ᐅ Floor plan designs for a single-family house on a 640 m² plot with a low eaves height
Created on: 22 Sep 2020 10:43
D
derschwax
Good morning!
My girlfriend and I have reserved a plot of land in between other properties, which is being sold privately through a real estate agent, and we already had an initial meeting with an architect. A second meeting with another architect is scheduled for tomorrow. During the first meeting, our needs and wishes were recorded, and at the end, a rather steep price was given. We reluctantly accepted it for the time being and then silently drove home for 30 minutes. We continued researching construction costs and found out that—no matter how you look at it—building significantly cheaper is hardly possible without compromises.
Since then, my mind has been spinning about what the house’s floor plan on the plot could even look like. My girlfriend is dreaming of two full floors and is looking at nice floor plans on Instagram. That is not practical at all in my opinion because a solution deviating from the "standard" is needed to meet our requirements. So these are daydreams that are likely to burst soon. Arguments and conflict are inevitable. I’m trying to prevent that by reading up and educating myself.
I hope for honest assessments, advice, and perhaps some links to helpful threads.
Questionnaire about Your Floor Plan
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: approximately 640 m² (7,000 sq ft)
Slope: yes
Site occupancy index (floor area ratio): 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.7
Setback from property boundary: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof (24–30° pitch)
Orientation: ridge parallel to street
Eaves height on valley side: 3 m (10 feet)
Eaves height on hillside side: 6 m (20 feet)
I will attach the zoning plan including the section to locate the plot, as well as aerial photos later.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Living space: 160–180 m² (1,700–1,940 sq ft)
Basement and floors: maximize floor space index, basement with double garage and office on hillside side
2 (4) persons: ages 32 and 30, 2 children planned
Room needs on ground floor: cloakroom, guest toilet, open living-dining area, additional room (playroom, office for family use, guest room)
Room needs on upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms with bathroom for children, 1 master bedroom with dressing room and private bathroom
Office: family use on ground floor, home office in basement
Guests overnight per year: 4
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative style
Open kitchen with island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony: not necessary—if it fits the floor plan, OK, but not essential
Garage, carport: double garage in basement with parking spaces in front
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
So far, we’ve considered pushing the basement forward so that a terrace could be extended like a kind of balcony in front of the house at this offset. We enjoy the evening sun. Otherwise, I’m holding back ideas and waiting to see what the architect will answer tomorrow to the questions that have come up during the planning process.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you know floor plan designs with similar restrictions (slope, floor space index 0.7, eaves heights 3 m/6 m)? Or any other useful tips? The zoning plan is from 1978—can we negotiate with the city about these requirements?
My girlfriend and I have reserved a plot of land in between other properties, which is being sold privately through a real estate agent, and we already had an initial meeting with an architect. A second meeting with another architect is scheduled for tomorrow. During the first meeting, our needs and wishes were recorded, and at the end, a rather steep price was given. We reluctantly accepted it for the time being and then silently drove home for 30 minutes. We continued researching construction costs and found out that—no matter how you look at it—building significantly cheaper is hardly possible without compromises.
Since then, my mind has been spinning about what the house’s floor plan on the plot could even look like. My girlfriend is dreaming of two full floors and is looking at nice floor plans on Instagram. That is not practical at all in my opinion because a solution deviating from the "standard" is needed to meet our requirements. So these are daydreams that are likely to burst soon. Arguments and conflict are inevitable. I’m trying to prevent that by reading up and educating myself.
I hope for honest assessments, advice, and perhaps some links to helpful threads.
Questionnaire about Your Floor Plan
Zoning plan / restrictions
Plot size: approximately 640 m² (7,000 sq ft)
Slope: yes
Site occupancy index (floor area ratio): 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.7
Setback from property boundary: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: gable roof (24–30° pitch)
Orientation: ridge parallel to street
Eaves height on valley side: 3 m (10 feet)
Eaves height on hillside side: 6 m (20 feet)
I will attach the zoning plan including the section to locate the plot, as well as aerial photos later.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Living space: 160–180 m² (1,700–1,940 sq ft)
Basement and floors: maximize floor space index, basement with double garage and office on hillside side
2 (4) persons: ages 32 and 30, 2 children planned
Room needs on ground floor: cloakroom, guest toilet, open living-dining area, additional room (playroom, office for family use, guest room)
Room needs on upper floor: 2 children’s bedrooms with bathroom for children, 1 master bedroom with dressing room and private bathroom
Office: family use on ground floor, home office in basement
Guests overnight per year: 4
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative style
Open kitchen with island: yes
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: yes
Music/speaker wall: no
Balcony: not necessary—if it fits the floor plan, OK, but not essential
Garage, carport: double garage in basement with parking spaces in front
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
House Design
So far, we’ve considered pushing the basement forward so that a terrace could be extended like a kind of balcony in front of the house at this offset. We enjoy the evening sun. Otherwise, I’m holding back ideas and waiting to see what the architect will answer tomorrow to the questions that have come up during the planning process.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Do you know floor plan designs with similar restrictions (slope, floor space index 0.7, eaves heights 3 m/6 m)? Or any other useful tips? The zoning plan is from 1978—can we negotiate with the city about these requirements?
D
derschwax24 Sep 2020 15:30The profiles of matte1987 and hampshire are not visible to me (I wanted to find the threads through them). I was able to find the plans from sichtbeton82.
If you have any links, please feel free to share.
If you have any links, please feel free to share.
Here is my planning thread
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-mit-dachterrasse-in-passau.13943/
Pictures of the interior can be found here
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-bilderthread-zeigt-her-eure-hausbilder.14011/post-235632
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-bilderthread-zeigt-her-eure-hausbilder.14011/post-237153
Exterior photos here
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-bilderthread-zeigt-her-eure-hausbilder.14011/post-257355
I can only strongly advise planning WITH the terrain on a sloped plot, not against it.
When I sometimes drive through new housing developments, I really wonder. Huge amounts of soil are moved just to place a “normal” house on a sloped site.
At first, we thought the same way, but in the end, I’m very glad that we embraced the plot as it is.
@11ant Didn’t you once create a thread where users could share their planning progress and how the construction eventually went? I once posted a shortened version of our story there, but I can’t find the thread now.
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-mit-dachterrasse-in-passau.13943/
Pictures of the interior can be found here
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-bilderthread-zeigt-her-eure-hausbilder.14011/post-235632
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-bilderthread-zeigt-her-eure-hausbilder.14011/post-237153
Exterior photos here
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/haus-bilderthread-zeigt-her-eure-hausbilder.14011/post-257355
I can only strongly advise planning WITH the terrain on a sloped plot, not against it.
When I sometimes drive through new housing developments, I really wonder. Huge amounts of soil are moved just to place a “normal” house on a sloped site.
At first, we thought the same way, but in the end, I’m very glad that we embraced the plot as it is.
@11ant Didn’t you once create a thread where users could share their planning progress and how the construction eventually went? I once posted a shortened version of our story there, but I can’t find the thread now.
derschwax schrieb:
I can’t view the profiles of matte1987 and hampshire (I wanted to find their threads that way). If the member name doesn’t open when you hover over it and click, then try clicking on the number of their posts instead. You won’t see details like their age or occupation, but you can still read their posts. However, I think there’s some kind of glitch in the forum software: I often see restricted access to new members’ profiles more often than usual. So I assume it’s a default privacy setting that you first need to disable.
matte1987 schrieb:
I can only strongly recommend planning WITH the terrain on a sloped plot, not against it. Absolutely — but first of all, thanks for your excellent tip to provide the references yourself, which I usually have to dig up. Building against the plot, I have to say plainly, is a textbook example for the saying “God punishes small sins immediately” — that way the house can’t get a solid footing. A slope is not the enemy, but it can quickly look like one if you’ve been intoxicated beforehand by picture collections with dreamy visions of slab foundations for tiny castles.
matte1987 schrieb:
@11ant Didn’t you start a thread where users could show their planning progress and how the building was ultimately constructed? I once briefly summarized our story there, but can’t find the thread now. Ah, you probably mean my “Grütze” thread https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/gruetze-der-sammelthread-fuer-zerknuellte-grundrisse-co.30156/ — check posts #4 and #5 there.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
H
hampshire24 Sep 2020 22:55I can’t find the thread anymore.
I once posted a floor plan somewhere. We built a single-story house quite high up on a hillside. One side is built into the slope, supported with concrete foundations, and the other side extends slightly out of the hill. The slope is a bit steeper than yours. We have a somewhat larger plot than you and were therefore able to build a bit wider, but with hardly any depth. The left half of the house consists of one room plus a bathroom over two levels. Under the upper level on the north side, there is rock. In the middle is a combined space for the entrance, laundry room, and wardrobe. We made separate apartments for the children next to us. Their own front door, kitchen unit, bathroom, and no connection inside the house. To the south, the living units are connected by a wooden terrace/balcony. It wasn’t exactly cost-optimized, but after a little more than a year living in the house, we feel very comfortable. The hillside and driveway added significant extra costs. In return, we have a wonderful, unobstructed view over all the roofs of the 40-house village down into the valley.
Details gladly via private message or feel free to visit.
The pictures are not very recent; some areas are now more overgrown again, the rubbish cleared away, and the hot tub set up.
House with a south-southeast-facing balcony
View with coffee from the dining table:
Slope reinforcement at the driveway:
Entrance on the north side:
I once posted a floor plan somewhere. We built a single-story house quite high up on a hillside. One side is built into the slope, supported with concrete foundations, and the other side extends slightly out of the hill. The slope is a bit steeper than yours. We have a somewhat larger plot than you and were therefore able to build a bit wider, but with hardly any depth. The left half of the house consists of one room plus a bathroom over two levels. Under the upper level on the north side, there is rock. In the middle is a combined space for the entrance, laundry room, and wardrobe. We made separate apartments for the children next to us. Their own front door, kitchen unit, bathroom, and no connection inside the house. To the south, the living units are connected by a wooden terrace/balcony. It wasn’t exactly cost-optimized, but after a little more than a year living in the house, we feel very comfortable. The hillside and driveway added significant extra costs. In return, we have a wonderful, unobstructed view over all the roofs of the 40-house village down into the valley.
Details gladly via private message or feel free to visit.
The pictures are not very recent; some areas are now more overgrown again, the rubbish cleared away, and the hot tub set up.
House with a south-southeast-facing balcony
View with coffee from the dining table:
Slope reinforcement at the driveway:
Entrance on the north side:
S
sichtbeton8225 Sep 2020 13:23I can only advise you to work with an architect who is already well known and trusted by the local building authority and discuss your project with them. We went to our initial consultation with a very simple sketch. We planned three floors. The lower floor extends further out compared to the upper floor (terrace/balcony). We also have a very old development plan that requires building only one full story. That means one full floor. The attic is not considered a full story because it is smaller than three-quarters of the ground floor. The basement is not a full story either, as it is (on average) below ground level.
From above, very minimalist...
Regarding eaves height, in our case, even the building authority could not provide a 100% clear definition. They could not give us a fixed reference point because the definitions varied. Basically, however, the authority did not mind as long as the building fit in with the neighboring structures. It is also important to know, for example, if anyone on the street has violated any regulations (dormers, building setback, roof tile color, unauthorized brick cladding) or if other circumstances suggest a deviation from the standard. Locals in our area knew that parts of the street had been raised by about 1.5m (5 feet). As a result, the issue of eaves height became irrelevant because we argued that it had to align with the street height increase.
As I said, take the opportunity to talk to the building authority...
From above, very minimalist...
Regarding eaves height, in our case, even the building authority could not provide a 100% clear definition. They could not give us a fixed reference point because the definitions varied. Basically, however, the authority did not mind as long as the building fit in with the neighboring structures. It is also important to know, for example, if anyone on the street has violated any regulations (dormers, building setback, roof tile color, unauthorized brick cladding) or if other circumstances suggest a deviation from the standard. Locals in our area knew that parts of the street had been raised by about 1.5m (5 feet). As a result, the issue of eaves height became irrelevant because we argued that it had to align with the street height increase.
As I said, take the opportunity to talk to the building authority...
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