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!
evelinoz schrieb:
At least "kitchen" wouldn’t work that way, the drainage systems don’t fit.
Silly question: do you mean the drainage like "water drainage," or the tasks you do one after another in the kitchen?evelinoz schrieb:
At least, the "kitchen" wouldn’t work that way; the workflows don’t fit. K a t j a schrieb:
The tasks you usually do one after another in the kitchen? The ergonomics don’t work. I agree with that. But with a two-row layout like this, there is a lot of potential that can be addressed separately. There’s no difficulty designing a good kitchen in the 11m² (118ft²) space, unlike other inserted designs where issues often arise. That’s why I would first focus on the overall house design.
"Workflows" is kitchen jargon for how you move around to avoid walking in a "zigzag" pattern.
In the last plan from the original poster, the sink was on the left, and the cooktop was too far to the right on the island, probably with the tall cabinets opposite. When the cooktop is on the island and the sink is built into the wall, it’s more practical if the main workspace, for example next to the sink (with a waste pull-out under the countertop), is located opposite the cooktop. So simply rotate the layout by 180 degrees and you can easily transfer ingredients directly into the pot or pan.
In the last plan from the original poster, the sink was on the left, and the cooktop was too far to the right on the island, probably with the tall cabinets opposite. When the cooktop is on the island and the sink is built into the wall, it’s more practical if the main workspace, for example next to the sink (with a waste pull-out under the countertop), is located opposite the cooktop. So simply rotate the layout by 180 degrees and you can easily transfer ingredients directly into the pot or pan.
Hello everyone,
first of all, many thanks for your input. As always, very helpful.
Glad to hear that 🙂 But we mainly based it on your initial draft. So many thanks to you. The shower measures about 1 x 1.10m (3.3 x 3.6 ft). We would choose a frosted glass window for the bathroom. We don’t necessarily need a view to the outside, and it lets in plenty of natural light. At least, that’s the theory. Or are there any potential disadvantages with this setup?
Is the 30cm (12 inches) distance from the toilet to the shower wall maybe too tight, or is that sufficient?
Thanks for your reply. We will probably give up on the light well after all. The area in the garden is just too valuable.
In the meantime, we have clarified a few things. Actually, we might be able to do without the pillar in the living room. The additional cost is limited, so we’re considering it. Regarding @evelinoz’s point, we also thought about simply changing the sofa’s orientation by rotating it and placing it along the lower wall. That way, you’d be looking toward the terrace. Do you see any potential downsides to this arrangement?
If the ceiling is reinforced, the pillar’s position becomes more flexible—it could even be moved, together with the kitchen island, toward the house wall (as suggested by @ypg). We’d have to explore that in more detail.
The pillar remains a divisive topic—we haven’t fully agreed yet. @ypg made a valid point about zoning. Independently of the view over the countertop, the pillar provides a visual separation between kitchen and living area.
So, pillar or no pillar? Tough decision... 🙁
We still need to think about the staircase entry. But these are definitely good points by @ypg and @K a t j a worth considering. To achieve effective acoustic separation between the ground and upper floors, we would have to use risers. We plan to skip the landing. Larger steps would indeed be more comfortable. Thanks, @K a t j a! That might even be a bit cheaper than including a landing 🙂
We will have to look at the kitchen layout again in detail once the floor plan is finalized. But we will definitely take your suggestions into account.
Another question currently on our minds is about a ventilation system. We initially planned to do without one. However, since we have a basement, several people have recommended installing one. What are your experiences? Is it absolutely necessary? If yes, is a central or decentralized system better? Does such a system pay for itself eventually, or is it purely a matter of comfort?
first of all, many thanks for your input. As always, very helpful.
K a t j a schrieb:
Otherwise, I think the solutions on the upper floor are very well done – it’s great when someone thinks ahead. Question: What are the dimensions of the shower?
Why a floor-to-ceiling window in the bathroom? It’s original, but more for people looking in from outside. 😀
Glad to hear that 🙂 But we mainly based it on your initial draft. So many thanks to you. The shower measures about 1 x 1.10m (3.3 x 3.6 ft). We would choose a frosted glass window for the bathroom. We don’t necessarily need a view to the outside, and it lets in plenty of natural light. At least, that’s the theory. Or are there any potential disadvantages with this setup?
Is the 30cm (12 inches) distance from the toilet to the shower wall maybe too tight, or is that sufficient?
K a t j a schrieb:
There are generally no setback rules for the light well since it’s not a building...
Thanks for your reply. We will probably give up on the light well after all. The area in the garden is just too valuable.
K a t j a schrieb:
If the wall in the kitchen can be removed, that would of course be cooler.
In the meantime, we have clarified a few things. Actually, we might be able to do without the pillar in the living room. The additional cost is limited, so we’re considering it. Regarding @evelinoz’s point, we also thought about simply changing the sofa’s orientation by rotating it and placing it along the lower wall. That way, you’d be looking toward the terrace. Do you see any potential downsides to this arrangement?
If the ceiling is reinforced, the pillar’s position becomes more flexible—it could even be moved, together with the kitchen island, toward the house wall (as suggested by @ypg). We’d have to explore that in more detail.
The pillar remains a divisive topic—we haven’t fully agreed yet. @ypg made a valid point about zoning. Independently of the view over the countertop, the pillar provides a visual separation between kitchen and living area.
So, pillar or no pillar? Tough decision... 🙁
K a t j a schrieb:
What I also wanted to say: I would take a close look at the stairs. A landing is drawn in, but the rise is greater than 19cm (7.5 inches) and the tread is tiny. That wouldn’t work for me. I’d rather accept the curved steps than climb a steep slope on tiptoes every day. The direction of travel also needs to be well thought out. All the kids and their friends will always run through the open plan living area. The basement is comparatively quiet.
We still need to think about the staircase entry. But these are definitely good points by @ypg and @K a t j a worth considering. To achieve effective acoustic separation between the ground and upper floors, we would have to use risers. We plan to skip the landing. Larger steps would indeed be more comfortable. Thanks, @K a t j a! That might even be a bit cheaper than including a landing 🙂
evelinoz schrieb:
In the last plan from the OP, the sink was on the left, the cooktop too far to the right on the island, probably even the tall cabinets opposite. If the cooktop is on the island, the sink should be built into the wall. It’s more practical if the main work surface, for example next to the sink (with a pull-out trash bin underneath) is opposite the cooktop. So, rotate 180 degrees and you can “throw in” food directly into pots or pans.
We will have to look at the kitchen layout again in detail once the floor plan is finalized. But we will definitely take your suggestions into account.
Another question currently on our minds is about a ventilation system. We initially planned to do without one. However, since we have a basement, several people have recommended installing one. What are your experiences? Is it absolutely necessary? If yes, is a central or decentralized system better? Does such a system pay for itself eventually, or is it purely a matter of comfort?
Ilski30 schrieb:
We would choose a frosted glass window for the bathroom. You don’t necessarily need a view from the bathroom, and it lets in plenty of natural light. At least in theory. Or could there be some disadvantages to this solution? I wouldn’t go for fully frosted glass. If it really has to be floor-to-ceiling (which I don’t like), then at least only the lower part should be frosted. But ask ten people and you’ll probably get ten different answers. Important: wide windows let in more light than tall ones.
Ilski30 schrieb:
Is a distance of 30cm (12 inches) between the toilet and the shower wall possibly too tight, or is that enough? A toilet usually needs about 90cm (35 inches) — preferably 1m (39 inches) if it’s centrally positioned. So if it’s 35cm (14 inches) wide, then 30cm (12 inches) on each side is okay.
Ilski30 schrieb:
If the ceiling is reinforced, the position of the column is flexible; you could move the column together with the kitchen island toward the house wall (as suggested by @ypg). You’d need to explore all options.
Opinions seem to be divided about the column. We’re not completely sure yet either. The argument from @ypg about zoning is valid. Apart from the view of the countertop, it creates a visual separation between the kitchen and living area.
So, column or no column? Difficult… 🙁 Skip the column. If you want some privacy, put up a room divider made of wood or similar material.
Ilski30 schrieb:
Another question that's been on our minds is about a ventilation system. In the first design, we decided against one. But especially with a basement, several people have recommended installing one. What are your experiences? Is it absolutely necessary? If so, is a central or decentralized system better? Does such a system ever pay off financially, or is it purely a comfort feature? From what I’ve heard, once you have one, you never want to live without it again. We don’t have one and don’t feel we’re missing anything.
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