ᐅ Floor Plan – Design of a Single-Family Home with Two Full Stories – Urban Villa

Created on: 12 Nov 2020 06:19

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 550m² (0.14 acres)
Slope: approximately 1 meter (3.3 feet) incline from the street to the back of the property
Floor area ratio: Garage on boundary line, terrace 2.5m (8 feet) from neighbor - otherwise unrestricted, see attached plot plan
Plot coverage ratio: 2 full stories
Building envelope, building line and boundary: very flexible, see attached plot plan
Number of parking spaces: 1 large garage
Number of stories: 2 full stories
Roof type: hipped roof
Architectural style: modern urban villa

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa with hipped roof
Basement, floors: with basement and 2 full stories
Number of occupants: 2 persons, mid/late 20s, planning for 2 children
Room requirements on ground floor and upper floor: see floor plans
Office: family use or home office? office/home office
Guest bedrooms per year: -
Open or closed layout: -
Conservative or modern construction: 70% conservative - 30% modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen without island
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: none
Music / stereo wall: none
Balcony, roof terrace: none
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: ornamental garden
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions

House Design
Planner:
-General contractor (GC): general contractor of a construction company
-Architect: none
-Do-it-yourself: floor plan partially self-designed according to personal preferences
What do you like most? Currently nothing to criticize
What do you dislike? Front canopy not flush with hallway window upstairs - unfortunately not feasible otherwise
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: fixed price $450,000 (excluding land and additional construction costs)
Personal budget limit for house including fixtures: $450,000 (excluding land and additional construction costs)
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump + controlled mechanical ventilation

If you have to give up something, which details or add-ons
-Can give up: budget reached, no further cutbacks or simplifications needed
-Can’t give up: see above

Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
Standard design from the planner? Compared roughly 100 floor plans and, in coordination with our current GC, created the dream layout ourselves
Which requests were implemented by the architect? all
A mix of many examples from various magazines: yes 🙂
What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes? very practical and conservatively executed, child-friendly, enough parking/storage space inside, yet modern

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

As I am very active here in the forum and like to help others with topics like floor plans, financing, etc., I would now like to share our project here and hear your opinions. I hope you like it too. Perhaps there is still a serious flaw or something that could be quickly improved, if it appeals to us.
We have invested a lot of time in planning. Since March/April 2020 we have been actively planning—from a prefab home supplier with about 120m² (1,292 sq ft) to a current regional solid builder with 160m² (1,722 sq ft). A lot of effort went into our planning and we hope it pays off during construction and upon completion.

We will sign the contract in the next 2-3 weeks and will release the offer as well as the floor plan and our revised building and service specification to prepare everything for contract signing.
We are building with solid construction through a regional general contractor. Construction start: May 2021.

Attic floor plan: attic with bathroom, gallery, bedroom, two children's rooms, stairwell, red walls.

Ground floor plan with kitchen, dining area, living room, hallway, office, WC, and terrace.

Detailed plan of building plot: street layout, property boundaries, utility lines.

Modern white two-story house with terrace; one person sitting outside, another on path.

Modern two-story white house with garage, paved driveway, black car and man in front.

Two-story white house with dark roof and separate flat-roof garage on green plot.

Two-story white house with extension, terrace with lounge chairs, green lawn.

Two views of a house: east and north elevations with roof, windows and entrance.

West and south elevations of a house with garage, window layout, and slope line.

Basement floor plan with corridor, technical room, laundry, large cellar room, and green exterior wall.

exto179112 Nov 2020 07:30

Ysop*** schrieb:

I thought the kitchen design was still pending? ;-) As mentioned, before the floor plan is finalized, I would at least plan the kitchen together with the forum. You don’t want to regret it later.

Yes, we planned the kitchen several months ago with a similar floor plan and comparable kitchen dimensions. The kitchen, as shown in the drawing, is meant to look “something like that.”
A detailed design can still be developed later (which will surely involve some changes), independent of the floor plan. For an 8m² (86 sq ft) kitchen, we would definitely focus on it right away and have it planned in detail. However, I don’t think it is necessary for us to determine all the details in advance.

We will probably move the island area further south to create more walking space—possibly remove one tall cabinet and install a door there. According to the drawing, the stove will remain in that location.

For everything else, there should be enough space in this large kitchen 😀 I think a nice kitchen can be designed with these dimensions.

Alessandro12 Nov 2020 07:43

In my opinion, you are wasting too much space between the kitchen and the dining table!

Floor plan of a residential house: hallway, cloakroom, study, kitchen/dining/living area, WC, terrace.

You would of course need to redesign the windows.

exto179112 Nov 2020 07:47

Alessandro schrieb:

In my opinion, you are wasting too much space between the kitchen and the dining table!

You would, of course, need to redesign the windows

Wow, great idea, but unfortunately not feasible for one reason:

The kitchen is meant to have a direct view into the courtyard or onto the street. This means the cloakroom would be right next to the front door, and the kitchen would be pushed to the back. As a result, the "view" would be lost, leaving us with windows only facing the neighbor’s garage area. We would find that a real pity.

However, you’re right… there is quite a bit of "unused" space there. Still, the island is planned to have bar stools. The table could even be larger. So, space should be available here, otherwise things might feel cramped and squeezed. Nevertheless, we’re thinking the same… We tell ourselves it’s "nice to have," so that the dining area feels spacious rather than tight.

Elokine12 Nov 2020 08:18

#10

Finally, someone who doesn’t insist on squeezing in a tiny walk-in closet at all costs 😉
The upper floor is wonderful and spacious. Since you’re planning for two children, I would consider adding a second shower on the ground floor... worth its weight in gold by the time they’re teenagers!
The kitchen situation has already been mentioned and is still being planned. Otherwise, it’s going to be a lovely house!

exto179112 Nov 2020 08:23

#11

Elokine schrieb:

Finally, someone who doesn’t insist on squeezing in a tiny walk-in closet at all costs 😉
The upper floor is wonderful and spacious. Since you’re planning for two kids, I’d consider a second shower on the ground floor... absolutely priceless by the teenage years!
The kitchen situation has already been mentioned and is still being planned. Otherwise, it’s going to be a lovely house!

Thank you very much for your feedback 🙂 It’s always nice to hear things like this!

Yes, we are probably quite conservative about that. We do see the advantages of a walk-in closet, no question, but in my opinion it only makes sense if you have a really, really generous space for it.

In our case, a 3.00m (10 feet) wardrobe simply placed along the wall and done. Neat and tidy, nothing gathers dust, finished. Definitely suits us best 😀

About the shower on the ground floor... that was an endless topic for us. For cost reasons, as well as the size of the toilet room, we decided against it.
I also believe it would be very useful during the teenage years – but I don’t see myself showering in what is basically a guest bathroom that we planned at 15m² (160 sq ft) on the ground floor 😀, but that’s probably how it will end up!

Besides, it’s not that practical since the clothes and everything else is upstairs in the bedrooms. Sure, it would be possible and you could shower simultaneously. I completely understand that. Honestly, I still can’t say if it’s better or worse that we opted out. We made the decision not to do it. We are thinking ahead, but the other reasons against a shower outweigh the benefits.
Thanks again for your input! Suggestions are very important to us, as they help us decide what might still make sense and what doesn’t 🙂

PS: There’s still about a 50% chance we won’t have a teenage girl but an easy-going boy instead 😀

pagoni202012 Nov 2020 08:36

#12

exto1791 schrieb:

PS: There is still about a 50% chance that we won’t have a teenage girl, but an easy-going boy instead.

The signs of the times now rather suggest that it doesn’t make much of a difference anymore. Back in the day, we would never have stood profile in front of a mirror but always faced it straight on, then confidently decided after 5 seconds: It’s fine!

As soon as you start dealing with beauty products, you’ll see that this market is booming for men... I already mentioned it before: I would definitely plan for a second shower in the house, even if it is in the basement! Life is unpredictable. Many things can still be changed later, but water and waste connections are much harder to adjust.

I fully agree with @Elokine, especially since you are really planning your project for the long term; that area will find its place in the house. You will be thinking of me or of this missing feature at some point... 😱

ᐅ Floor Plan – Design of a Single-Family Home with Two Full Stories – Urban Villa

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