Hello everyone,
A few weeks ago, I shared our self-drawn floor plan ideas here. After receiving many helpful suggestions from you, we now have the preliminary drafts from the architect, which I would like to present for further discussion.
It is a two-family house, with one living unit on the ground floor (for my parents, later for rental) and the upper floors for us. The house will have a flat roof. The somewhat unconventional layout of the upper apartment (common living areas on the upper level, quiet rooms below) is intentional and what we want.
I look forward to your comments.
Thank you, Jim
A few weeks ago, I shared our self-drawn floor plan ideas here. After receiving many helpful suggestions from you, we now have the preliminary drafts from the architect, which I would like to present for further discussion.
It is a two-family house, with one living unit on the ground floor (for my parents, later for rental) and the upper floors for us. The house will have a flat roof. The somewhat unconventional layout of the upper apartment (common living areas on the upper level, quiet rooms below) is intentional and what we want.
I look forward to your comments.
Thank you, Jim
I was just thinking that carrying the shopping bags up to the second floor is like running a small marathon. That’s obviously annoying. Maybe having the stair exit facing south would be better after all. The kitchen would become smaller and more of an open space, but I’d arrive directly with the bags where I want to be.
Then I revisited the sauna idea. This would also create a small bathroom upstairs. I would then convert the small bathroom on the first floor back into a utility room.
Then I revisited the sauna idea. This would also create a small bathroom upstairs. I would then convert the small bathroom on the first floor back into a utility room.
Jim888 schrieb:
I’ve also looked at this mirrored staircase before. Two issues bothered me with that version:
- The wardrobe on the first upper floor (OG1) gets no natural light. Together with the interior hallway, it feels quite dark. Well, that seems completely not a problem to me. Front door with a large glass panel and windows in the internal walls – done.
Jim888 schrieb:
- On the second upper floor (OG2), the staircase felt way too far from the kitchen and pantry, which was a dealbreaker because of its location on OG2. That’s obviously possible with your kitchen position now. However, the kitchen would be open, which we actually didn’t want (very old-fashioned, I know). T No, that’s not old-fashioned. I also prefer to be able to close off the kitchen. But OG2 is really tricky. If the bathroom on the ground floor (EG) can stay between the two bedrooms and you don’t mind that, maybe it’s possible to run the plumbing through a small shaft via the utility room up to the upper floor. Then the kitchen could go back to its old place. But you’d have that long way again. Really tricky.
The only other idea I have is something like this:
You’d probably have to give up a bit of the terrace though, or else the hallway from the stairs to the living room would become too narrow.
Jim888 schrieb:
...also because my parents actually wanted a smaller living area. That would of course come at the expense of the living room. We’ll see... Well, my mother-in-law always complains that her apartment is too small. I think it’s over 100 m² (over 1,000 sq ft).
Jim888 schrieb:
We’re not really fireplace fans. I thought no one like that existed. I once threw it out upstairs. If you don’t enjoy it, then just get rid of it.
Jim888 schrieb:
Thanks a thousand!!!!! You’re welcome, as I said, it’s an addiction.
Jim888 schrieb:
(I wonder how to deal best with architects. Should you give them as much input as possible, or does that keep them from thinking for themselves? In this forum, I have gotten way more ideas than from the architect, which makes me think...) I would take all the ideas, but not as drawings, just in text form. When he says that won’t work, throw him another idea and rather wait to see what he comes up with.
Hello kaho, I really hope that you’re not actually addicted, but just having fun . Otherwise, I would feel quite bad.
The idea of having a glass section in the OG1 apartment door is great. It’s so simple, yet I hadn’t thought of it.
The OG2 layout won’t work exactly as you drew it because we (unfortunately) need to set back at least one wall thickness on all sides. So far, we have always worked with 40cm (16 inches). But that should be no problem for your concept: the stairwell can be 40cm (16 inches) wider, which doesn’t affect the ground floor or OG1. And the OG2 utility room can be smaller, so the bathroom and living room don’t have to shrink. Only the OG2 kitchen will require more back and forth for sure.
By the way, your idea of mirroring the stairwell would even allow us to move the apartment entrance door to the ground floor. However, this would not work with your ground floor layout but with one similar to our previous plan, with the entrance door facing south. In my opinion, this wouldn’t bring significant advantages for OG1.
I also experimented again with a non-mirrored 2 x 1/4 turn staircase. The reason is that I still prefer our old OG2 layout just a bit better, but that doesn’t make sense with a mirrored staircase because of the long route to the kitchen. OG1 would then look something like this:
I deliberately drew the stairwell wider than necessary so that the entry and exit areas are not too tight, or so that a stroller can temporarily stand right by the front door. After all, it has to go somewhere...
In any case, this could also work with the old OG1 room layout, which has almost identical children’s rooms with a practical shape (though due to the door positions they are not ideal for arranging furniture like wardrobes).
Well, I guess you and most other readers will prefer your suggestion. But I want to consider all options thoroughly at this stage…
The idea of having a glass section in the OG1 apartment door is great. It’s so simple, yet I hadn’t thought of it.
The OG2 layout won’t work exactly as you drew it because we (unfortunately) need to set back at least one wall thickness on all sides. So far, we have always worked with 40cm (16 inches). But that should be no problem for your concept: the stairwell can be 40cm (16 inches) wider, which doesn’t affect the ground floor or OG1. And the OG2 utility room can be smaller, so the bathroom and living room don’t have to shrink. Only the OG2 kitchen will require more back and forth for sure.
By the way, your idea of mirroring the stairwell would even allow us to move the apartment entrance door to the ground floor. However, this would not work with your ground floor layout but with one similar to our previous plan, with the entrance door facing south. In my opinion, this wouldn’t bring significant advantages for OG1.
I also experimented again with a non-mirrored 2 x 1/4 turn staircase. The reason is that I still prefer our old OG2 layout just a bit better, but that doesn’t make sense with a mirrored staircase because of the long route to the kitchen. OG1 would then look something like this:
I deliberately drew the stairwell wider than necessary so that the entry and exit areas are not too tight, or so that a stroller can temporarily stand right by the front door. After all, it has to go somewhere...
In any case, this could also work with the old OG1 room layout, which has almost identical children’s rooms with a practical shape (though due to the door positions they are not ideal for arranging furniture like wardrobes).
Well, I guess you and most other readers will prefer your suggestion. But I want to consider all options thoroughly at this stage…
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