ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for Single-Family Home, 5 Occupants, 8.5m x 17m, 250 sqm
Created on: 18 May 2020 14:12
C
chrisse
Hello everyone,
I have been following this forum for a few weeks now and have picked up some ideas, and with your help, I believe I have already improved a few things.
So I think it’s time to share the floor plan we have developed so far for discussion. On the one hand, you tend to become somewhat “blind” to your own design over time, and on the other hand, I’ve seen many members here have a lot of experience.
Please excuse the not-so-optimal appearance of the plans. I overlaid the furniture on the floor plans using tracing paper. I didn’t find a suitable software solution that would allow me to import the architect’s plans. I eventually gave up and did it by hand.
I look forward to your suggestions, including criticism and ideas. We are still in a phase where many adjustments and optimizations are possible.
Thanks in advance to everyone.
Chrisse
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: >1,000 sqm (10,764 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.3
Gross floor area ratio (GFA):
Building envelope / building line and boundary: The building envelope depth from north to south has already been fully utilized in the design.
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 4
Number of storeys: 2
Roof shape: permitted are tent roof, gable roof, and hipped roof
Architectural style:
Orientation: All plans are precisely aligned to north. The entrance is therefore on the north side.
Maximum heights / limits: maximum wall height: 5.60 m (measured from the bottom edge of the rafters)
Other requirements
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: 2 full storeys plus basement
Number of occupants, ages: 5 persons (38, 37, 4, 2, 0)
Space requirements on ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF):
On the GF: office for occasional home office use, guest toilet with shower, pantry, utility/laundry room (also serves as a buffer between garage and kitchen), kitchen with dining area, living room
On the UF: 3 fairly equal-sized children’s bedrooms. Separate children’s bathroom. Parents’ area accessed through a walk-in closet, which also serves as a hallway to parents’ bathroom and bedroom to minimize disturbance if someone is already sleeping.
In the basement: utility/technical room, root cellar, guest room with toilet, storage room, hobby room, workshop
Office: used for home office and meetings (volunteering, clubs, etc.)
Guests per year expected to stay overnight: 5
Open or closed architecture: kitchen and dining area are open, with the living room adjacent but somewhat separable
Conservative or modern construction style: modern country house style
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes, open plan with space for casual breakfast at the kitchen island
Number of dining seats: daily 5, expandable to 10
Fireplace: would be nice as a room divider to the living area
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony on west side on upper floor in front of children’s rooms
Garage, carport: double garage, 8.50 m (28 feet) long to accommodate bicycles etc.
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
Designer:
Friend architect (with a lot of our input)
What do you like most?
Few living rooms facing north/street/neighbor, which provides good screening; south side quite open as there are no neighbors; nice view of the forest to the east.
What do you dislike?
Kitchen and dining area up to the fireplace feel a bit narrow compared to the length. This is partly due to the limited width of the building envelope combined with the desired double garage and the fact that the property consists of two plots. The eastern plot is restricted to a maximum floor area of 110 sqm (1,184 sq ft). Thus, even with a narrower garage, we can’t build much wider. This is not a big problem but requires some consideration about the sensible layout of kitchen/dining/living areas.
The living room is intentionally relatively small since we only want private seating and a TV here for a cozy atmosphere. On the other side of the fireplace, we plan a small seating area for guests.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 650,000
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: -
Preferred heating system: traditional (gas boiler with photovoltaic), underfloor heating
If you had to give up certain features or expansions
- What can you live without:
A few square meters (sqm) in the western children’s rooms and in the parents’ bathroom
- What can you not live without:
Generous utility room with “mud shower” (for children’s clothes, shoes, etc.)
Spacious entrance area (nothing worse than guests bumping into each other while taking off coats)
Why is the design as it is? For example:
We created a kind of checklist for the rooms we need and their approximate sizes. Also included were wishes such as a guest WC with shower, utility room between garage and kitchen, walk-in closet in the parents’ area, etc.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
In principle, almost all requirements were implemented as requested, or we optimized them extensively with the architect until we reached this result.
We also visited numerous model home parks and looked at many floor plans in books and online for inspiration.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
GOOD: The orientation is optimal in our opinion. Few living rooms facing north, very open to the south (which poses no problem as there are no direct neighbors). Morning sun in the bedroom to the east; west-facing children’s rooms with a nice view over the town/building area.
BAD: Kitchen/dining/living area is somewhat narrow relative to its length. Therefore, furniture arrangement and use are not yet ideal.
Integration of the stove as a room divider between dining area and living room is not quite right for us yet. We want a small seating group between dining area and living room that we can use together with guests.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- Do you see weaknesses that we might have missed or that you find suboptimal (e.g., too narrow, too wide, too big or too small)?
- Do you have ideas regarding the sensible layout/use of the kitchen and dining area?
- Otherwise, we welcome all comments, tips, and ideas and are very grateful.
I have been following this forum for a few weeks now and have picked up some ideas, and with your help, I believe I have already improved a few things.
So I think it’s time to share the floor plan we have developed so far for discussion. On the one hand, you tend to become somewhat “blind” to your own design over time, and on the other hand, I’ve seen many members here have a lot of experience.
Please excuse the not-so-optimal appearance of the plans. I overlaid the furniture on the floor plans using tracing paper. I didn’t find a suitable software solution that would allow me to import the architect’s plans. I eventually gave up and did it by hand.
I look forward to your suggestions, including criticism and ideas. We are still in a phase where many adjustments and optimizations are possible.
Thanks in advance to everyone.
Chrisse
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: >1,000 sqm (10,764 sq ft)
Slope: no
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.3
Gross floor area ratio (GFA):
Building envelope / building line and boundary: The building envelope depth from north to south has already been fully utilized in the design.
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 4
Number of storeys: 2
Roof shape: permitted are tent roof, gable roof, and hipped roof
Architectural style:
Orientation: All plans are precisely aligned to north. The entrance is therefore on the north side.
Maximum heights / limits: maximum wall height: 5.60 m (measured from the bottom edge of the rafters)
Other requirements
Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: 2 full storeys plus basement
Number of occupants, ages: 5 persons (38, 37, 4, 2, 0)
Space requirements on ground floor (GF) and upper floor (UF):
On the GF: office for occasional home office use, guest toilet with shower, pantry, utility/laundry room (also serves as a buffer between garage and kitchen), kitchen with dining area, living room
On the UF: 3 fairly equal-sized children’s bedrooms. Separate children’s bathroom. Parents’ area accessed through a walk-in closet, which also serves as a hallway to parents’ bathroom and bedroom to minimize disturbance if someone is already sleeping.
In the basement: utility/technical room, root cellar, guest room with toilet, storage room, hobby room, workshop
Office: used for home office and meetings (volunteering, clubs, etc.)
Guests per year expected to stay overnight: 5
Open or closed architecture: kitchen and dining area are open, with the living room adjacent but somewhat separable
Conservative or modern construction style: modern country house style
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes, open plan with space for casual breakfast at the kitchen island
Number of dining seats: daily 5, expandable to 10
Fireplace: would be nice as a room divider to the living area
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: balcony on west side on upper floor in front of children’s rooms
Garage, carport: double garage, 8.50 m (28 feet) long to accommodate bicycles etc.
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
Designer:
Friend architect (with a lot of our input)
What do you like most?
Few living rooms facing north/street/neighbor, which provides good screening; south side quite open as there are no neighbors; nice view of the forest to the east.
What do you dislike?
Kitchen and dining area up to the fireplace feel a bit narrow compared to the length. This is partly due to the limited width of the building envelope combined with the desired double garage and the fact that the property consists of two plots. The eastern plot is restricted to a maximum floor area of 110 sqm (1,184 sq ft). Thus, even with a narrower garage, we can’t build much wider. This is not a big problem but requires some consideration about the sensible layout of kitchen/dining/living areas.
The living room is intentionally relatively small since we only want private seating and a TV here for a cozy atmosphere. On the other side of the fireplace, we plan a small seating area for guests.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 650,000
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: -
Preferred heating system: traditional (gas boiler with photovoltaic), underfloor heating
If you had to give up certain features or expansions
- What can you live without:
A few square meters (sqm) in the western children’s rooms and in the parents’ bathroom
- What can you not live without:
Generous utility room with “mud shower” (for children’s clothes, shoes, etc.)
Spacious entrance area (nothing worse than guests bumping into each other while taking off coats)
Why is the design as it is? For example:
We created a kind of checklist for the rooms we need and their approximate sizes. Also included were wishes such as a guest WC with shower, utility room between garage and kitchen, walk-in closet in the parents’ area, etc.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
In principle, almost all requirements were implemented as requested, or we optimized them extensively with the architect until we reached this result.
We also visited numerous model home parks and looked at many floor plans in books and online for inspiration.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
GOOD: The orientation is optimal in our opinion. Few living rooms facing north, very open to the south (which poses no problem as there are no direct neighbors). Morning sun in the bedroom to the east; west-facing children’s rooms with a nice view over the town/building area.
BAD: Kitchen/dining/living area is somewhat narrow relative to its length. Therefore, furniture arrangement and use are not yet ideal.
Integration of the stove as a room divider between dining area and living room is not quite right for us yet. We want a small seating group between dining area and living room that we can use together with guests.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- Do you see weaknesses that we might have missed or that you find suboptimal (e.g., too narrow, too wide, too big or too small)?
- Do you have ideas regarding the sensible layout/use of the kitchen and dining area?
- Otherwise, we welcome all comments, tips, and ideas and are very grateful.
Unfortunately, the floor plan doesn’t really impress me. Here’s a list of what bothers me:
- The living room is too small for the size of the house and number of people. Where is the TV supposed to go?
- Kitchen: I’m not sure if this square island will work well.
- Using the garage entrance as the main entrance is not ideal, since you have to cross the house to reach the cloakroom (which, by the way, is not really spacious enough for 5 people).
- Will there be an additional bathroom for the guest room in the basement? Or does the guest also have to cross the house to get to the bathroom? Either way, they will have to pass the dirty laundry.
Basement storage: Do you mean an unheated food storage room? I like that idea; I have something similar. But I imagine it is difficult to implement if parts of the basement are heated and others are not, right?
- The living room is too small for the size of the house and number of people. Where is the TV supposed to go?
- Kitchen: I’m not sure if this square island will work well.
- Using the garage entrance as the main entrance is not ideal, since you have to cross the house to reach the cloakroom (which, by the way, is not really spacious enough for 5 people).
- Will there be an additional bathroom for the guest room in the basement? Or does the guest also have to cross the house to get to the bathroom? Either way, they will have to pass the dirty laundry.
Basement storage: Do you mean an unheated food storage room? I like that idea; I have something similar. But I imagine it is difficult to implement if parts of the basement are heated and others are not, right?
I also find the division between dining and living areas unfortunate.
I like separate living rooms, but 16 sqm (172 sq ft) is really quite small. Especially since you have plenty of space around the dining area, which in my opinion is partly wasted.
I would definitely rethink the kitchen layout as well. I think the full-height element next to the kitchen counter should be removed. It makes the furnishing very impractical. I would rather work with a large window at countertop height there.
The gallery really looks great, especially since it is also very large, but I wouldn’t do it with 3 children or at least mentally budget some extra for soundproof doors to the children’s rooms.
The master bedroom could also be a bit tight. At 5.13 m (16 ft 10 in) room width and with the door next to the headboard, having two bedside tables on either side will be cramped.
The children’s rooms are okay, but considering the house size, they are not generous. This is mainly because of the gallery. I also find the cloakroom for 5 people not very spacious; it might work, but I was really looking forward to my own separate cloakroom for 5 people. Finally, enough space for everything and it always looks tidy.
I like separate living rooms, but 16 sqm (172 sq ft) is really quite small. Especially since you have plenty of space around the dining area, which in my opinion is partly wasted.
I would definitely rethink the kitchen layout as well. I think the full-height element next to the kitchen counter should be removed. It makes the furnishing very impractical. I would rather work with a large window at countertop height there.
The gallery really looks great, especially since it is also very large, but I wouldn’t do it with 3 children or at least mentally budget some extra for soundproof doors to the children’s rooms.
The master bedroom could also be a bit tight. At 5.13 m (16 ft 10 in) room width and with the door next to the headboard, having two bedside tables on either side will be cramped.
The children’s rooms are okay, but considering the house size, they are not generous. This is mainly because of the gallery. I also find the cloakroom for 5 people not very spacious; it might work, but I was really looking forward to my own separate cloakroom for 5 people. Finally, enough space for everything and it always looks tidy.
Wow, thank you very much for all the responses and suggestions so far.
This time, I'll try to group and answer them a bit:
We might have to reconsider the placement of the stairs. If we move them further west, we could place the children’s bathroom directly next to the master bathroom again. However, then the entrance from the hallway to the living/dining area becomes very narrow because of the stairs. That’s the problem we’re facing, and it looks like we’ll have to accept one of these compromises.
We could make the living room slightly bigger by moving the stove and therefore the living room wall a bit further east. But then we’d face the issue that from the entrance you’d first walk into the living room and past the stove instead of into the dining area, which we don’t want, as the living room is more of a private space for us. We haven’t found the ideal solution here yet either.
Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions so far!
This time, I'll try to group and answer them a bit:
- The garage: We decided on a 6m (20 ft) exterior dimension because we see this as the minimum to occasionally fit two cars side by side. We don’t expect to do this often, since we’ll usually park the family car inside, and the company car with parking heater only rarely. However, we want to keep the option of parking both inside from time to time. Otherwise, the width and length are mainly needed for bikes and other vehicles that tend to accumulate with three children. If we made the garage narrower, we would completely lose the option for two cars (even occasionally), and due to the 110sqm (1,184 sq ft) floor area limit, we wouldn’t gain much on the other side either, since we can barely make the house any wider without shifting the building further west.
- Regarding the boundary lines: The use on both the right and left sides of the boundary line is exactly the same, differing only due to the 110sqm (1,184 sq ft) restriction on the right side. Other regulations (height, roof shapes, etc.) are identical and both areas fall within the same residential zone.
- Open gallery: So far, we haven’t fully considered the potential noise issue with the children regarding the open gallery, but we will reconsider that.
- Arrangement of the children's bathroom: Initially, the children’s bathroom was planned directly to the left of the master bathroom. However, the staircase interfered with this, forcing us to swap the children’s bathroom with bedroom 3. Not ideal, and access on both sides of the stairs wasn’t feasible due to space constraints. Unfortunately, this is a compromise we probably have to accept for now.
- Laundry chute: Currently located in the dressing room on the bathroom wall, with an angled pipe directly leading to the utility room below. We still need to see if there’s a better location.
- Kitchen planning: Definitely a major task for the coming weeks. We’re not yet satisfied with the current layout. The floor-to-ceiling unit is really causing difficulties. It’s hard to give up on it, but I really like the suggestion of having a large window at countertop height! There’s still a lot to optimize here.
- Bedroom size: Not very generous. However, since we only want the bed and two small nightstands (no wardrobes, dressers, etc.) in there, it suits our needs quite well.
- Coatroom for five people: I forgot to mention something here. The coatroom is mainly for visitors and perhaps for a jacket (or something similar) of ours. Our own coats will be stored in the utility room. It’s not perfectly drawn yet, but there will be coat cabinets with benches for the children near the stairs to the basement. The area north of the pantry is a small utility shower room to clean dirty shoes, etc. We essentially consider the garage as our main entrance.
- Guest room in the basement will have its own shower. Mostly for grandma, so it’s okay for us that you have to go through the utility room to get there (although not ideal).
We might have to reconsider the placement of the stairs. If we move them further west, we could place the children’s bathroom directly next to the master bathroom again. However, then the entrance from the hallway to the living/dining area becomes very narrow because of the stairs. That’s the problem we’re facing, and it looks like we’ll have to accept one of these compromises.
We could make the living room slightly bigger by moving the stove and therefore the living room wall a bit further east. But then we’d face the issue that from the entrance you’d first walk into the living room and past the stove instead of into the dining area, which we don’t want, as the living room is more of a private space for us. We haven’t found the ideal solution here yet either.
Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions so far!
Curly schrieb:
I don’t quite understand your setup with the cloakroom—do you have to go through the dining area from the front door to reach it?
Best regards,
Sabine Our main entrance route will actually be through the garage. The house is located on the outskirts of town, and since we often travel by car, bike, etc., we usually arrive via the garage anyway. That’s why we chose the concept of an ‘side entrance’ through the garage leading into the utility room, as this will be our route about 90% of the time. So, our main coat storage will be in the utility room. There will be only a smaller coat area by the front door for us (just the essentials to step out quickly) and for guests. Visitors usually come in through the main front door.
Of course, you can debate whether this is the ‘proper’ way, but it makes sense to us.
Best regards
I can’t imagine your children will always ride their bikes into the garage later on, but you have to judge that yourselves. I would be worried about my car. We also go for long walks every day; I can’t really picture you only getting around by bike or car. Do you never spend time in the garden?
Best regards,
Sabine
Best regards,
Sabine
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