ᐅ Floor plan design for a single-family house, 165 sqm, without a basement, on a 400 sqm plot
Created on: 10 Aug 2023 09:33
M
Maulwurfbau
At the request of 11ant, here is a post with the completed list ;-) Unfortunately, he still doesn’t have a crystal ball.
Providing all information possible/available at this point in time.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 400 sqm (4300 sq ft)
Slope: No, and no means no!
Floor space index (FSI): 0.4
Floor area ratio (FAR): ?
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Yes, available.
Edge development: Possible with garage.
Number of parking spaces: at least 1, preferably 2
Number of storeys: 1-2
Roof type: Gable roof (pitch minimum 31°, maximum 45°)
Architectural style: ??
Orientation: Gable end facing
Maximum heights / limits: Roof ridge 6-7 m (20-23 ft), eaves 9-12 m (30-39 ft)
Other requirements: No brick facades allowed. Driveway or space in front of garage at least 6 m (20 ft). Red roof tiles mandatory, light facade.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Gable roof, fixed
Basement, storeys: 2 full storeys without basement
Number of occupants, age: 4 people (2 toddlers)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Office: Family use or home office? Office of approx. 12 sqm (130 sq ft) is a must.
Guest bedrooms per year: Few
Open or closed architecture: ? Whatever that means.
Conservative or modern construction style: rather modern construction.
Open kitchen, cooking island: Open kitchen, possibly with cooking island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: NO
Music / stereo wall: Not planned, TV location is quite important.
Balcony, roof terrace: NO
Garage, carport: Garage desired. Carport with storage box also conceivable.
Utility garden, greenhouse: NO
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, preferably with reasons for choices:
Laundry room on the upper floor. They want to do laundry where it is generated and where it must be returned clean. Anything else is a hassle, at least for us.
House Design
Who designed the plan: Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Everything we provided as basic information and what our daily life requires has been implemented.
We like the clear lines/structure.
The open space in the hallway.
The connection/proximity of all rooms on ground and upper floors that need water/sewage. So no funny business with the bathroom upstairs in one corner and the utility room diagonally opposite on the ground floor. Personally, I like that.
No bay windows or other awkward extensions.
Laundry room upstairs where the washer and dryer are planned.
What don’t you like? Why?
The living room might be a bit too exposed for us. It could also be a cozy nook with TV without direct view of the kitchen. Cooking and eating together openly is liked; the living room could be a bit more separate. Currently, the floor plan shows it like a narrow, rather shadowy corner.
The somewhat narrow bedroom upstairs is not a dealbreaker but not 100% pleasing.
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
-
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures and fittings:
500-575k
Preferred heating system:
Predefined, ground source heat pump with collector. Cold local heating network.
If you have to give up, which details/extras
-can you do without:
The small additional room for the father upstairs.
Garage, as mentioned carport also conceivable.
-can you not do without:
Office.
Storage box at garage or carport.
Children’s rooms.
Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
The design turned out this way because the architect implemented our wishes and requirements almost 1:1. This preliminary layout resulted in this first version.
What do you consider particularly good or bad?
See what we like and what not. We don’t find anything particularly bad. Rather, not entirely optimal.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Position garage flush with house or set back?
43.5 sqm (468 sq ft) + 4 sqm (43 sq ft) pantry sufficient as “all-purpose room”?
Same floor plan possibly mirrored? Then office on south side, sun all day, blinds always down. Same issue upstairs with bedroom in summer at least. Entrance farther from parking space.
The building method will be timber frame construction with a local timber builder.
This is a first sketch after clarifying needs/wishes with the architect.
Providing all information possible/available at this point in time.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 400 sqm (4300 sq ft)
Slope: No, and no means no!
Floor space index (FSI): 0.4
Floor area ratio (FAR): ?
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Yes, available.
Edge development: Possible with garage.
Number of parking spaces: at least 1, preferably 2
Number of storeys: 1-2
Roof type: Gable roof (pitch minimum 31°, maximum 45°)
Architectural style: ??
Orientation: Gable end facing
Maximum heights / limits: Roof ridge 6-7 m (20-23 ft), eaves 9-12 m (30-39 ft)
Other requirements: No brick facades allowed. Driveway or space in front of garage at least 6 m (20 ft). Red roof tiles mandatory, light facade.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Gable roof, fixed
Basement, storeys: 2 full storeys without basement
Number of occupants, age: 4 people (2 toddlers)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Office: Family use or home office? Office of approx. 12 sqm (130 sq ft) is a must.
Guest bedrooms per year: Few
Open or closed architecture: ? Whatever that means.
Conservative or modern construction style: rather modern construction.
Open kitchen, cooking island: Open kitchen, possibly with cooking island
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: NO
Music / stereo wall: Not planned, TV location is quite important.
Balcony, roof terrace: NO
Garage, carport: Garage desired. Carport with storage box also conceivable.
Utility garden, greenhouse: NO
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, preferably with reasons for choices:
Laundry room on the upper floor. They want to do laundry where it is generated and where it must be returned clean. Anything else is a hassle, at least for us.
House Design
Who designed the plan: Architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Everything we provided as basic information and what our daily life requires has been implemented.
We like the clear lines/structure.
The open space in the hallway.
The connection/proximity of all rooms on ground and upper floors that need water/sewage. So no funny business with the bathroom upstairs in one corner and the utility room diagonally opposite on the ground floor. Personally, I like that.
No bay windows or other awkward extensions.
Laundry room upstairs where the washer and dryer are planned.
What don’t you like? Why?
The living room might be a bit too exposed for us. It could also be a cozy nook with TV without direct view of the kitchen. Cooking and eating together openly is liked; the living room could be a bit more separate. Currently, the floor plan shows it like a narrow, rather shadowy corner.
The somewhat narrow bedroom upstairs is not a dealbreaker but not 100% pleasing.
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
-
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures and fittings:
500-575k
Preferred heating system:
Predefined, ground source heat pump with collector. Cold local heating network.
If you have to give up, which details/extras
-can you do without:
The small additional room for the father upstairs.
Garage, as mentioned carport also conceivable.
-can you not do without:
Office.
Storage box at garage or carport.
Children’s rooms.
Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
The design turned out this way because the architect implemented our wishes and requirements almost 1:1. This preliminary layout resulted in this first version.
What do you consider particularly good or bad?
See what we like and what not. We don’t find anything particularly bad. Rather, not entirely optimal.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Position garage flush with house or set back?
43.5 sqm (468 sq ft) + 4 sqm (43 sq ft) pantry sufficient as “all-purpose room”?
Same floor plan possibly mirrored? Then office on south side, sun all day, blinds always down. Same issue upstairs with bedroom in summer at least. Entrance farther from parking space.
The building method will be timber frame construction with a local timber builder.
This is a first sketch after clarifying needs/wishes with the architect.
When I first saw the kitchen, I had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t a rendered image. But the cleaning cloth gave it away. I might add a bit more color to the kitchen. How satisfied are you with the two-row kitchen layout?
It’s the opposite for us. We have a similar floor plan on the ground floor. My wife was sure she wanted the living, dining, and kitchen area separated. I was more torn on that. I have to say, the situation you described in show home parks and in the 3D design of my house always felt somewhat uncomfortable to me as well. I once saw an offset solution for the living-dining-kitchen area, I think from Weiss-Haus, online and found it at least on paper a nice compromise. But by that point, everything was already pretty much decided for us.
Are there any other things, especially regarding the floor plan, that you like or would change in retrospect?
Maulwurfbau schrieb:
In general, my wife is thrilled and wanted it exactly like this—open and visible like that. I might consider slightly shifting the entrance away from the entire living area or doing something so that you don’t always have to look directly at the front door from the living area, or vice versa, so that when I come in, I’m not immediately looking into the living space.
It’s the opposite for us. We have a similar floor plan on the ground floor. My wife was sure she wanted the living, dining, and kitchen area separated. I was more torn on that. I have to say, the situation you described in show home parks and in the 3D design of my house always felt somewhat uncomfortable to me as well. I once saw an offset solution for the living-dining-kitchen area, I think from Weiss-Haus, online and found it at least on paper a nice compromise. But by that point, everything was already pretty much decided for us.
Are there any other things, especially regarding the floor plan, that you like or would change in retrospect?
M
Maulwurfbau11 Oct 2025 09:30roteweste schrieb:
When I first saw the kitchen, I had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t a rendered image. The dishcloth gave it away though. I might add a bit more color to the kitchen. How satisfied are you with the double-row kitchen layout?
It’s the opposite for us. We have a similar floor plan on the ground floor. My wife was absolutely certain that she wanted the living, dining, and kitchen area separated. I was more torn on that. I also have to say that the situation you described in the model home parks and my house’s 3D design always seemed a bit uncomfortable to me. I once saw a staggered layout for the living, dining, and kitchen area, I think from Weiss-Haus online, and at least on paper it seemed like a nice compromise. But by then, everything was pretty much finalized for us.
Are there any other things, especially in the floor plan, that you like or that you would do differently in hindsight?In the end, a lot of it comes down to personal taste. All versions can work.
What we like is that everything has some space. It’s so common that exactly those extra 10 or 20 centimeters (4 or 8 inches) are missing here and there to feel unrestricted. This is often criticized in the forum—that homeowners waste space and that it could be smaller, etc. Our house could have been 10 square meters (108 square feet) smaller, too. But then that exact feeling would have appeared: the feeling of a small apartment.
The laundry room upstairs is amazing. Doing laundry right where it’s generated and where it’s distributed back to the rooms was a key point in planning, no more hauling laundry baskets endlessly between floors. It’s fully worked out.
The pantry under the stairs was a complete success. We really like it.
The “leftover space” on the floor above, mentioned as a hobby room, is also at the top of the list. It’s a perfect home office and a small hobby room for me.
The rooms in general also fit well.
What we might do differently is the bathroom upstairs. That was a huge challenge throughout the whole planning, and the compromise solution is not perfect. The shower is indeed a bit darker than feared. But I don’t think changing the roof structure was an option here.
This is not related to the floor plan, but in reality, I would have preferred a steeper roof pitch. The house looks a bit flattened. That only bothers me, though. Since the attic was never planned to be converted—just for storage and technical equipment—the architect said the 31° roof pitch works fine. Visually, given the width of the house, a steeper roof would have improved the overall look.
The electrical planning was all logical, but in hindsight, a few outlets are blocked by furniture. No big deal, but it could have been done better. Hindsight is always 20/20. That’s true in every area of life.
The utility room in the basement is a bit small. But it’s just a utility room after all. We made sure to have storage space elsewhere—laundry upstairs, pantry, and storage under the stairs. Many try to manage with just an 8 square meter (86 square feet) utility room for everything. You’d have to be really blind to think that works. We have 15 square meters (161 square feet) spread throughout the house, and that’s what you need! If it’s not distributed throughout the house, then the utility room itself needs to be about 15 square meters (161 square feet). Otherwise, you end up feeling like you’re back in a small apartment.
There’s nothing about the floor plan that we really dislike in hindsight. But there are always small things to optimize.
M
Maulwurfbau11 Oct 2025 09:54It’s the only thing that works for me. Not for any woman.
The missing windbreak or some kind of separation between the entrance area and the rest of the house.
It does work that way, but I just don’t like it as much.
The missing windbreak or some kind of separation between the entrance area and the rest of the house.
It does work that way, but I just don’t like it as much.
Maulwurfbau schrieb:
I don’t understand the question.It’s not a question! Maulwurfbau schrieb:
In my opinion, a completely pristine kitchen in a lively household isn’t realistic and feels a bit forced.Exactly! I want to see them furnished, in everyday use.
Kitchens look different when they are new and unused. Those interest me less.
I prefer pictures of kitchens that are used – and only those, in my opinion, truly show whether a kitchen is well designed and functional.
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