ᐅ Floor Plan Tips for a Single-Family Home with a Separate Apartment
Created on: 1 Oct 2021 00:17
N
Nicolefl
Hello everyone,
We already have a finalized floor plan for our single-family home with a granny flat. The building permit application has been submitted. Unfortunately, during the eight months of waiting for the approval, some uncertainties about the floor plan have arisen. We cannot change the exterior dimensions anymore, but the interior layout feels off.
A quick note about the granny flat: it is intended for my parents. They will be living partly here and partly abroad. We do not want them to access the granny flat through our main apartment. A separate entrance is important, even though it is a bit inconvenient that we have two staircases. Later, the granny flat could be used by our son when he is older, or it could be converted into a hobby room, or something else.
On the ground floor, I would much rather have the kitchen where the living room is now, including a kitchen island. The problem is that the living room would then have to move to where the kitchen currently is, which at 3.13 m (10.3 ft) is far too narrow.
On the upper floor, a small storage room could be added just after the stairs to house the washing machine and dryer.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 386 sqm (4,155 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: see attachment
Floor area ratio: see attachment
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see attachment
Edge development
Parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Style: modern
Orientation: entrance faces north
Maximum heights/limits
Additional requirements: see attachment
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type
Modern style, gable roof, single-family house with granny flat
Basement, floors
Basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of residents, ages
Four adults (two in their mid-30s, two in their mid-60s) and one child (3 years old), possibly two soon
Room needs on ground and upper floors
Ground floor: living/dining area, kitchen, guest WC, pantry would be nice
Upper floor: main bedroom, two children’s rooms, bathroom, storage room would be great
Office: family use or home office?
No office needed
Guests per year
No need, independent of the granny flat
Open or closed architecture
Open plan
Conservative or modern building style: no details provided
Open kitchen, kitchen island
Open kitchen with island, full-height kitchen units
Number of dining seats
4–6
Fireplace
No, maybe bioethanol
Music/sound system wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage 7 × 3 m (23 × 10 ft)
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why something should or should not be included
Swapping the living room and kitchen would allow conversations on the couch in the evening without it being too noisy upstairs (due to the open space).
House Design
Designed by: our architect, but the plan is not quite right.
What do you like most? Why? Not much, actually
What do you dislike? Why? The combined living, dining, and kitchen areas are too narrow.
Price estimate by architect/planner: 450,000
Personal price limit for house, including fittings: 510,000
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, on which details or features could you compromise?
Can give up: floor-to-ceiling windows on the upper floor
Cannot give up: straight staircase and the open space; I’d rather not lose those
Why is the design the way it is now?
This is the third version from our planner, which we initially liked, but now we are uncertain.
The number of rooms, open space, and straight staircase have been considered.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
The living/dining area is too small and too narrow.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Development Plan/Restrictions
1. Would swapping the living room and kitchen be sensible? The future living room would need to be made wider since 3.13 m (10.3 ft) is too narrow.
2. Could a storage room be planned on the upper floor, possibly after the staircase?
3. What do you like or dislike?
I appreciate any suggestions and advice.
Best regards,
Nicolefl
We already have a finalized floor plan for our single-family home with a granny flat. The building permit application has been submitted. Unfortunately, during the eight months of waiting for the approval, some uncertainties about the floor plan have arisen. We cannot change the exterior dimensions anymore, but the interior layout feels off.
A quick note about the granny flat: it is intended for my parents. They will be living partly here and partly abroad. We do not want them to access the granny flat through our main apartment. A separate entrance is important, even though it is a bit inconvenient that we have two staircases. Later, the granny flat could be used by our son when he is older, or it could be converted into a hobby room, or something else.
On the ground floor, I would much rather have the kitchen where the living room is now, including a kitchen island. The problem is that the living room would then have to move to where the kitchen currently is, which at 3.13 m (10.3 ft) is far too narrow.
On the upper floor, a small storage room could be added just after the stairs to house the washing machine and dryer.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 386 sqm (4,155 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: see attachment
Floor area ratio: see attachment
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: see attachment
Edge development
Parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Style: modern
Orientation: entrance faces north
Maximum heights/limits
Additional requirements: see attachment
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type
Modern style, gable roof, single-family house with granny flat
Basement, floors
Basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of residents, ages
Four adults (two in their mid-30s, two in their mid-60s) and one child (3 years old), possibly two soon
Room needs on ground and upper floors
Ground floor: living/dining area, kitchen, guest WC, pantry would be nice
Upper floor: main bedroom, two children’s rooms, bathroom, storage room would be great
Office: family use or home office?
No office needed
Guests per year
No need, independent of the granny flat
Open or closed architecture
Open plan
Conservative or modern building style: no details provided
Open kitchen, kitchen island
Open kitchen with island, full-height kitchen units
Number of dining seats
4–6
Fireplace
No, maybe bioethanol
Music/sound system wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage 7 × 3 m (23 × 10 ft)
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why something should or should not be included
Swapping the living room and kitchen would allow conversations on the couch in the evening without it being too noisy upstairs (due to the open space).
House Design
Designed by: our architect, but the plan is not quite right.
What do you like most? Why? Not much, actually
What do you dislike? Why? The combined living, dining, and kitchen areas are too narrow.
Price estimate by architect/planner: 450,000
Personal price limit for house, including fittings: 510,000
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, on which details or features could you compromise?
Can give up: floor-to-ceiling windows on the upper floor
Cannot give up: straight staircase and the open space; I’d rather not lose those
Why is the design the way it is now?
This is the third version from our planner, which we initially liked, but now we are uncertain.
The number of rooms, open space, and straight staircase have been considered.
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?
The living/dining area is too small and too narrow.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Development Plan/Restrictions
1. Would swapping the living room and kitchen be sensible? The future living room would need to be made wider since 3.13 m (10.3 ft) is too narrow.
2. Could a storage room be planned on the upper floor, possibly after the staircase?
3. What do you like or dislike?
I appreciate any suggestions and advice.
Best regards,
Nicolefl
ypg schrieb:
What I also notice, which is poorly planned but could be changed by slightly shifting walls and moving doors: in the basement, the hallway is shared with the seniors. I imagine that is not ideal – the seniors basically have no privacy. What if they want to go from the bathroom to bed in the evening, and you are still working in the utility room down there? Yes, that is really problematic. It needs to be changed. I wouldn’t know how, though. But the architect will have to handle that.
11ant schrieb:
What doesn’t reach the teenager at his gaming device thanks to headphones, though, is the call for dinner ;-)Very nice, that will probably be how it isNemesis schrieb:
Too bad you didn’t respond to my post, which was the only one you didn’t address.
By the way, I still believe the price will never hold. Do you know everything that needs to be done by the client? What the fixed price actually covers? What about the flooring and painting? So the garage is included as well… as much as I wish it for you, it just won’t work. Sorry, I was having some trouble with quoting earlier. I hope I have now answered all the initial questions. It wasn’t intentional. I’m really happy to have found such a forum and very grateful for fresh and new ideas.
11ant schrieb:
What headphones can’t reach there with that teenager glued to his gaming device, the call for dinner still can’t get through ;- Nowadays, that’s done via WhatsApp. 😉On the subject: keep the straight staircase straight and design one that fits the house.
Then you’ll also solve the bigger part of the rest.
Nemesis schrieb:
By the way, I still believe the price will never hold. Do you know everything that needs to be done on your side? What exactly does the fixed price cover? What about flooring and painting? So the garage is included as well... as much as I wish that for you, it can’t work out. I’m not an expert, but I hope and think that many factors have been taken into account. The contractor has built around 40 houses in a new development. We took the time to visit many of them and simply asked. Everyone was very satisfied with the price and quality. I hope we will be satisfied as well.
Flooring is included, painting is not. Also, drywall finishing is not included. We will do that ourselves.
Nicolefl schrieb:
What about the roof structure? What I call the intermediate purlins receive no support due to the lack of load-bearing walls but instead span freely between the gable walls. Overall, the gable roof with a knee wall of 185cm (73 inches) on what is likely a "town villa" catalog design is unusual, and I further suspect this resulted from a compromise during coordination between the homeowners’ wishes and local planning permission requirements. It would have been wiser not to assume a square floor plan. Now, if you basically want to stick with this design, the otherwise also unwise straight staircase cannot really be changed either.
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