ᐅ Floor Plan Design Basement and Ground Floor – Sloped Site
Created on: 21 Apr 2020 18:35
S
Sternchen31
Hello everyone,
The floor plan is almost finished, and now I would like to hear your opinions. We can still make changes if needed.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 717 sqm (7,716 sq ft)
Slope: downhill, 10% gradient
Building window, building line and boundary
Edge developments:
Number of parking spaces: prefabricated garage / double garage 6 x 7 m (20 x 23 ft)
Building levels: basement + ground floor
Roof style: gable roof
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: basement + ground floor
Number of residents, age: 2 adults / 1 toddler
Space requirement on ground and upper floors: approx. 140 sqm (1,507 sq ft)
Office: children’s room / office / guest room combined
Number of overnight guests per year: 3
Fireplace: no
Terrace: yes
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What do you especially like? Why? Mostly drawn according to our wishes
What don’t you like? Why? Dining area too narrow between kitchen and living room (the left kitchen unit must be this long (from left to right: raised dishwasher, oven and microwave stacked, door to pantry, side-by-side refrigerator, tall cabinet). On the right side, we are considering shortening it a bit to gain more space in the dining area.
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: €400,000
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings: €410,000
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details/expansions
- can you give up: open
- can’t you give up: open
Why is the design as it is now?
We spent a long time drawing, changing, and adapting ourselves. This is the result of collaboration between the planner and our wishes.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? All
Information:
The house will be a single-family home built in solid construction, KFW55 standard, with photovoltaic system, underfloor heating, air-to-water heat pump, gable roof with a 22° pitch. The family planning is complete with 2 adults and 1 toddler. The house is built on a sloped hillside plot with a 10% gradient, accessed from the street. The basement parts fully covered by earth are made of waterproof concrete, the rest is masonry. The south side faces the street and thus has the main terrace. The passage between kitchen and pantry is hidden behind a concealed door in the kitchen wall unit. From the entrance area to the pantry, access is either via a sliding door or a regular door opening towards the pantry. A lifting system for the lower bathroom is not required since the slope from bathroom to sewer will be 2.8%. The sewer connection on our property is located at a depth of 3.39 meters (11 ft). The house will also be built slightly higher than the street level. A backflow valve is, of course, planned. From the lower bathroom, there is another door leading into the rear garden (north/east). Instead of a deeper foundation due to the slope, the double garage (prefabricated garage) will have a transverse utility garage with a side door, 3 x 7 m (10 x 23 ft), so it can be used as storage / cellar / garden equipment space. The terrace will not extend as much around the corner as in the plan, allowing the ground to slope down more quickly there.
After so much planning, thinking, and revising, it is easy to become blind to details and overlook some things. Therefore, we appreciate any criticism, tips, tricks, and suggestions
Fire away & thank you very much in advance.
The floor plan is almost finished, and now I would like to hear your opinions. We can still make changes if needed.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 717 sqm (7,716 sq ft)
Slope: downhill, 10% gradient
Building window, building line and boundary
Edge developments:
Number of parking spaces: prefabricated garage / double garage 6 x 7 m (20 x 23 ft)
Building levels: basement + ground floor
Roof style: gable roof
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: basement + ground floor
Number of residents, age: 2 adults / 1 toddler
Space requirement on ground and upper floors: approx. 140 sqm (1,507 sq ft)
Office: children’s room / office / guest room combined
Number of overnight guests per year: 3
Fireplace: no
Terrace: yes
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
Designer: planner from a construction company
What do you especially like? Why? Mostly drawn according to our wishes
What don’t you like? Why? Dining area too narrow between kitchen and living room (the left kitchen unit must be this long (from left to right: raised dishwasher, oven and microwave stacked, door to pantry, side-by-side refrigerator, tall cabinet). On the right side, we are considering shortening it a bit to gain more space in the dining area.
Estimated cost according to architect/planner: €400,000
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings: €410,000
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump with underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details/expansions
- can you give up: open
- can’t you give up: open
Why is the design as it is now?
We spent a long time drawing, changing, and adapting ourselves. This is the result of collaboration between the planner and our wishes.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? All
Information:
The house will be a single-family home built in solid construction, KFW55 standard, with photovoltaic system, underfloor heating, air-to-water heat pump, gable roof with a 22° pitch. The family planning is complete with 2 adults and 1 toddler. The house is built on a sloped hillside plot with a 10% gradient, accessed from the street. The basement parts fully covered by earth are made of waterproof concrete, the rest is masonry. The south side faces the street and thus has the main terrace. The passage between kitchen and pantry is hidden behind a concealed door in the kitchen wall unit. From the entrance area to the pantry, access is either via a sliding door or a regular door opening towards the pantry. A lifting system for the lower bathroom is not required since the slope from bathroom to sewer will be 2.8%. The sewer connection on our property is located at a depth of 3.39 meters (11 ft). The house will also be built slightly higher than the street level. A backflow valve is, of course, planned. From the lower bathroom, there is another door leading into the rear garden (north/east). Instead of a deeper foundation due to the slope, the double garage (prefabricated garage) will have a transverse utility garage with a side door, 3 x 7 m (10 x 23 ft), so it can be used as storage / cellar / garden equipment space. The terrace will not extend as much around the corner as in the plan, allowing the ground to slope down more quickly there.
After so much planning, thinking, and revising, it is easy to become blind to details and overlook some things. Therefore, we appreciate any criticism, tips, tricks, and suggestions
Fire away & thank you very much in advance.
S
Sternchen3128 Apr 2020 21:59haydee schrieb:
There are also general contractors who don’t rely on model homes and glossy brochures but offer customized solutions.
Is the structural engineering already done and accounted for? A 10,000 Euro buffer for additional construction costs is very low for a house on a hillside.We contacted several architects; some declined immediately because they were already fully booked for 2020 and 2021. Two of them said they no longer design single-family homes.
The structural engineering has already been checked and taken into account, yes.
S
Sternchen3128 Apr 2020 22:0911ant schrieb:
There are many independent architects who, even at below-standard fees, bring more creativity to handle grip details than the general contractor’s draftsman. The off-the-shelf design here was already so heavily altered that it requires a custom structural analysis, etc. It would be more efficient to start with a fresh plan. It was not altered from an off-the-shelf design. We spent a long time drawing exactly how we wanted it ourselves. We contacted numerous architects; some completely declined because they were fully booked for 2020 and 2021, and two even told us they no longer take on single-family houses. We worked extensively with one architect, and by that I really mean a lot of back and forth. We clearly stated what we wanted but received something completely different. No double garage, but only a single garage with a carport to create plenty of space next to the neighbor on the right, because she thought it would look more harmonious from the outside. Then not a ground floor plus basement, but a cellar with ground floor plus first floor, although we clearly said we did not want that. Sorry, but then I don’t need an architect. The construction company we chose has a draftsman who is a certified engineer and has worked for a long time as a draftsman in a structural engineering office. He contributed many ideas and made changes to the plan. The whole project was planned completely from scratch and not remodeled—I don’t recall ever saying otherwise.
What kind of patio doors will be installed in the basement? If they are intended to be used as garden entrances and exits, they will need to be operable from the outside as well, right? In other words, you shouldn’t have to open the door from the inside first and then just close it.
Wow, architects are really all either fully booked or completely crazy. So who are you building with now?
I think your plan is pretty okay. However, your wishes seem quite unusual to me. In my opinion, the garden is completely left out of the design. Instead, you’re squeezing yourselves with coffee cups right by the street and into the corner near the neighbor. That means you’ll be sitting between noisy, smelly cars at the neighbor’s driveway, where their garage will likely block most of the sunlight from you. Well, I guess that way you’ll see your neighbors more often.
I think your plan is pretty okay. However, your wishes seem quite unusual to me. In my opinion, the garden is completely left out of the design. Instead, you’re squeezing yourselves with coffee cups right by the street and into the corner near the neighbor. That means you’ll be sitting between noisy, smelly cars at the neighbor’s driveway, where their garage will likely block most of the sunlight from you. Well, I guess that way you’ll see your neighbors more often.
S
Sternchen3129 Apr 2020 10:25kaho674 schrieb:
Wow, architects are really all "sold out" or completely crazy. So who are you building with now?
I think your plan is okay. But I find your requests really unusual. In my opinion, the garden is completely excluded from the plan. Instead, you squeeze yourselves with the coffee cups onto the street and into the neighbor’s corner. That means you end up sitting among the smelly and noisy cars in the neighbor’s driveway, where their garage will probably block most of the sun for you. Well, at least you get to see your neighbors more often.I seriously wonder how these assumptions and resulting interpretations come about. When did I say that we would be sitting among smelly and noisy cars in the neighbor’s driveway? To be precise, we even have the neighbor’s submitted site plan on the left side, whose garage starts just as far back as ours, so first of all, we don’t see theirs but ours. We also know by now from the neighbor on our right that he will build his garage on the right side of his house, which means first there is the plot, then the neighbor’s house, and then the garage, which will also be parallel to the house, so we won’t even get to see it.
Smelly exhaust: this is neither a through-road nor a main road or anything like that, but just an access road to the new development area. Since there is also one on the other side, only part of the new development will use this street, of course including guests, postal vehicles, and so on.
In my opinion, the garden is definitely not excluded from the plan. Really, how do you come to that conclusion? Because I said that the garden design is not properly shown in what I attached? We have already been in contact with two landscape designers in parallel, discussed all options, and received quotes. So we know very well what the garden will eventually look like.
What exactly is unusual about our requests? I would like that explained in more detail.
When I look at new housing developments and some plans here in the forum, I ask myself what is really unusual. Architects are not the only ones doing good planning work, sorry but I see it differently. Houses in the middle of nowhere, with endless gardens, no neighbors, no adjacent garages or cars—where can you still find that nowadays? Fully planned houses with smart home systems, gardens planned down to the last detail, expensive terrace installations, oversized garages, architect-designed homes at prices nobody can afford anymore, pools and so on, mainly financed over 50 years with the hope that nothing extra will happen during that time to cost more money? Now those are unusual ideas. Believe me, I know exactly what I’m talking about. I worked for a long time as a mortgage advisor and am familiar with the completely exaggerated expectations of homebuilders. Everything has to look great on the outside, with debt stretched into old age. Everything can be financed, preferably beyond death, who cares. When you have attended foreclosure auctions, you see what happens to families.
S
Sternchen3129 Apr 2020 10:29kaho674 schrieb:
Wow, architects are really all "sold out" or completely crazy. So who are you building with now?I never said that architects are sold out or crazy. I said that many have no capacity to take us on this year or even next year. And yes, an architect who doesn’t consider our wishes, designs something we don’t want, offers a proposal €80,000 over budget with a three-story house, saying it would fit better into the surroundings, is not the right one for me.
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