ᐅ Floor Plan Design for a 180 m² Single-Family Home with South-Facing Driveway – Challenging Layouts
Created on: 16 Feb 2024 23:10
C
Cubus3f
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 450m2 (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor Area Ratio (FAR): 0.4
Gross Floor Area Ratio (GFAR): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Plot measures 18.36 x 24.49 meters (60.2 x 80.4 feet); building envelopes are set back 3 meters (10 feet) to the north, east, and west, and 5 meters (16.4 feet) to the south (street side)
Edge development: Yes
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: Flat roof
Style: modern, open
Orientation: south/west
Maximum heights/limits:
Additional regulations: Moderately busy street to the south; a multi-family building is located to the north
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern, open, flat roof
Basement, stories: No basement, 2 full stories
Number of occupants, ages: 2 middle-aged adults, 2 children (6 and 1 year old)
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: Ground floor 100m² (1,076 sq ft), upper floor 80m² (861 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guests per year: 2 persons, 3 times per year
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: both yes
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons for preferences:
Living and dining areas as much as possible facing south
Kitchen with freestanding island and partly open pantry around the corner
House Design
Designed by:
- Planner from a construction company
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why? Workshop at the back, bicycle stand, size of children’s rooms, master bedroom area on the north side, staircase option 1
What do you dislike? Why? Very small garden, especially between the terrace and neighboring house
Option 1:
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
Option 2:
Ground floor:
Upper floor:
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 3,200 €/m2
Personal price limit for house including fixtures: 700,000 €
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to give up some features/finishes, which ones?
- Can give up: open staircase
- Cannot give up: pantry, kitchen with island, utility room on upper floor, children’s bathroom, large dressing room
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design from the planner? Architect developed options 1 & 2 after consultation
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think are the particular strengths or weaknesses of the design?
Do you have suggestions on how we should plan the living/dining/kitchen area to create an L-shaped layout? There should be space for a kitchen island (2.35m x 1.1m) (7.7 x 3.6 feet). The staircase should be placed centrally in the house to improve the layout of the upper floor rooms.
Any other improvement suggestions?
Many thanks
Cubus3f
Plot size: 450m2 (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor Area Ratio (FAR): 0.4
Gross Floor Area Ratio (GFAR): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Plot measures 18.36 x 24.49 meters (60.2 x 80.4 feet); building envelopes are set back 3 meters (10 feet) to the north, east, and west, and 5 meters (16.4 feet) to the south (street side)
Edge development: Yes
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: Flat roof
Style: modern, open
Orientation: south/west
Maximum heights/limits:
Additional regulations: Moderately busy street to the south; a multi-family building is located to the north
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern, open, flat roof
Basement, stories: No basement, 2 full stories
Number of occupants, ages: 2 middle-aged adults, 2 children (6 and 1 year old)
Space requirements ground floor, upper floor: Ground floor 100m² (1,076 sq ft), upper floor 80m² (861 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? Home office
Guests per year: 2 persons, 3 times per year
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: both yes
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons for preferences:
Living and dining areas as much as possible facing south
Kitchen with freestanding island and partly open pantry around the corner
House Design
Designed by:
- Planner from a construction company
- Architect
What do you particularly like? Why? Workshop at the back, bicycle stand, size of children’s rooms, master bedroom area on the north side, staircase option 1
What do you dislike? Why? Very small garden, especially between the terrace and neighboring house
Option 1:
Ground floor:
- Bad: Kitchen too small, freestanding kitchen island measuring 2.35m x 1.1m (7.7 x 3.6 feet) does not fit, entrance to living area too narrow
- Good: spacious hallway, open staircase with landing
Upper floor:
- Bad: Access to children’s bathroom through utility room, entrance to master bedroom through dressing room, makeup table in master bedroom instead of dressing room
- Good: spacious master bathroom, size of utility room and children’s bathroom
Option 2:
Ground floor:
- Bad: no staircase landing, small entrance/hallway, entrance to living area directly from the foyer
- Good: large kitchen
Upper floor:
- Bad: utility room too large, entrance to sleeping area awkward (one walks into a wall), makeup table in master bedroom, master bathroom too small
- Good: separate entrance to utility room
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 3,200 €/m2
Personal price limit for house including fixtures: 700,000 €
Preferred heating system: heat pump
If you had to give up some features/finishes, which ones?
- Can give up: open staircase
- Cannot give up: pantry, kitchen with island, utility room on upper floor, children’s bathroom, large dressing room
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design from the planner? Architect developed options 1 & 2 after consultation
Which of your wishes were implemented by the architect?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What do you think are the particular strengths or weaknesses of the design?
Do you have suggestions on how we should plan the living/dining/kitchen area to create an L-shaped layout? There should be space for a kitchen island (2.35m x 1.1m) (7.7 x 3.6 feet). The staircase should be placed centrally in the house to improve the layout of the upper floor rooms.
Any other improvement suggestions?
Many thanks
Cubus3f
Cubus3f schrieb:
The rooftop terrace was an option because the house is longer at the base than at the top. We also don’t find the rooftop terrace very practical, and it will not be implemented.Cubus3f schrieb:
Site coverage ratio: 0.4 // floor area ratio: 0.8 [...] Number of floors: 2 [...]
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: modern, open, flat roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full storiesIs that really the case? The site coverage ratio and floor area ratio suggest so – that your desired number of floors "2" is also permitted as “II” by the zoning plan, or are we dealing here with a forced non-full-story upper floor?Cubus3f schrieb:
No, not after the initial consultation. The variants came up after each discussion, once we had stated our space planning wishes.
The builder we are working with only cooperates with this particular architect team. There is no alternative.That would rule out the builder for me. I also always advise against, first, choosing an architect selected by the builder (= hostile agent), and second, deciding on the construction method before the planning phase is complete. And I strongly advise against appointing the builder before tendering. Don’t be an easy target for a scammer gang!A healthy planning process – see among others recently https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/fertighausfirmen-anbieterliste.46833/#post-654562 – looks like this: develop a preliminary design with an architect freely chosen by you, then before further development into a full design, conduct an initial assessment to determine which construction method is more favorable in the specific case, and only at a later stage, in a professional tendering process, select suitable bidders.
11ant schrieb:
The architect must always be selected personally. I explain this in detail around "A House Building Roadmap, also for you: the HOAI phase model!". With this architect, you first develop a preliminary design, and during the planning pause you make essential decisions.And in https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/entwurfsplanung-ueber-den-architekten-und-dann-ausschreiben.45878/page-3#post-654494 I explain the following lesson in more detail:11ant schrieb:
Letting a general contractor exploit you out of pure fear of tendering costs and price comparison is always a mistake. Because one thing is sure: in this way, the general contractor turns everything above your signature into a blank check.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
11ant schrieb:
Is it really the case—as the floor area ratio and plot ratio seem to suggest—that your desired number of floors "2" is also supported as "II" by the zoning plan, or are we dealing here with a forced partial upper floor that does not count as a full story?
If so, the construction company would be a deal-breaker for me. I also generally advise against, first, taking an architect chosen by the builder (a hostile agent), and second, deciding on the construction method before having a cooling-off period with the option to change. And I especially recommend against choosing the construction company before the tender process. Don’t be an easy target for a gang of swindlers!
A healthy planning process—as outlined recently, among other places, at https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/fertighausfirmen-anbieterliste.46833/#post-654562—looks like this: you work with a freely chosen architect to develop a preliminary design, with which you conduct an initial exploration round to find the most suitable construction method for the specific case before moving on to detailed design, and only later, in a proper bidding process, do you select qualified contractors.
In https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/entwurfsplanung-ueber-den-architekten-und-dann-ausschreiben.45878/page-3#post-654494 I explain these principles in more detail.Thank you very much for your effort and detailed reply. Our house is part of a larger development including multi-family buildings, semi-detached houses, and single-family homes. The plots are sold by the builder under the condition that you also build with them. The architect’s costs are included. Therefore, using another architect is basically not an option unless we switch to a different builder and pay again. The architect has worked for the builder for many years. There are also no available plots in the area.
What do you mean by the forced second full floor? According to the zoning plan, the number of full stories is II.
K a t j a schrieb:
I can’t warm up to the division of the plot at all. If it were mine, I would first ask myself whether I want my main terrace facing south or north.The main garden and terrace are planned on the west side. Unfortunately, there is a rather busy street to the south during peak hours. We don’t want to be on the north side either, because we really prefer sunny locations and find it nicer with children.
I have a few questions here... Access to the plot from the south—I've noticed that the main entrance to the house is quite hidden. Also, what exactly is located at the top of the plan, on the west side?
Then there’s the boundary development with a workshop building, and the question: will the bike/trash storage also be covered? Will the total length of all boundary buildings still fit together with the garage?
The utility room is quite far from the street; does that work with the supply lines?
The upper floor—why is the ground floor’s full area not fully utilized, yet there is this cantilevered bay window above?
You’ve probably noticed the access to the living room as well. In my opinion, it doesn’t work at all in option 1, and in option 2 only with reservations. However, option 2 also shows how certain changes lead to absolute no-goes in other areas, in this case the master bedroom.
In general, I find the interior doors drawn quite narrow.
In any case, I would probably swap the living and cooking areas, while keeping the pantry but with access from the top of the plan.
But honestly, I would recommend stepping away from the current proposed solution and starting fresh.
Then there’s the boundary development with a workshop building, and the question: will the bike/trash storage also be covered? Will the total length of all boundary buildings still fit together with the garage?
The utility room is quite far from the street; does that work with the supply lines?
The upper floor—why is the ground floor’s full area not fully utilized, yet there is this cantilevered bay window above?
You’ve probably noticed the access to the living room as well. In my opinion, it doesn’t work at all in option 1, and in option 2 only with reservations. However, option 2 also shows how certain changes lead to absolute no-goes in other areas, in this case the master bedroom.
In general, I find the interior doors drawn quite narrow.
In any case, I would probably swap the living and cooking areas, while keeping the pantry but with access from the top of the plan.
But honestly, I would recommend stepping away from the current proposed solution and starting fresh.
kbt09 schrieb:
I have a few questions here... Access to the plot from the south... I notice the main entrance is quite hidden. Also, what is actually planned at the top of the plan, on the west side?Thank you for your input. The door is hidden. We are aware of that. It apparently cannot be done differently with a canopy (without a glass canopy).
On the west side, there is a single-family house, and the small grey building is their garage.
Then the boundary development with a workshop building and the question, will the bike/trash storage also be covered? Will the total length of all boundary structures still fit together with the garage?The bike and trash storage will not be covered.
Utility room quite far from the street, will that work with the supply lines?Yes, it works, although it will probably be more expensive. But we have no alternative yet.Upper floor, why is the full ground floor area not fully utilized on one hand, but then this bay window projection?The bay window projection is meant to visually break up the cube a bit.Access to the living room also caught your attention, in my opinion it doesn’t work at all in version 1, and only reluctantly in version 2. But with version 2, you can see that individual changes lead to absolute no-gos in other areas, in this case the master bedroom.Unfortunately, we find no way to create a wider access to the living room here.In general, I find the room doors drawn quite narrow.Thank you! Indeed! We just measured; they are only 76cm (30 inches). We will pass that on / ask about it.In any case, I would probably swap the living and kitchen areas, the pantry can stay but with access from the top of the plan.We are now also leaning towards swapping the living and kitchen areas.Good idea to leave the pantry where it is. But we will have to make sure the living room doesn’t become too small.
But actually, I would recommend letting go of the current design proposal and starting over.That is quite difficult for us right now. Could someone/you sketch something fresh? We don’t see any other solution.
Cubus3f schrieb:
The main garden and terrace are planned on the west side. Unfortunately, there is a busy road to the south during peak times. We don’t want to be on the north side because we really like it sunny and find it nicer for children. The terrace on the west side is just as exposed as the one on the south facing the road. It will be noisy all the time. I lived for many years on a similar road and had the same problem. In the end, we always went inside because the noise was too annoying. If you really want noise protection, in my opinion, the only solution is to position the house as a “sound barrier” between the road and the terrace.
Additionally, you have the issue on the west side that your terrace is right next to the neighbor’s garage wall, which completely blocks the low setting west sun.
The best way to solve this, in my view, is to build the house as a cross-wing facing the road and separate the terrace from the house, moving it as far north as necessary so that the house’s shadow doesn’t affect it. For example, you could use a nice pavilion or something similar.
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