ᐅ Single-Family House Floor Plan 147 m² – Opinions, Feedback, and Suggestions for Improvement?
Created on: 8 Jul 2022 12:14
I
Ilski30
Hello fellow home builders,
We have been working on the planning of our single-family home for a while now and believe we have found a solution that suits us quite well. The structural engineer/architect from our general contractor has implemented everything strictly according to our wishes and ideas, offering little to no suggestions or improvements from their side. As laypersons, it is difficult for us to assess whether we have really made the best choices. Therefore, we would like to benefit from your experience and expertise and are looking forward to your honest opinions and possible improvement suggestions.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 327 m2
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: none (§34 based on neighboring buildings)
Building window, building line, and boundary: The current design fully occupies the building window (except for the terrace area) at 10.15m*8.9 m (33.3 ft * 29.2 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 1.5 (knee wall height 1.5m (5 ft)) + basement
Roof type: gable roof 40-45° (currently planned at 40°), a hipped roof would have been nice but is probably not possible due to the nature of the neighboring buildings
Style: no specific preference. Should be visually appealing. Rather modern.
Orientation: Terrace faces west
Maximum height/limits: Eaves height 4.85 m (15.9 ft), ridge height 8.57 m (28.1 ft) (these are the data from a preliminary building permit. The current design is 14 cm (5.5 inches) and 18 cm (7 inches) taller respectively)
Additional requirements: Heat pump + possibly central ventilation system
Homeowners’ requirements
Style: somewhat modern/appealing
Roof type: gable roof (hipped roof apparently not possible. We could submit the building application with a hipped roof on a whim, but it seems too risky. It would likely cause significant delays)
Building type: single-family house
Basement: yes
Floors: 3 or effectively 2.5
Number of occupants, ages: 2 small children + 2 adults
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: normal – 2 children’s rooms + master bedroom + office
Office: family use or home office? Office is absolutely necessary (two people working from home a lot)
Overnight guests per year: few and rare (can be accommodated in the office if needed)
Open or closed architecture: open living/dining area with kitchen. Kitchen should ideally not be too visible.
Conservative or modern construction: as long as it is functional, both are fine
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes to both
Number of dining seats: mostly 4, with option to expand to 8–10 people
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: possibly a feature wall planned
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport + bicycle/tool shed at the back planned, but placement is not yet final. Open to ideas here.
Other wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons for preferences or rejections:
House design
Planning by:
-architect/structural engineer of our general contractor.
Heating technology: heat pump and possibly a central ventilation system (still undecided. What is your opinion on this?), conduit installed for future photovoltaic system installation
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you not like? Why?
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
We are interested in your opinion on the floor plan. What is good? What is not so good and should be changed? What worked well for you?
We appreciate any hint or suggestion, no matter how small.
Thanks in advance and best regards!
We have been working on the planning of our single-family home for a while now and believe we have found a solution that suits us quite well. The structural engineer/architect from our general contractor has implemented everything strictly according to our wishes and ideas, offering little to no suggestions or improvements from their side. As laypersons, it is difficult for us to assess whether we have really made the best choices. Therefore, we would like to benefit from your experience and expertise and are looking forward to your honest opinions and possible improvement suggestions.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 327 m2
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: none (§34 based on neighboring buildings)
Building window, building line, and boundary: The current design fully occupies the building window (except for the terrace area) at 10.15m*8.9 m (33.3 ft * 29.2 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 1
Number of floors: 1.5 (knee wall height 1.5m (5 ft)) + basement
Roof type: gable roof 40-45° (currently planned at 40°), a hipped roof would have been nice but is probably not possible due to the nature of the neighboring buildings
Style: no specific preference. Should be visually appealing. Rather modern.
Orientation: Terrace faces west
Maximum height/limits: Eaves height 4.85 m (15.9 ft), ridge height 8.57 m (28.1 ft) (these are the data from a preliminary building permit. The current design is 14 cm (5.5 inches) and 18 cm (7 inches) taller respectively)
Additional requirements: Heat pump + possibly central ventilation system
Homeowners’ requirements
Style: somewhat modern/appealing
Roof type: gable roof (hipped roof apparently not possible. We could submit the building application with a hipped roof on a whim, but it seems too risky. It would likely cause significant delays)
Building type: single-family house
Basement: yes
Floors: 3 or effectively 2.5
Number of occupants, ages: 2 small children + 2 adults
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: normal – 2 children’s rooms + master bedroom + office
Office: family use or home office? Office is absolutely necessary (two people working from home a lot)
Overnight guests per year: few and rare (can be accommodated in the office if needed)
Open or closed architecture: open living/dining area with kitchen. Kitchen should ideally not be too visible.
Conservative or modern construction: as long as it is functional, both are fine
Open kitchen, kitchen island: yes to both
Number of dining seats: mostly 4, with option to expand to 8–10 people
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: possibly a feature wall planned
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: carport + bicycle/tool shed at the back planned, but placement is not yet final. Open to ideas here.
Other wishes/particulars/daily routine, including reasons for preferences or rejections:
House design
Planning by:
-architect/structural engineer of our general contractor.
Heating technology: heat pump and possibly a central ventilation system (still undecided. What is your opinion on this?), conduit installed for future photovoltaic system installation
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Good layout and room distribution. Easy to furnish.
What do you not like? Why?
- Exterior dimensions of the house are unfortunately not flexible because spacing rules must be followed. It might only be possible to make it longer, which would reduce garden space.
- Kitchen and dining area could be a bit larger. However, this would likely come at the expense of the cloakroom and guest WC. The guest WC could probably be made about 25cm (10 inches) narrower if the positions of the toilet and washbasin were swapped.
- No natural light in the stairwell or hallway. Possibly install a window here?
- Would a different staircase design create more space? Probably, but it would also cause major changes to the floor plan.
- Cloakroom may be very small. We also have difficulty imagining how this will feel later. The planned pipe routing for wastewater and ventilation in the cloakroom currently takes up quite a lot of space. Maybe swapping cloakroom and guest WC could help?
- The architect has included some very large windows. For example, the office has a 1.76m (5.8 ft) wide window. We wonder if this is necessary, especially given the view is just the driveway and neighbor’s house. What do you think about window sizes?
- The shower has two solid side walls, which may make it quite dark. Currently, daylight only comes from the front. How do you handle shower width? What did you choose?
- The carport location is not ideal. We would have to reverse along a 15m (49 ft) long driveway. Perhaps better to place it on the south side and keep the bike shed in the current position?
- Room layout and window positioning in the basement. Would you keep it this way?
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
We are interested in your opinion on the floor plan. What is good? What is not so good and should be changed? What worked well for you?
We appreciate any hint or suggestion, no matter how small.
Thanks in advance and best regards!
If it’s possible to remove the wall in the kitchen, that would definitely be better. In that case, I would place the island a bit more centrally in front of the kitchen units. Let’s see how much extra that would cost. 😳
Otherwise, I think the solutions on the upper floor are implemented very well – it’s great when someone thinks ahead. Question: What are the dimensions of the shower?
Why choose a floor-to-ceiling window in the bathroom? It’s certainly original but mostly for people looking in from outside. 😀
Regarding draft 2:
Generally, there is no setback rule for a light well since it’s not considered a building that would trigger such a regulation. However, there is a special rule in Northern Ireland: walls must not be closer than half their height to the neighboring property line. This also applies to excavations (where do you live?! 😉). This means that for an eaves height of around 4.5m (15 feet), you could dig a maximum of 1.5m (5 feet) deep without exceeding the (0.5 x 6m =) 3m (10 feet) setback.
For a light well, 1.5m (5 feet) depth is sufficient – the window sill height would then be about 1.14m (3.7 feet). That is still very good for a basement window.
I had planned a dormer on the north side in the bedroom to allow space for the wardrobes. Apart from gaining space on the ground floor, it also provides important acoustic separation between the bedroom and the children’s rooms. However, a dormer would not be possible on the south side above the light well. Maybe a small dormer over the bathroom sinks would be a good idea – that would make sense.
You should look up pictures of what a light well in a garden looks like. It’s basically just a hole in the ground – something to be aware of, and drainage should also be planned. But of course, the extra space gained on the ground floor is valuable.
Otherwise, I think the solutions on the upper floor are implemented very well – it’s great when someone thinks ahead. Question: What are the dimensions of the shower?
Why choose a floor-to-ceiling window in the bathroom? It’s certainly original but mostly for people looking in from outside. 😀
Regarding draft 2:
Generally, there is no setback rule for a light well since it’s not considered a building that would trigger such a regulation. However, there is a special rule in Northern Ireland: walls must not be closer than half their height to the neighboring property line. This also applies to excavations (where do you live?! 😉). This means that for an eaves height of around 4.5m (15 feet), you could dig a maximum of 1.5m (5 feet) deep without exceeding the (0.5 x 6m =) 3m (10 feet) setback.
For a light well, 1.5m (5 feet) depth is sufficient – the window sill height would then be about 1.14m (3.7 feet). That is still very good for a basement window.
I had planned a dormer on the north side in the bedroom to allow space for the wardrobes. Apart from gaining space on the ground floor, it also provides important acoustic separation between the bedroom and the children’s rooms. However, a dormer would not be possible on the south side above the light well. Maybe a small dormer over the bathroom sinks would be a good idea – that would make sense.
You should look up pictures of what a light well in a garden looks like. It’s basically just a hole in the ground – something to be aware of, and drainage should also be planned. But of course, the extra space gained on the ground floor is valuable.
What I also wanted to mention is that I would take a close look at the staircase. A landing is shown in the plans, but the rise is over 19cm (7.5 inches) and the tread depth is very small. That wouldn’t work for me. I’d rather accept spiral steps than have to go uphill on tiptoes every day. The direction of travel also needs to be carefully considered. All the children and their friends will constantly be running through the open-plan living area. In contrast, the basement tends to be a rather quiet space.
K a t j a schrieb:
If the kitchen wall can be removed, that would obviously be better. I think the wall is very important for zoning and privacy. (Especially considering the idea to rotate the stairway entrance.) It also provides privacy between the sofa and the stove. The wall protects the countertop space at the island and could offer wall mounting options.
The asymmetrical layout also makes the kitchen quite interesting. However, I would make better use of the free space… even if it’s just extending the island… or connecting the island to the exterior wall?
K a t j a schrieb:
The direction of movement also needs to be carefully considered. Access to the basement doesn’t really matter from which side. Kids might eventually “disturb” if they come home late at night. I would also change the stairway entrance.
A sliding door at the staircase? That was discussed here a couple of days ago… I don’t think it will be used.
I only know very expensive sliding doors that are somewhat easier to slide, or the cheaper ones that you immediately regret. If anything, I would plan a regular hinged door that can be used quickly and easily. Sliding doors are not easy to handle. 😉
ypg schrieb:
I only know of very expensive sliding doors that are somewhat easier to _slide_, or the cheaper ones that are immediately frustrating. If I were to choose, I would plan for a regular hinged door that can be used quickly and easily. Sliding isn’t exactly the easiest to handle 😉 Oh really? We also have a (not very expensive) sliding door between the living room and kitchen. It’s usually left open, but when my partner is cooking, I like to close it. That’s how I imagine it here as well. Normally it’s open, but if a really loud movie is playing on the screen and the kids shouldn’t wake up, you just close it. The question is how often you need to go down to the basement in a small house like this and how annoying it would be to have a door right in front of the basement stairs. Probably more often than in a house with a dedicated utility room on the ground floor.
K a t j a schrieb:
Normally it is open, but when the movie really is a thriller on the big screen that the kids shouldn’t wake up from, it gets closed. For your example with the TV, which is very relevant, this question doesn’t even arise if it is almost always open in daily use.
K a t j a schrieb:
The question is, how often do you need to go down into the basement in such a small house, and how annoying would the door in front of the basement stairs be? That depends on the original poster’s habits and preferences 🙂
Similar topics