ᐅ Floor Plan Optimization for a Single-Family Home of Approximately 150 sqm on a Small Plot
Created on: 18 Aug 2020 20:31
Y
Yaso2.0
Hello everyone,
After what felt like forever, we finally received the floor plan (without exact dimensions) today from our preferred general contractor. Although the planner noted our requests during the meeting, some of them don’t seem to have been fully incorporated.
The price offer will be prepared once the floor plan is finalized, especially if the size increases.
I would like to share the floor plan with you and hear your suggestions for improvements!
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 389sqm (4187 sq ft)
Sloping site
Site coverage ratio 0.35
Floor area ratio 0.70
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights / limits
Additional requirements
Client requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: City villa
Basement, number of stories: 2 stories, no basement
Number of occupants, ages: 3 persons (44, 38, 9)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor
Kitchen, living room, guest WC, utility room, and if possible, a small office
Office: family use or home office?
Guests for overnight stays vary widely
Open or closed architecture partly/partly
Conservative or modern style: a healthy mix of both
Open kitchen, kitchen island: semi-open kitchen, kitchen island not mandatory
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: possibly
Music / stereo wall
Balcony, roof terrace
Garage, carport
Utility garden, greenhouse, garden for pleasant evenings
Additional wishes / special features / daily routines, including reasons why certain elements are wanted or not
We want a larger but semi-open kitchen because I cook and/or bake daily. A pantry would be great but I would also give it up if it means more counter space in the kitchen.
Ideally, I would like a laundry room on the upper floor since all the laundry tasks happen upstairs.
House design
Planner:
- Planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why? Pantry room,
In the upper floor, the bedroom does not directly adjoin the children’s rooms
What do you dislike? Why?
Kitchen accessible only through the living room, hallway seems like wasted space??, kitchen counter size too small,
Cost estimate by architect/planner: still open, to follow after floor plan and house size are finalized
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures and fittings:
Preferred heating system:
If you had to compromise, on which details / additions
- Could you do without: walk-in closet
- Could you not do without: “larger” kitchen
Why is the design the way it is now?
The general contractor’s planner asked about our preferences and created the floor plan accordingly. Apparently, an office didn’t fit. The requirement was that we ideally don’t want more than 150sqm (1615 sq ft), a kitchen size of at least 13sqm (140 sq ft) would be nice, and if possible, no straight staircase.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
The hallway seems to take up too much space without much utility, the kitchen feels too small.
The walk-in closet is “enclosed” and should be accessible via the corridor.
We like that the children’s rooms are exactly the same size. The future child planning is currently flexible.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we make the kitchen accessible through the hallway and semi-open, without making it too small?
Would a different staircase allow for a better layout?
Or are our wishes not feasible within 150sqm?
Thanks in advance!
After what felt like forever, we finally received the floor plan (without exact dimensions) today from our preferred general contractor. Although the planner noted our requests during the meeting, some of them don’t seem to have been fully incorporated.
The price offer will be prepared once the floor plan is finalized, especially if the size increases.
I would like to share the floor plan with you and hear your suggestions for improvements!
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 389sqm (4187 sq ft)
Sloping site
Site coverage ratio 0.35
Floor area ratio 0.70
Building envelope, building line, and boundary
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof type
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum heights / limits
Additional requirements
Client requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: City villa
Basement, number of stories: 2 stories, no basement
Number of occupants, ages: 3 persons (44, 38, 9)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor
Kitchen, living room, guest WC, utility room, and if possible, a small office
Office: family use or home office?
Guests for overnight stays vary widely
Open or closed architecture partly/partly
Conservative or modern style: a healthy mix of both
Open kitchen, kitchen island: semi-open kitchen, kitchen island not mandatory
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: possibly
Music / stereo wall
Balcony, roof terrace
Garage, carport
Utility garden, greenhouse, garden for pleasant evenings
Additional wishes / special features / daily routines, including reasons why certain elements are wanted or not
We want a larger but semi-open kitchen because I cook and/or bake daily. A pantry would be great but I would also give it up if it means more counter space in the kitchen.
Ideally, I would like a laundry room on the upper floor since all the laundry tasks happen upstairs.
House design
Planner:
- Planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why? Pantry room,
In the upper floor, the bedroom does not directly adjoin the children’s rooms
What do you dislike? Why?
Kitchen accessible only through the living room, hallway seems like wasted space??, kitchen counter size too small,
Cost estimate by architect/planner: still open, to follow after floor plan and house size are finalized
Personal budget limit for the house including fixtures and fittings:
Preferred heating system:
If you had to compromise, on which details / additions
- Could you do without: walk-in closet
- Could you not do without: “larger” kitchen
Why is the design the way it is now?
The general contractor’s planner asked about our preferences and created the floor plan accordingly. Apparently, an office didn’t fit. The requirement was that we ideally don’t want more than 150sqm (1615 sq ft), a kitchen size of at least 13sqm (140 sq ft) would be nice, and if possible, no straight staircase.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
The hallway seems to take up too much space without much utility, the kitchen feels too small.
The walk-in closet is “enclosed” and should be accessible via the corridor.
We like that the children’s rooms are exactly the same size. The future child planning is currently flexible.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
How can we make the kitchen accessible through the hallway and semi-open, without making it too small?
Would a different staircase allow for a better layout?
Or are our wishes not feasible within 150sqm?
Thanks in advance!
A
Alessandro7 Sep 2020 14:39I can understand that.
Still, despite having a straight staircase and an open space above, they get a study below.
Still, despite having a straight staircase and an open space above, they get a study below.
For the ground floor bathroom, make sure there is enough space under the door for the wardrobe, about 60cm (24 inches). I find the toilet under the window a bit odd; I would consider placing it on the wall at the bottom of the plan instead. That way, the sink would be closer to the window, allowing guests to use the mirror in natural daylight.
The kitchen island is very small; aside from cooking, there’s hardly any space to work on. Is this how you want the kitchen to be? Definitely think this through in advance.
Could a window be added to the right of the sofa? That would allow you to look outside from the sofa instead of just facing walls.
I would move the utility room door more toward the center, so you can better use the wall at the bottom of the plan.
I preferred the bedroom entrance before. I find it impractical that you now have to pass by all the wardrobes first. It will probably be too tight for two people at the same time as well. Rotating the bed seems like a better and more practical option to me. As for the desired east-facing orientation, I’d rather say nothing...
Do you really need a 7m (23 feet) wardrobe? Otherwise, it might be an option to include the washer and dryer there?
I recommend a double sink for the family bathroom. A 170x70cm (67x28 inches) bathtub is not very large, and there will probably also be one or two installation walls added.
Maybe the stairs could be partially built over to create a niche for the washing machine in front of the bathroom? Or maybe do the laundry downstairs. The bathroom above the utility room is a good location for a laundry chute. Where do you plan to put a drying rack upstairs?
The kitchen island is very small; aside from cooking, there’s hardly any space to work on. Is this how you want the kitchen to be? Definitely think this through in advance.
Could a window be added to the right of the sofa? That would allow you to look outside from the sofa instead of just facing walls.
I would move the utility room door more toward the center, so you can better use the wall at the bottom of the plan.
I preferred the bedroom entrance before. I find it impractical that you now have to pass by all the wardrobes first. It will probably be too tight for two people at the same time as well. Rotating the bed seems like a better and more practical option to me. As for the desired east-facing orientation, I’d rather say nothing...
Do you really need a 7m (23 feet) wardrobe? Otherwise, it might be an option to include the washer and dryer there?
I recommend a double sink for the family bathroom. A 170x70cm (67x28 inches) bathtub is not very large, and there will probably also be one or two installation walls added.
Maybe the stairs could be partially built over to create a niche for the washing machine in front of the bathroom? Or maybe do the laundry downstairs. The bathroom above the utility room is a good location for a laundry chute. Where do you plan to put a drying rack upstairs?
Alessandro schrieb:
I can understand that.
Nevertheless, despite a straight staircase and an open space, they still have a home office below. I have actually seen floor plans with a straight staircase quite often, where a home office was located on the ground floor below.
At least we have finally settled the discussion about the home office by now.
Pinky0301 schrieb:
For the ground floor bathroom, make sure there is enough space under the door for the wardrobe—around 60cm (24 inches) is good. I find the toilet under the window a bit odd; I might place it on the lower wall instead. Then the sink would be closer to the window, allowing guests to use the mirror in natural daylight.
The kitchen island is very small; besides cooking, there’s hardly any workspace. Is the kitchen layout final? Definitely start thinking about it early.
Can you add a window to the right of the sofa? That way, you can look outside from the sofa instead of staring at walls.
I would move the utility room door more toward the middle so you can better use the lower wall.
I liked the bedroom entrance better before. It’s inconvenient that now you have to pass all the wardrobes first. It will probably be too tight for two people at the same time. Rotating the bed seems like the better, more practical option in my opinion. I’ll just say nothing about the desired east-facing orientation…
Do you really need a 7-meter (23-foot) wardrobe? Otherwise, maybe it’s an option to put the washer and dryer there.
I recommend a double sink for the family bathroom. A 170 x 70cm (67 x 28 inches) bathtub isn’t very large either. Also, there will probably be some installation walls added.
Maybe you can build over the stairs a bit to create a washer niche in front of the bathroom? Or do laundry downstairs. A bathroom above the utility room is great for a laundry chute. Where do you plan to put a drying rack upstairs? The toilet was originally on the lower wall. I had it moved because in our current house, the toilet is right next to the kitchen wall, and you can hear when someone’s using it.
Well, currently we only have the wall then the toilet, but in the new layout, there would be a kitchen counter in between. Do you think that would help reduce noise?
The kitchen island measures 140 x 100cm (55 x 39 inches). Is that too small? We saw this kitchen setup in a Viebrockhaus show home and really liked it. The kitchen cupboards and island were exactly the same, but I have to admit, I didn’t measure the island myself.
We don’t need a 7-meter (23-foot) wardrobe. Currently, we have 3 meters (10 feet) shared, and in the new house, we want either one 4-meter (13-foot) unit or two 2-meter (6.5-foot) ones, one for each of us. On the other side, there will probably only be shoe cabinets. The headboard of the bed can face south, but not in any other direction.
I won’t put a drying rack upstairs. The utility room will have the washer, dryer, and home technical equipment. I’ll either dry laundry outside or use the dryer.
A laundry chute sounds good; I will need to research how much space they take up.
Basically, we don’t use the bathtub much, but if we ever do, I think bigger would generally be too tight anyway. I’m already trying different bathroom layouts…
Yaso2.0 schrieb:
Oh, that’s what you meant…
In my opinion, the differences in size are between the children’s rooms and the living/dining/kitchen area downstairs.
Removing the master bathroom and replacing it with a walk-in closet would then fit.
Is it okay now? Why not take the time—it’s definitely worth the insight—to clearly shade in where exactly you could reduce space. I’ve told her several times before that the dividing wall between the bathroom for the western part of Germany (BRD) and the eastern part (DDR) is doing a disservice.
Curly schrieb:
Why are the floor-to-ceiling windows only 2 m (6.5 ft) high? That’s not a standard size. With more modern interior door heights of 213 or 226 cm (84 or 89 inches), it would actually be “offside.”
Alessandro schrieb:
And just like that, you have something more clever than the standard cookie-cutter floor plan. Alessandro schrieb:
Oops… I was also referring to the “Future Mannheim” plan,
which comes with 151 and 153 square meters (1,625 and 1,646 square feet). Unbuttoning your pants because you ate too much is not really clever. Here, a living room simply didn’t fit within the framework of the floor plan, so they expanded the plan with a corner bay window. Cheating is not genius, at best it’s just folk wisdom.
Yaso2.0 schrieb:
However, my husband definitely wants a staircase with a landing. It’s not just symmetry or a straight, single-flight staircase that effectively require certain minimum dimensions, but also any other staircase form preference (i.e., that this and only this type must fit into the floor plan). You pay the price with the choice between the lesser of two evils (more space used, a different room layout than ideal, or an awkward spot somewhere). These kinds of rigid special requests are for private clients—yet you want to build the house strictly within a budget footprint; your Villa Shiny is already too big for you.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Yaso2.0 schrieb:
So, the architect is on vacation, but she has incorporated the last changes I communicated to her. I'm keeping an eye on the windows – the heights are not correct. The floor plan: I don’t mind; remodeling the bathroom certainly has even more potential. But the facades: "it can always get worse" would be impressively proven with these.
I repeat two key pieces of advice: 1. Dare to break the chains of the square. 2. Don’t plan from the outside in.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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