathroom is very nice. There is a comfortable seating area and a TV is also provided (the kids sometimes watch TV there when guests are over, or dad watches football :P). Everything is neatly stored in closed cabinets where they keep their basement stuff. There is no basement vibe at all for me there. It smells normal too XD.
Their basement even has its own entrance door (it’s a house built on a slope, but the guest room is still tucked away), and the guest room, which has its own bathroom, also has connections for a kitchen unit. So later, a child could have their own space downstairs or something like that.
I’m from Jena.
The house measures 7.0 x 10.5 meters (23 x 34.5 feet) on the outside, so about 74 m² (800 ft²) of space is taken up. It has a ground floor, an upper floor with knee walls about 1.30 m (4.3 ft) high, and a gable roof with a 45° pitch, meaning there is also an attic space used for storage.
Additionally, around 50 m² (540 ft²) will be used for two parking spaces that I need to build. Possibly another 16 m² (170 ft²) for the terrace, as well as some space in front of the house for access pathways.
That leaves just under 160 m² (1,720 ft²) of garden. It’s not much, but I’m not planning to do any farming. There will be a small front garden, and the rest will initially be just grass.
The house measures 7.0 x 10.5 meters (23 x 34.5 feet) on the outside, so about 74 m² (800 ft²) of space is taken up. It has a ground floor, an upper floor with knee walls about 1.30 m (4.3 ft) high, and a gable roof with a 45° pitch, meaning there is also an attic space used for storage.
Additionally, around 50 m² (540 ft²) will be used for two parking spaces that I need to build. Possibly another 16 m² (170 ft²) for the terrace, as well as some space in front of the house for access pathways.
That leaves just under 160 m² (1,720 ft²) of garden. It’s not much, but I’m not planning to do any farming. There will be a small front garden, and the rest will initially be just grass.
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