ᐅ Floor plans for a single-family house with a secondary suite – looking for tips and feedback

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

For clarification: The planning is already well thought out. The building will officially follow the state building regulations for 2 residential units.

No one wants to have to gather all the information piecemeal. If you are planning to build on a boundary line and are allowed to, please inform us before we address the matter.
If you are aware that your plan falls into a light well, please let us know so we can overlook this planning mistake.

I have sent you the top link with the recommendation to read the pinned posts (the ones attached at the top).

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I cannot find a form to fill out at this link. Of course, I want to do it right. Sorry, I am new here.

When you are new, you do take time to read and inform yourself, right?
Here you will find the questionnaire: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundrissplanung-unbedingt-vor-beitrag-erstellung-lesen.11714/

I will fill out the questionnaire now. I think it’s great to receive so much input here.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

We planned for a long time, and structurally it should work that way.

I already see a structural problem when I look at the large room without any supporting elements. Not even the basement, the foundation, has a structurally relevant wall here.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

For clarification. The planning is already well thought out.

Actually, I mostly see (sorry, yes, they dominate the whole view) plans that are simply not permitted. All the perimeter buildings... this residential area looks more like open development, where you cannot just easily attach a building to another house. And if you can (north side), there certainly won’t be an additional east perimeter building allowed as a bonus by the building authority. Under no circumstances would a balcony be possible there if it is a normal enclosed plot.

Overall, there are too many perimeter structures when you exclude the house. There is some kind of installation in every corner.

The floor space ratio seems quite generous, yet any structures attached to the house should be secondary, limited to a maximum of about one-third of the façade where the elements are built on, if I’m not mistaken. The light wells are dangerous. You don’t plan something like that directly next to the terrace, especially since it limits possible exits from the house. I cannot imagine that this would be approved given the safety risks.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

(Club, everybody knows everybody).

Is it really sensible to invite many strangers/acquaintances "into" the house who basically dance almost in your garden? Standing outside your window smoking with the smoke drifting up to your windows? Where are the parking spaces for visitors? Is a club even allowed in this residential area? What kind of club is it?

How is the room on the ground floor to be rented to a tenant accessed?

Basically, all club members could walk through your house… just take the stairs up… or do you want to install an intermediate door in the stairwell so you always have to carry a key when doing laundry? What about your children? Running into club guests in the basement hallway… don’t you feel a bit uncomfortable about that? Your entrance platform is like a little bridge? That is rather elaborate and costly to do properly. Then again a concrete pit next to a house opening – I would be afraid for my child every single day!

The stairs to the upper floor are about one meter (3 feet) too short. The same applies to the basement stairs.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

There will soon be four of us, so we do need some traffic space for strollers, clothes, etc.

But you haven’t planned that anywhere … where is a large wardrobe supposed to go? The stroller?

I find the homey feel missing here. Driveway up, come home. Open the front door, let it close behind you, and be alone. Let yourself relax. Open the terrace doors and send the kids outside. Instead, club members are running around (no matter if your wife works there). You are never alone. Suddenly, someone is standing in the hallway or the light well. Peeking under my skirt. No, no...

Unfortunately, there are no posts in the target forum, so I’ll keep it brief here:

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: approximately 310 sqm (3337 sq ft), about 18*17 m (59*56 ft)
Slope: none
Floor space index: One basement apartment is allowed. §34 of the Building Code applies (everything as in surrounding development is permitted). Does this mean only the street or also the neighboring street?
Floor area ratio: 0.2 is invalid according to the building authority since §34 of the Building Code applies (everything as in surrounding development is permitted).
Building envelope, building line and boundary:
Construction only within building boundaries, extensions of semi-detached houses must match the boundary and be secured by building encumbrance, ridge direction perpendicular to the street, base no more than 50 cm (20 inches) above sidewalk height, minimum boundary distance 3 m (10 feet), total of distances 9 m (30 feet).
Roof extensions allowed.
Eaves height max. 3.5 m (11.5 feet)
Number of parking spaces: 1 (optionally one at the neighbor, if approved)
Number of stories: 1 plus basement apartment, so 2 full floors
Roof type: gable roof, 45 degrees
Orientation: southwest/northeast

Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern
Basement, floors: basement (with separate apartment and private entrance), ground floor, upper floor, and converted attic
Number of occupants, ages: basement apartment (home office): 1–3 adults during daytime. Max 5–6 adults in basement (very rare).
Number of occupants: ground floor + upper floor + attic: 2 adults and 1 child (2 years old), another child soon planned, so 4 people for these floors.
Space needs in basement apartment: guest bathroom with shower, open plan office with small kitchenette, separate room as office/storage or later for rental or own use as bedroom, small storage room with optional fuse box, hallway storage if possible.
Space needs on ground floor: guest bathroom with shower, should be extendable or large enough to plan for a bathtub later.
Space needs on upper floor: bathroom with bathtub, shower, and double vanity; parents’ bedroom; 2 children’s rooms.
Special features on upper floor: large room with kitchen connection, so it can later be used as open kitchen/living room.
Office: home office use
Guests overnight per year: 4
Open architecture, modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island if possible
Number of dining seats
Fireplace: no
Music/sound wall: yes, on ground floor
Balcony, roof terrace: yes
Garage, carport: carport only, not covered
Utility garden, greenhouse: garden house and tool shed
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions:

• Planning should be flexible for aging, i.e.
• 1st phase of life: basement apartment rented out. Ground floor + attic used privately. Later: child/parents/polish family member moves into basement apartment.
• 2nd phase of life: child/parents/polish family member moves into upper floor as a separate living unit. Parents live on ground floor. (Less = more in old age)

House Design
Design source: done by us with SweetHome 3D. Various builders reviewed for structural engineering and gave quotes.
-Do-it-yourself: pulling cables, installing boxes (TV/LAN), building garden shed/tool shed
What do you particularly like? We like the flexible use, meaning the three separate living units can be accessed separately and used according to life situation. The upper floor is planned rather low at 2.30 m (7.5 feet) height, but the attic is significantly larger. This is intended as a hobby room, guest room, or workspace. We figured you mostly sleep upstairs; daily living is downstairs.
What don’t you like? We find the ground floor layout not optimal. We are looking for the best possible compromise given the limited space. A pantry would be great but the connection to the kitchen is not yet satisfactory, as well as the guest bathroom being too small.
Price estimate according to the architect/planner: €640,000 (meeting KfW40 standard, not KfW40+). Additional incidental construction costs of about €100,000.

Personal price limit for house including fittings: €800,000
Preferred heating technology: Brötje NEO8 (air-to-water heat pump with outdoor unit), underfloor heating in basement, ground floor, and upper floor, with centralized ventilation systems in basement and ground floor + upper floor + attic with heat recovery

If you had to give up something, on which details/extensions
-you could give up: internal basement stairs (but they should be possible later, so plan a separation joint or similar), KNX (building control system), fixed staircase to attic.
-you cannot give up: sound insulation, attached house, i.e. all three floors need to be quiet. At least two M25 empty conduits per room for LAN, KNX or TV. Garden/terrace/balcony.

Why is the design as it is now?
Standard plan from the builder? No, we collected offers from prefab house suppliers for 1 year and merged many plans/suggestions to optimize. In the end, this is what appeals to us personally. Of course, it is not perfect yet, so we welcome further improvement suggestions here.
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? Almost all could be implemented.

What do you think makes it particularly good or bad? Good that we planned little space for corridors because everyone always said: rooms are important, corridors are not.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?

We understand there will be a lot of criticism, but we are interested in suggestions to improve the design so it can be perfect in the end.

I’m surprised and pretty much don’t understand: instead of a site plan with dimensions or something similar, I see an aerial photo section with an inserted hybrid of floor plan, roof view, and other miscellaneous elements, on one hand at best in the early stages of a study / off-limits concept design (so still well before any planning permission / building permit), but on the other hand already showing marked network outlets (nice, but frankly not a typical first step). Judging by the roofscape, it looks more like a residential area from the 1980s — so definitely not an old village center with unaltered plots, yet still seemingly featuring double-sided border development including non-boundary-privileged rooms. On the other hand, your behavior feels genuinely inexperienced, so I begin to doubt if this might be a fake/troll post after all. Maybe you should start from the beginning and clarify things for us.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

we gathered offers from various prefab house manufacturers over one year and combined and optimized many designs/proposals.

I would rather say: bravely trying to stitch together a Frankenstein-like hybrid creature.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

In the end, it resulted in what personally appeals to us. Of course, it’s not perfect yet, so we would really appreciate further improvement suggestions.

Whether the improvement suggestion “scrap it and start over” will really be appreciated? – I’ve seen different reactions here before.

Freiburger2020 schrieb:

Later: Child/parents/Polish relative moving into the basement granny flat

And at first, I thought “Sleeping / home office / storage room” couldn’t be topped anymore :-)

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SweetHome 3D is only useful when you want to visualize the 2D planning permission documents.

You could have saved yourself a lot of work.

It is more important to work out the basics.

For that, graph paper or millimeter paper and a pencil are sufficient.

Your plot measures 18 by 17 meters (59 by 56 feet), and according to the 34 regulation, the house is 12 by 11 meters (39 by 36 feet).

Measurements are more important than images.