Hello everyone!
My husband and I are in the early stages of planning our house. We had to submit a preliminary house plan to our local municipality (Salzburg Land/Austria) on short notice due to certain requirements. We developed this plan together with our designer with very little preparation time.
We have a somewhat unusual floor plan, in our opinion, featuring a setback on the ground floor, and we mainly want to hear your opinions about this. Our primary concern is whether we have taken a completely absurd approach or if we can build on this basic idea. Our biggest issue is that so far we haven’t seen a single house with this type of floor plan (neither online nor in real life, at least around Salzburg and nearby ...) and naturally, we wonder why. Does it have any significant disadvantages? Does it look strange in any way?
We look forward to your feedback and are already very grateful for your constructive criticism and especially your time to help us.
Now to the questionnaire:
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size 920 m² (9,900 sq ft)
Slope Elevated plot, gently sloping on three sides
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type rural-modern, gable roof, two-family house
Basement, floors Basement, 2 full floors, attic
Number of occupants, ages Currently three (28, 29, and 8 months old) with 1-2 more children planned
Space requirements on ground and upper floors
Ground floor: spacious open kitchen with integrated pantry, dining area, living room, WC, bathroom, office (later a bedroom)
Upper floor: 3 children’s bedrooms, family bathroom, WC
Attic: master bedroom with bathroom and an additional room (extra bedroom / hobby room)
Ground floor + upper floor approx. 200 m² (2,150 sq ft); attic size not yet finalized
Office For family use and later bedroom
Kitchen L-shaped with cooking island and wood stove
Number of dining seats 6-8, possibly extendable table for more space
Fireplace Yes – planned as a room divider between living room and "common room"
Balcony Balcony on the first floor – should eventually be large enough for the second family
Garage Small garage for 1 vehicle and a larger garage for 2 vehicles
House design
Planned by:
Designer from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
Cost estimate according to architect/designer not yet available – only a preliminary draft
Personal budget for house including fixtures and fittings 350,000 € (with a lot of personal labor)
Preferred heating technology Heat pump
If you had to give up something, which features/finishes
- Could give up: attic expansion initially, but want to keep the possibility for future use
- Cannot give up: a cozy and large kitchen/dining area is very important to us
Why does the design look the way it does?
The most important aspect of our planning is that the house can be converted into a two-family home in the future when one of our children would need it, earliest in 20–25 years. That would mean one living unit on the ground floor and a second on the first floor plus the attic.
The office planned on the ground floor would then be used as a bedroom. The staircase can be completely separated with a (already marked) wall but is intended to remain open until then.
The attic is planned to house the master bedroom with bathroom. This is where the plan shows the biggest weaknesses for us: the bedroom is too large, and the bathroom is too small. This definitely needs to be changed.
Why sleep in the attic? There is not enough space on the ground floor, and we want to keep privacy from the children’s bedrooms so that when our kids are older and have friends/partners visiting, everyone can have their own space. We know this might be inconvenient with small children/babies due to additional distances, but since children’s bedrooms 1 and 2 are relatively large, siblings could share a room, and bedroom 3 could serve as a “backup bedroom” for us. We are only planning for two children but you never know!
If later children’s bedrooms 1 and 2 become kitchen/living areas, there would then be one bedroom on the first floor and two more in the attic.
What we particularly like is the idea of the split-level living room. We are aware that opinions on this are very divided and most experts discourage it. However, the level difference is only 36 cm (2 steps), and we believe it will be manageable even as we get older.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
We would really like to know from you:
My husband and I are in the early stages of planning our house. We had to submit a preliminary house plan to our local municipality (Salzburg Land/Austria) on short notice due to certain requirements. We developed this plan together with our designer with very little preparation time.
We have a somewhat unusual floor plan, in our opinion, featuring a setback on the ground floor, and we mainly want to hear your opinions about this. Our primary concern is whether we have taken a completely absurd approach or if we can build on this basic idea. Our biggest issue is that so far we haven’t seen a single house with this type of floor plan (neither online nor in real life, at least around Salzburg and nearby ...) and naturally, we wonder why. Does it have any significant disadvantages? Does it look strange in any way?
We look forward to your feedback and are already very grateful for your constructive criticism and especially your time to help us.
Now to the questionnaire:
Development plan / Restrictions
Plot size 920 m² (9,900 sq ft)
Slope Elevated plot, gently sloping on three sides
Owners’ requirements
Style, roof type, building type rural-modern, gable roof, two-family house
Basement, floors Basement, 2 full floors, attic
Number of occupants, ages Currently three (28, 29, and 8 months old) with 1-2 more children planned
Space requirements on ground and upper floors
Ground floor: spacious open kitchen with integrated pantry, dining area, living room, WC, bathroom, office (later a bedroom)
Upper floor: 3 children’s bedrooms, family bathroom, WC
Attic: master bedroom with bathroom and an additional room (extra bedroom / hobby room)
Ground floor + upper floor approx. 200 m² (2,150 sq ft); attic size not yet finalized
Office For family use and later bedroom
Kitchen L-shaped with cooking island and wood stove
Number of dining seats 6-8, possibly extendable table for more space
Fireplace Yes – planned as a room divider between living room and "common room"
Balcony Balcony on the first floor – should eventually be large enough for the second family
Garage Small garage for 1 vehicle and a larger garage for 2 vehicles
House design
Planned by:
Designer from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
- “Split-level” living room – in our opinion, this creates a visual separation between the kitchen/dining area and is our little “highlight.” The living room remains a distinct living space and doesn’t get cluttered with toys because the common room offers plenty of space.
- “Common room” – this refers to the area between the living room and kitchen in front of the terrace door – lots of space for children to play and creates an open atmosphere while keeping the living room somewhat separated. Where a sofa is drawn, a fireplace with a reading corner as a room divider is also planned.
- Setback at the terrace – seating area covered and wind-protected with privacy screening. The resulting floor plan (where the living room is not directly adjacent to the kitchen and dining area as in many open-concept designs) is something we like.
- The office is intended to become our bedroom later, but in our opinion, it is currently too small for that.
- Main entrance is in the basement – spatially, the floor plan doesn’t allow for another solution; otherwise, the entrance would be on the back of the house, which we do not like. However, there is certainly another entrance on the ground floor for easier access when bringing in groceries, so you don’t have to carry everything through the basement.
- The cloakroom in the basement is still too small but can be easily enlarged – just mentioning this in case someone notices.
Cost estimate according to architect/designer not yet available – only a preliminary draft
Personal budget for house including fixtures and fittings 350,000 € (with a lot of personal labor)
Preferred heating technology Heat pump
If you had to give up something, which features/finishes
- Could give up: attic expansion initially, but want to keep the possibility for future use
- Cannot give up: a cozy and large kitchen/dining area is very important to us
Why does the design look the way it does?
The most important aspect of our planning is that the house can be converted into a two-family home in the future when one of our children would need it, earliest in 20–25 years. That would mean one living unit on the ground floor and a second on the first floor plus the attic.
The office planned on the ground floor would then be used as a bedroom. The staircase can be completely separated with a (already marked) wall but is intended to remain open until then.
The attic is planned to house the master bedroom with bathroom. This is where the plan shows the biggest weaknesses for us: the bedroom is too large, and the bathroom is too small. This definitely needs to be changed.
Why sleep in the attic? There is not enough space on the ground floor, and we want to keep privacy from the children’s bedrooms so that when our kids are older and have friends/partners visiting, everyone can have their own space. We know this might be inconvenient with small children/babies due to additional distances, but since children’s bedrooms 1 and 2 are relatively large, siblings could share a room, and bedroom 3 could serve as a “backup bedroom” for us. We are only planning for two children but you never know!
If later children’s bedrooms 1 and 2 become kitchen/living areas, there would then be one bedroom on the first floor and two more in the attic.
What we particularly like is the idea of the split-level living room. We are aware that opinions on this are very divided and most experts discourage it. However, the level difference is only 36 cm (2 steps), and we believe it will be manageable even as we get older.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
We would really like to know from you:
- Is there a name for this floor plan style (like L-shaped or U-shaped)?
- What do you think in general about the idea of the setback? We like the idea of having a covered terrace area and the resulting floor plan. We haven’t seen houses or floor plans like this before (if at all, only with bungalows) and wonder why? Does nobody like it, or are there disadvantages we are overlooking? Do you have experiences with sunlight exposure – will it be a problem that the setback measures 3.5 m (11.5 ft) from the balcony edge to the terrace door?
- Even though we love the idea, we would appreciate experiences and opinions on the split-level living room.
- Would you build the wall separating the common room from the living room (shown as 1.20 m (4 ft) high in the plan) all the way to the ceiling?
- Suggestions and ideas for the office/bedroom on the ground floor – how could the layout be changed to make the room at least 5 m² (54 sq ft) larger?
G
goldmarieeeee6 Jun 2019 09:12haydee schrieb:
You are building a house for yourselves and 2-3 children. This is how I would plan it.
Separating the living room into a bedroom and converting the upper floor is always an option. The attic can be reserved for future expansion.
At the moment, you have a huge box with a lot of storage space and one extra room on each floor. That costs money for nothing.
The stair location creates hallway space, especially because it is not continuous.
You’re right, and we have now realized that our current plan is too generous for the present time or near future. We’ll see how we can optimize things while still having enough space for later. The issue with empty rooms on every floor is unfortunately true. We just really wanted a private area for ourselves… when the kids get older and constantly have friends or partners visiting, we want everyone to have their own privacy.
Unfortunately, I don’t quite understand the criticism about the staircase layout that has been mentioned several times. So I’m not sure what is meant? At least on the ground floor, the staircase has to be positioned that way to allow for possible future separation. And isn’t it much more wasteful of space if the stairs are placed in the middle of the room? I don’t fully understand… maybe you can clarify for me.
Usually, stairs are placed in a stairwell, even though it is no longer the traditional stairwell as it used to be, but rather part of the living area. However, it makes sense to align all stairs across all floors vertically, because this uses less floor space than having two separate stairwells, for example when the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor are positioned differently than the stairs from the first floor to the attic.
That is what is meant by this.
That is what is meant by this.
G
goldmarieeeee6 Jun 2019 09:21[A QUOTE="Altai, post: 327555, member: 47702"]
A friend has a genuine two-family house, with one apartment on the ground floor and one on the upper floor/attic, totaling 180m² (1,937 sq ft) of living space.
He now lives there alone, or with his two younger children when they are not with their mother.
Previously, his father lived in the lower apartment; he has since passed away.
The older daughter studies 400km (250 miles) away, and in my opinion, the hope that she will come back home afterward and move into the lower apartment is unlikely to come true. She has a boyfriend where she studies and has made her first contacts with potential employers through internships; she likes it there...
He doesn’t want to rent it out because that would mean bringing strangers into the house...
From this perspective, I wouldn’t place too much emphasis on the possibility that the children might continue living there when planning... Who knows what will happen then? You build for the present and the near future! Especially if the budget is limited. Although the original poster emphasizes that she doesn’t see this as a problem, there was almost a factor of two between the wish and reality (or a rough estimate)...
I would build the house that you need NOW and in the next one or two decades.
[/QUOTE]
I totally understand what you mean. At first, we were unsure whether we really wanted that, especially since you only build a house once in a lifetime, and it should reflect your own needs and wishes.
In the end, we decided to go for it anyway, for two reasons:
- In our region, you can see an extension or addition being built onto every second house (even though houses here are already quite spacious), simply because buying land plus building a house can never be fully financed, and even if it is financially possible, there is virtually no land available for building; and before some unattractive extension gets added to my house in 20 years, I’d rather plan ahead now.
- With a really well-thought-out and somewhat creative design, we hope to combine our own dream with some foresight for future use. This is just the beginning, and it will still be a long process, but we are currently at the start of our planning.
A friend has a genuine two-family house, with one apartment on the ground floor and one on the upper floor/attic, totaling 180m² (1,937 sq ft) of living space.
He now lives there alone, or with his two younger children when they are not with their mother.
Previously, his father lived in the lower apartment; he has since passed away.
The older daughter studies 400km (250 miles) away, and in my opinion, the hope that she will come back home afterward and move into the lower apartment is unlikely to come true. She has a boyfriend where she studies and has made her first contacts with potential employers through internships; she likes it there...
He doesn’t want to rent it out because that would mean bringing strangers into the house...
From this perspective, I wouldn’t place too much emphasis on the possibility that the children might continue living there when planning... Who knows what will happen then? You build for the present and the near future! Especially if the budget is limited. Although the original poster emphasizes that she doesn’t see this as a problem, there was almost a factor of two between the wish and reality (or a rough estimate)...
I would build the house that you need NOW and in the next one or two decades.
[/QUOTE]
I totally understand what you mean. At first, we were unsure whether we really wanted that, especially since you only build a house once in a lifetime, and it should reflect your own needs and wishes.
In the end, we decided to go for it anyway, for two reasons:
- In our region, you can see an extension or addition being built onto every second house (even though houses here are already quite spacious), simply because buying land plus building a house can never be fully financed, and even if it is financially possible, there is virtually no land available for building; and before some unattractive extension gets added to my house in 20 years, I’d rather plan ahead now.
- With a really well-thought-out and somewhat creative design, we hope to combine our own dream with some foresight for future use. This is just the beginning, and it will still be a long process, but we are currently at the start of our planning.
G
goldmarieeeee6 Jun 2019 09:26Climbee schrieb:
Usually, staircases are placed within a stairwell, even though today’s stairwells are different from the traditional kind and often form part of the living area. However, it makes sense to align all staircases vertically through the floors, as this uses less floor space compared to having two separate stairwells, especially when the staircase from the ground floor to the first floor is positioned differently than the one from the first floor to the attic.
That’s what is meant by this.ok, thank you very much for the explanation!
G
goldmarieeeee6 Jun 2019 09:4711ant schrieb:
So basically, it’s the exterior that you haven’t fallen in love with yet, but despite the quick decision, the floor plan is already close to what you actually want to build? I just feel that many things don’t work with this exterior design of the house, and it looks too bulky, busy, and overloaded. But that’s not really our main concern at the moment.
It’s actually the ground floor layout that we’ve grown quite fond of, though we’re not sure whether it might turn out to be a misguided attachment.
We find it challenging with today’s common open-concept style... it’s beautiful, of course, but also quite impractical when living/dining/cooking all happen on the same level. With the setback and the lowered living room, at least for us, it created a bit of "separation" between the different areas without losing the "free and open" character. But precisely because we’re so uncertain, we’re hoping for some input and opinions here.
goldmarieeeee schrieb:
It’s actually the ground floor layout we’ve kind of fallen for, but we’re not sure if it will turn out to be an unfortunate love. I don’t find it successful—especially considering your thoughts.
Regarding the staircase position: the corner solution creates a long hallway. The kitchen, which should normally be centrally located in a family with children, has the longest route to travel. Everything has to pass by the living room, even though you are looking for privacy.
Your recess is neither one thing nor the other and restricts a terrace in the passage area.
There is no cloakroom or enough space for 4–5 people at the entrance. Where less space is needed, a turning circle has been created, which feels like a dead end. The pantry is too narrow to access properly. A corner bench might work at the edge, but there is no room for a freestanding table. The counter is narrow at only 60 cm (24 inches).
I’ve already mentioned the central open area. You shouldn’t plan building blocks in front of the terrace door or in a passageway.
A bathroom should be sufficient for guests and later serve as a master bathroom. The room intended to become a bedroom later should be planned with at least 12 sqm (130 sq ft) and can initially be positioned to serve as a playroom for the first few years.